Absobloodlyexactly. So much this.
This is why we cannot lose sight of either side of the equation; and why I heartily agree with your point on the other thread of the way apps and data can be shared and combined is the killer app.
This needs to be fostered from both sides of the equation, with the network in the middle. One side informs the other.
As an example; the e-commerce thing. If we are purely thinking about it from a dev only point of view, just giving them the raw platform of the network, then we may end up with all these siloed experiences; each website as its own app, with it’s own shopping cart, and checkout process; kinda transplanting what we have on the clearnet. Still better because data will be more secure, and the token built in etc… but we’d miss out on so much!
But if we look at it through the eyes of people using the network, and with the blank canvas, and power of linked data… then things could look very different. I could visit any number of sites, and drop products into my network wide shopping cart as I go… then when I’m ready to check out—boom—payment sent to 30 different retailers all in one go. And I can be informed about any changes to inventory, or shipping etc, all in one place… not visiting all those different sites to keep up with it all.
And maybe I want to quickly tweak my shipping address a little later… again it’s just done in one place; and all of those retailers that need to know it get it automatically—and they don’t need to lift a finger either.
And what does it mean for devs in this case? Maybe it’s as simple as including a line of code in HTML, or a set of tags on a web page next to a product. It could really be that simple to start selling your wares on the network.
Or perhaps including/exposing a common messaging module to an app, which offloads all of that burden effectively to the network ecosystem: the user gets to choose the app or interface component that they prefer to handle IMs at a network level; but the dev gets the benefit of being able to easily roll that additional functionality into their app. All the while being able to offload most, if not all, of the headaches of dealing with personal data, and a lot of security!
This is why this whole endeavour is way more than just “what if we had a decentralised dropbox?” or “all we need is for that popular website to move onto Safe”. It’s more than just, have what you already have, but with more security, or, do the bitcoin thing, but with no transaction fees.
It’s a paradigm shift. It really is a way to build a new internet — people first.