cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blackeco.com/post/25574
And since you won’t be able to modify web pages, it will also mean the end of customization, either for looks (ie. DarkReader, Stylus), conveniance (ie. Tampermonkey) or accessibility.
The community feedback is… interesting to say the least.
It does seem that using Chrome (or Chrome based browsers) is just going to going to perpetuate this. Firefox has never been more important IMHO.
Who has read The Master Switch by Tim Wu? It’s a great book and that essentially argues every mass communication medium started off as a decentralized playground for hobbyists before consolidating into a centralized profit seeking (or profit-seeking-enabling) entity. It the ends with the question of whether the same destiny awaits the internet.
I remember hoping it didn’t, and that hope grows harder to maintain by the day. It’s so fucking sad.
I just hope that even if this standard is implemented, the protocol maintains enough of it’s flexibility for small enclaves of people who still believe in the technology’s original vision to “opt out” of it.