What would the world be like if we hadn't made everything a web interface?

The original sin was allowing the publisher to specify how the information should be rendered. If that power had remained solely with the client then you would be forced to annotate the information with tags that say what it is rather than where it should go or what it should look like.

Hard disagree. The original sin was allowing the great unwashed in by putting the internet in everyone's pocket.

Yes, those foolish plebes. I too would prefer it if only those with merit could access the world's information in an instant.

/s

Or maybe the original sin was allowing a web page to load media from other sites, or scripts from other sites, but that is the whole key to the web being useful. Turns out that tools are morally neutral.

It’s plenty useful on the other protocols but the difference is I get to choose my own client.

"Better", is my first thought, but that would be a flippant answer. The reality is that media is very good for some things, and very bad for some others. In particular it's very bad for social -no social media would have been a good thing- whereas for sciences and engineering and what not media is essential.

Classic nntp-reader plus embedded video player would technically be a better interface though IMHO than 99% of web interfaces I have seen.