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Date: 23 Jan 2021
I was reading a discussion about why gemini didn't simply adopt an
old/limited version of HTTP. One of the comments read: "This [gemini] is
like pushing for stone cart wheels when spoked wheels are already
available."
This simile didn't really contribute anything to the argument; it simply
misused a metaphor where using a metaphor should normally provide for
easier discussion and possible implications.
A better simile would have been: "Gemini is like pushing for bicyles
when cars are already available."
When it comes to speed, payload, or comfort, bicycles are no match for
cars. And with normal usage, cars can go where bicyles can go. Still,
many developed countries promote the use of bicycles for commuting or
leisure.
As it turns out, biking somewhere is healthier. It might take a longer
time to reach your destination, but it's exercise. It's stretching the
metaphor, but I do believe an argument can be made that gemini is
"healthier" than using the web.
But still, some countries even go as far as to *build separate
infrastructure for bikes*, even though bikes theoretically could use
existing car infrastructure. They do so because it's safer. Again
stretching the metaphor, gemini needs a separate infrastructure because
it's "safer". Biking is a lot more fun, or at least more relaxing, when
the chance of an accident with a motor vehicle is reduced. Using the
small web where at every turn you can collide with a site assualting
your senses (or not even being able to go there, maybe analogous to
roads where you need a motor vehicle to maintain a certain speed) is
detrimental to the experience and benefits.
I'm sure many more parallels can be drawn up, but I hope the "bikes are
like gemini and cars are like the web" simile, since it is a bit more
evocative than stone cart wheels, will help people better understand or
explain why using a simple HTTP subset for gemini was never a good
option.
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Obviously similes and metaphors can only ever be used to illustrate
concepts, and *never* to provide proof of anything, no matter how
closely related it is to the actual instance it is providing a metaphor
for.