x-complexityMay 2026Strongly recommends
Whenever someone talks about forking/rebuilding the web, I'll always link to my favorite Dylan Beattie talk about such a hypothetical alternative: ▶ this video
in “Forking the Web” · View on HN
The Web That Never Was - Dylan Beattie
The Web That Never Was - Dylan Beattie on HackerTube: recommended by 3 Hacker News commenters across 4 separate months, 2023–2026.
NDC Conferences
Open on YouTubetalk · evergreen
Dylan Beattie's entertaining NDC talk imagines an alternate history of the web, asking what if different decisions had been made on operating systems, browsers and standards. It blends real history with humor.
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters strongly recommend it as a fun alt-history of the web and bring it up whenever people muse about how the web could have been different.
- people recommended it
- 3
- separate months
- 4
- strong recommendations
- 3
- discussed on HN
- 2023–2026
“Edit 2: finished, it is definitely worth watching.”
What HN commenters said
5 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
x-complexityAug 2024Strongly recommends
Then you'll especially love Dylan Beattie's talk on this exact subject, regarding an alt-history take on the web. ▶ this video
in “Blitz: A lightweight, modular, extensible web renderer” · View on HN
AlbertoGPDec 2023Strongly recommends
> I feel like more people should watch Dylan Beattle's "The Web that Never Was" presentation. Didn’t know about it, here is the video of that talk in YouTube: ▶ this video There is a poem-style intro titled “Flatscreens / a song about code” until the talk proper starts at 5’11”: ▶ this video Edit: I’m watching it and it is done in an entertaining style but is a bit loose on some details I know about, such as implying that the IBM PC development was started in the early 1970’s when it was in fact started in 1980. Still worth watching so far. Edit 2: finished, it is definitely worth watching. It goes into “The Twilight Zone” of a very interesting alternative history. And does a good job reporting on the Gary Kildall / IBM missed deal for their PC OS.
in “Poor Man's Web” · View on HN
taejavuJan 2024Recommends
You might enjoy this talk by Dylan Beattie, it explores that kind of alternate history. “The Web That Never Was”: ▶ this video
in “Was Javascript really made in 10 days?” · View on HN
artemissianJan 2023Joke
They should ofc have used SELECT CREATE UPDATE DELETE SUBMIT and nothing more :D #TheWebThatNeverWas ▶ this video
in “The State of HTTP in 2022” · View on HN
Topics & tags
Web developmentHistory of computingSoftware (other)web historyalternate historymicrosoftjavascriptdylan beattie