The Open Web
@lachlanhardy

what is the open web?
“?”

what is the open web?
Do we know?

what is the open web?
Does anyone?

what is the open web?
Somewhat.

what is the open web?
The Open Web has become a
buzzword.

what is the open web?
A buzzphrase

what is the open web?
That complicates matters

what is the open web?
Here’s my definition

seeking definition
The Open Web stems from a
common philosophical
approach.

seeking definition
What makes it open?

seeking definition
Open specification providing
the freedom to implement

seeking definition
Has one or more open source
reference implementation(s).

seeking definition
Is supported by more than one
vendor or provider.

seeking definition
Public involvement in evolution
of the spec.

seeking definition
Some of this is contentious.

seeking definition
Big concepts are hard.

seeking definition
Philosophy is hard.

Let’s break it down

small pieces
Web standards.

small pieces
Open specifications.

small pieces
Open architecture.

small pieces
But those last two already
have open in the title!

small pieces
Let’s backtrack.

small pieces
And I’ll cover cheaper too.

Web standards

web standards
Name some.

web standards
HTML.

web standards
CSS.

web standards
JavaScript.

web standards

web standards
DOM. (Document Object Model)

web standards

web standards
DOM. (Document Object Model)

web standards
Atom.

web standards
They all have a baseline of
useful support across
browsers.

web standards
Except...

web standards
XMPP
(eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol)

web standards
(It’s not really in a browser.)

web standards
XMPP
(eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol)

web standards
It’s not MSN Messenger.

web standards
It’s not AIM.

web standards
It’s not Yahoo! IM.

web standards
But it is GTalk. (kinda)

web standards
But it is GTalk. (kinda)

web standards
They’re all web standards.

web standards
Even XMPP.

web standards
That means they’ve been
approved by a standards body.

web standards
W3C. (World Wide Web Consortium)

web standards
W3C. (World Wide Web Consortium)

web standards
IETF. (Internet Engineering Task Force)

web standards
IETF. (Internet Engineering Task Force)

web standards
No single entity has control.

web standards
They’re all open.

web standards
And there are a bunch more...

Open
specifications

open specifications
OpenID is a decentralized
framework for user-centric
digital identity.

open specifications
OpenID is a decentralized
framework for user-centric
digital identity.

open specifications
Microformats are a set of
simple, open data formats.

open specifications
Microformats are a set of
simple, open data formats.

open specifications
OAuth allows secure API
authentication from desktop
and web applications.

open specifications
OAuth allows secure API
authentication from desktop
and web applications.

open specifications
WebFinger attaches public
metadata to email addresses.

open specifications
WebFinger attaches public
metadata to email addresses.

open specifications
I think you can see where
we’re going here...

open specifications
WebFinger can connect an
email address to an OpenID.

open specifications
OpenID gives you a
recognisable public identity.

open specifications
Microformats let you publish
more meaningful content.

open specifications
OAuth allows you to securely
grant access to the content.

open specifications
There are many more...

open specifications
Activity Streams extends Atom
to show what people are doing

open specifications
Activity Streams extends Atom
to show what people are doing

open specifications
Portable Contacts provides a
common access pattern and
contact schema

open specifications
Portable Contacts provides a
common access pattern and
contact schema

open specifications
It’s built around OAuth & vCard

open specifications
Do you see why I love this?

open specifications
People built these technologies
as pieces of a puzzle.

open specifications
It’s not some monolithic stack.

open specifications
It’s modular.

open specifications
Each can be used independently.

open specifications
They’re designed to work
together.

open specifications
They’re not standards yet.

open specifications
But they’re guaranteed to be
open.

Enough with the
open

Cold Hard Cash

cheaper & better
More people have looked at it

cheaper & better
More people have worked on it

cheaper & better
More people have used it

cheaper & better
You didn’t have to pay them

Open architecture

open architecture
The components are less
defined.

open architecture
Let’s start simply.

open architecture
URLs.

open architecture
They should be readable.

open architecture
They should be hackable.

open architecture
http://omniti.com/is/

open architecture
http://omniti.com/is/here/

open architecture
What about their jobs
page?
http://omniti.com/is/hiring/

open architecture
What about their jobs
page?
http://omniti.com/is/hiring/

open architecture
Their legal page?
http://omniti.com/has/legal/

open architecture
Their legal page?
http://omniti.com/has/legal/

open architecture
Services?
http://omniti.com/does/
design/

open architecture
Services?
http://omniti.com/does/
design/

open architecture
Case studies?
http://omniti.com/helps/
national-geographic/

open architecture
Case studies?
http://omniti.com/helps/
national-geographic/

open architecture
How’s that for SEO?

open architecture
And readability.

open architecture
And usability.

open architecture
URLs require planning.

open architecture
API (Application Programming Interface)

open architecture
API (Application Programming Interface)

open architecture
REST (Representational State Transfer)

open architecture
REST (Representational State Transfer)

Example time

twitter as exemplar
Simplicity.

twitter as exemplar
Ubiquity.

twitter as exemplar
Open API.

twitter as exemplar
Microformats

twitter as exemplar
Okay, enough Twitter.

gnolia as exemplar
Outsourcing identity

gnolia as exemplar
What?!

gnolia as exemplar
Microformats.

example time
These are simple things.

example time
Anybody can implement them.

example time
Want to run an OpenID server?

example time
Want to use MicroID?

example time
Want to use Microformats?

example time
The code is freely available.

Use the Open Web

use the open web
The web connects stuff.

use the open web
I’m going make stuff up now.

use the open web
You’re the experts.

use the open web
You’ll find the solutions.

use the open web
I’m just going to offer you the
pieces.

use the open web
I spend a lot of time on the
web.

use the open web
I spend a lot of time on the
web. A whole lot of time.

use the open web
There are common threads.

use the open web
Let’s start with the obvious.

use the open web
Microformat your content.

use the open web
Make your URLs readable.

use the open web
Make your URLs hackable.

use the open web
Take all the data in your
40,00 PDFs
and put it on a web page.

use the open web
Then microformat those too.

use the open web
That’s pretty straightforward.

use the open web
Let’s try something harder.

use the open web
Offer relevant web feeds.

use the open web
Offer an API.

use the open web
Offer web services.

use the open web
Offer an API for them too.

use the open web
Offer and/or accept OpenIDs.

use the open web
Once users have identities...

use the open web
Your options
explode!

use the open web
Your options
explode!

use the open web
They’re not just users
anymore.

use the open web
They’re community members.

use the open web
You can offer so many more
services when you know who
people are.

use the open web
The community member
controls their OpenID.

use the open web
Offer OAuth access to data.

use the open web
Who are third-parties, anyway?

use the open web
Some of them will be in your
community.

use the open web
Offer personalised feeds.

The Open Web

Thank you

find me on the open web
http://lachstock.com.au/

references
http://dev.aol.com/article/2007/openid_primer_for_php
http://aarronwalter.com/presentations/sxsw08/