Back from the Jamstack Conf in New York City.
Change the technology to change the culture.
This is how the CEO and Co-founder of Netlify condensed the real revolution behind the Jamstack. It's not only about going static, serverless, or API-first. It's about people. And the ones that I finally met in person at the conference are so smart (and friendly) that I can only feel positive about the future of Web.
The Jamstack is going to be as disruptive as the blockchain, but much more sustainable. It can bring huge benefits to your business while keeping the planet green. Serving websites without web servers is not just a developer affair. It's a paradigm shift — as we like to say — that should be promoted by all the community members. Regardless they are colleagues, partners, or even competitors.
I've seen too many projects suffer because of performance or security issues. Too much unnecessary energy consumption. Complexity kills. It doesn't have to be that way. Going right to the source of the pain is what makes the Jamstack so attractive. There's a revolution happening. After this conference, I can definitely feel it better.
Let's do that
I must say that all the conference speakers were brilliant. Amberley Romo, Tanner Linsley, and Wes Bos gave us some of the best talks I've ever attended. But the after-lunch panel discussion brought ecommerce on stage, and so our main attention.
The discussion touched on many key topics. Tim Brown shared his insights from building Harry's and Flamingo as static ecommerce websites (look at the results and judge for yourself). Kevin Green from The Couch addressed the possible friction that you may encounter when selling ecommerce on the Jamstack to clients. François Nadeau from Snipcart and Garth Brantley from Pilon commented on some of the challenges they have in developing their platforms.
Getting different points of view on what you use to work on a daily basis is always a great opportunity. Someway, listening to other people having the same goals and facing the same issues makes you feel part of something bigger. The guys at Netlify are like a big family leading this revolution from the edge. Literally. Contentful, DatoCMS, Forestry, Sanity, and TakeShape are radically changing content management. Gatsby is pushing static sites to the next level. We at Commerce Layer are adding enterprise ecommerce to the mix.
Sometimes I feel like the Jamstack itself was invented to make ecommerce better. All the great benefits that it brings are exactly what brands aim to get when selling online. Yet, there is still much to do to let them realize how far they can go if they leave the traditional solutions behind. Changing the way of thinking ecommerce is not an easy job. Most decision-makers still prefer to stay in their comfort zone, rather than innovate. The bad news (for them) is that modern ecommerce requires real innovation, not just the one that you can put on a glossy slide.
So, change the technology to change the culture. Good one, Matt. Let's do that. It might take time, but the Jamstack is growing fast. And so do we.