Ask HN: Why isn't the Solid protocol more popular?

Posted by laianav on Saturday November 14, 2026 @05:46AM
from the ask-hn dept.

Reading about decentralised protocols, I found Solid from Tim Berners-Lee: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_project

You can control your data and grant selective access to certain Solid apps. You could pay a monthly fee to store your data or your ISP could offer some GB of storage for free with your telecom package.

So my question is: why it isn't popular or why did it flop?

( 1 comment | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: Why isn't the Solid protocol more popular? by steerpike on Saturday November 14, 2026 @05:57AM (#50495979)

Same reason pretty much every new protocol fails. Nobody cares about protocols specifically. People care about discovering new and interesting things. If nobody builds anything new and interesting on a protocol then it's never going to take off. If the new and interesting thing that people build is too limited in it's interests (oh wow, you can use it to but drugs and commit crimes) then it's never going to really take off beyond a limited user base.

[ Parent | on HN ]