The Web and HTTP. John Gruber repeating his argument that because mobile apps usually use HTTP, that’s still the web:

I’ve been making this point for years, but it remains highly controversial. HTML/CSS/JavaScript rendered in a web browser — that part of the web has peaked. Running servers and client apps that speak HTTP(S) — that part of the web continues to grow and thrive.

But I call bullshit. HTTP is not is not what gives the web its webiness. Sure, it’s a part of the web stack, but so is TCP/IP. The web could have been implemented over any number of protocols and it wouldn’t have made a big difference.

What makes the web the web is the open connections between documents or “apps,” the fact that anybody can participate on a mostly-agreed-upon playing field. Things like Facebook Instant Articles or even Apple’s App Store are closed up, do not allow participation by every person or every idea, and don’t really act like a “web” at all. And they could have easily been built on FTP or somesuch and it wouldn’t make a lick of difference.

It may well be the “browser web” John talks about has peaked, but I think it’s incorrect to say the web is still growing because apps are using HTTP.