whatsapp uses xmpp. whatsapp became a closed system.
PerfectClientXInTheFuture uses matrix. PerfectClientXInTheFuture becomes a closed system.
Why? Because that way they can make more money.
It's sad, but true.
If we manage to keep the governance of the client and protocol open and participatory, I'm sure we can have clients/protocols that survive for longer. Just like we did with email and IRC in the past.
This doesn't strike me as a 'solution'.
Milking data, user friendliness and open protocols are orthogonal areas that gives different benefits. User friendliness makes it so people actually use the product, open protocols forces the service/application providers to care more about the user (otherwise they leave for something else, taking their data with them) and milking data can be done no matter how good/bad user experience is and if the protocol is closed/open.
The founder regretting is a joke. Facebook isn’t buying you for $19B to leave the company alone forever. The guy is worth multiple billions. No one told him when it was being sold that privacy won’t remain the same? That seems too unlikely.
If your design is subject to a failure, it's a failure of your design.
This is an empowering viewpoint. Let's stop blaming factors outside our control and find ways to create resiliency.
The problem is when a bunch of optimistic, altruistic, talented individuals just imagine we could choose to do better, like in the social dilemma. Similar environments and pressures will lead to similar outcome, like carcinization.
Somehow we still manage to be surprised and disappointed when this happens.
I wrote about this in detail: https://seirdy.one/2021/02/23/keeping-platforms-open.html