Bonum Certa Men Certa

The World Wide Web is a Dying Internet Platform (But Nobody Wants to Admit It Because the Demise is Slow and Gradual)



Summary: Based on every metric tracked by Netcraft, the Web is going down consistently; this merits discussion or active debate that remaining news sites (fewer of them left, many go offline permanently) barely entertain

The World Wide Web is a transport layer for all sorts of things, ranging from text to video and even very large compressed archives. The Web is also being "extended" for no reason other than some companies' business model, not performance, security, privacy etc. Today's Web isn't made for the user (visitor) but for predators who view people as "products" and advertisers/governments as clients.

Over time more and more Web traffic is consolidated in the hands of companies that don't even make a profit. They're connected to governments and their objective seems to be manipulation of the public, including but not limited to censorship and surveillance thereof. In other words, the Web is becoming a tool of observation and social control.

So what's going on with the "old" Web? It seems to be gradually going away. Having not covered patents so much this year, I took a quick glance at once very busy sites about patents. One is about 20 years old and the other one is way older than 20 years.

Notice how in IP Kat the posting volume is diminishing over time:

IP Kat archives: About 80 days left

The same is true for Watchtroll, ipwatchdog.com (active since the 1990s). It seems like it's dying. Just 2 or 3 comments this week or in the front page. We remember it being a hub for many professionals or people obsessed with litigation. The editor and original founder left years ago, seeing the demise already, and the new editor, who is barely competent, brought no resurgence/rebound. Dreary:

Watchtroll

We still participate heavily in Geminispace. Unlike the Web, it continues to grow ("There are 2806 capsules," says Lupa) and it fills a sorely-missed gap: pre-bloat Internet. Here's a growth graph (last generated earlier today):

capsules_2022-10-11 - Geminispace

By contract, this is the Web:

Netcraft chart

Source: September 2022 Web Server Survey.

To quote the opening paragraph: "In the September 2022 survey we received responses from 1,129,251,133 sites across 271,625,260 unique domains, and 12,252,171 web-facing computers. This month all three metrics have decreased since August, with a loss of 5.82 million sites, 115,512 unique domains and 113,356 web-facing computers."

As it stands at the moment, Gemini is up, the Web is down. But one is like a million times bigger, so that doesn't say much.

We cannot tell for sure what replaces the Web or takes people's attention online, but "apps" seem to be a thing*. They are attention-grabbing (or "screen time"-hogging) bunch of garbage and noise for the most part. They demonstrate a transition from computing as a productivity toolset into an apparatus of serfdom. ______ * Our associate argues that "apps" are "outdated, insecure, bug-ridden single-site browsers running insecure, bug-ridden JavaScript over HTTPS and not even a stateful protocol."

Recent Techrights' Posts

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
 
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025
Links 31/03/2025: China Tensions, Bombs Falling in Myanmar After Earthquake
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: Falling Out of Love With Tech, Sunsetting openSNP
Links for the day
R.T.O. at IBM in Texas and Atlanta (State of Georgia) Expected as "Soft Layoffs" Catalyst This Coming Year
It also sounds like more IBM layoffs are in the making
Law Firms Can Also Lose Their Licence for Clearly Misusing It
The bottom line is, never made the false assumption that because you can pile up SLAPPs in a docket you will not suffer from bad reputation or even get disbarred
Link between institutional abuse, Swiss jurists, Debianism and FSFE
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025