If we didn't have the web, all networking above OSI L4 on all operating systems would have been encrypted by default. A simple set of syscalls and kernel features could have enabled it. But since the web was there, and popularized a solution for secure communications (TLS + HTTP), everyone just jumped on that bandwagon, and built skyscrapers on top of a used books store.
The weird irony is it's the old "worse is better" winning again. HTTP and TLS are fairly bad protocols, in their own ways. But put them together and they're better than whatever else exists. It's just too bad we didn't keep them and ditch the browser.
The weird irony is it's the old "worse is better" winning again. HTTP and TLS are fairly bad protocols, in their own ways. But put them together and they're better than whatever else exists. It's just too bad we didn't keep them and ditch the browser.