First off, in hindsight i should perhaps have likened it to AOL or some such.
As for losing something, best i can tell this came about because ISPs were loath to become the "paymasters" of the internet.
Consider that for a brief moment, before all this hoopla about app stores, the mobile world had something akin to what minitel had. I could fire up a WAP page on my phone, pick out a game or similar, hit download, and the cost would be added to my mobile bill at the end of the month.
Nothing says that we could not see something similar on the web, except that ISPs do not want to be in the position to bill us for those downloads etc.
As for losing something, best i can tell this came about because ISPs were loath to become the "paymasters" of the internet.
Consider that for a brief moment, before all this hoopla about app stores, the mobile world had something akin to what minitel had. I could fire up a WAP page on my phone, pick out a game or similar, hit download, and the cost would be added to my mobile bill at the end of the month.
Nothing says that we could not see something similar on the web, except that ISPs do not want to be in the position to bill us for those downloads etc.