The thing is, though, the internet really has been replaced, at least partially. The biggest threat to the browser has been apps: each abstracts away and fragments a little corner of content and people, to be lost forever in a hidden garden. This is probably the closest we’ll get to a wholesale replacement of the World Wide Web as we know it. Like Gemini, there’s a feeling of secrecy and community and value: think Instagram, pre-Android app and pre-Facebook. Or Clubhouse, the buzzy private community where VCs conspire against journalists. To some extent, it isn’t about the protocol, it’s about who’s in and who isn’t.