Data composability: what it is + why it matters

When database functionality is not siloed but open, this all changes. Any app can build on the same data.

Ceramic is building infrastructure for composable data.

This enables 'permissionless innovation' - anyone can build any new service (logic) or any new interface (app) on the same data layer.

Today, databases are basically siloed — every application has its own. This has many bad implications: redundant infrastructure, honeypots of data with poor security, fragmented data. It also means that every application must have its own database to feed its logic and its interface. The 3 layers — interface, logic, and database — have to be bundle... See more

Today’s web browsers are relatively composable - you can add new functionality and features with extensions. Imagine if web browsers were locked down, and you had to choose between the core feature set alone: Chrome with built-in casting, Firefox with Pocket, or Brave with a crypto wallet. Thankfully you don't have to choose and be left so wanting ... See more

If Medium were built on open data, Substack wouldn't have to build an editor, interface, and CMS from scratch. They'd build a subscription module that operates on top of the Medium editor and content. You could continue writing in Medium (or elsewhere) and publishing there while using Substack's subscription feature to build an audience and deliver... See more

When database functionality is not siloed but open, this all changes. Any app can build on the same data. No app is a gatekeeper to it. And not every app needs to build an entire siloed stack.

One direct consequence of this is far fewer things get built or used. Because data is the foundation for so much value over time, and because it's so much more valuable when networked with other data (network effects, big data, etc.), there's far less aggregate value when data is spread across more fragmented databases and applications.

Composable data is a paradigm shift for how the web works because it not only changes how applications are built but what an application is. This post aims to make this shift clear and concrete. By the end, you’ll see how writers in the future won’t choose between Medium vs. Substack vs. Twitter/Revue, and how you’ll be free to perfect your persona... See more