FREE HISTORY OF COMPUTING COMPANIES LESSON
1989 — Keep the Web one Web
CERN, W3C, Netscape, Microsoft, and the browser boundary
Keep the Web one Web
CERN released Web technology without royalties; W3C coordinated open standards; Netscape made the browser a commercial platform; Microsoft used operating-system distribution to defend its API position. An open interface can grow the total complement market, while control of a default, runtime, or distribution channel can re-concentrate power above that interface.
Royalty-free interoperability expands the shared market, while defaults and proprietary runtime behavior can rebuild control at the layer users encounter first.
Institutional reconstruction
Build two causal loops: open standards attracting implementers and content, and an incumbent API attracting applications and users. Use the browser case to show exactly where interoperability weakens the second loop.
Trace the scarce resource, coordination mechanism, power boundary, and newly possible failure.