The Human Internet and the Machine Internet

Humans want experience: brand, story, image, interface, atmosphere. Machines want structure: entities, attributes, relationships, permissions, citations.

It is tempting to frame these as a contest. We think that framing is wrong. The web will keep rewarding beautiful, persuasive surfaces. It will additionally begin to reward well-maintained structure beneath them.

Humans experience surfaces. Machines consume structured information.

The interesting design question is not which audience wins. It is how one representation can serve both without either being an afterthought.