There are some very powerful benefits that accrue from the use
of HTTP based Hypermedia. 7 that come to mind immediately
include:
- Structured & Platform Independent Enterprise Data Virtualization -- concrete conceptual
level access and provisioning of abstract domain entities such as
Customers, Orders, Employees, Products, Countries, Competitors
etc.
- Distributed Application State (REST) -- application state transitions via
links
- Structured Data Representation (Linked Data) -- whole data data
representation via links
- Structured Identity (WebID) -- verifiable distributed
identity
- Structured Profiles (FOAF) -- platform independent profiles for
people and organizations
- Articulation of Structured Value Propositions (GoodRelations) -- Product & Service
Offers, Business Entities, Locations, Business Hours, etc.
- Structured Collaboration Spaces (SIOC) --
Blogs, Wikis, File Sharing, Discussion Forums, Aggregated Feeds,
Statuses, Photo Galleries, Polls etc.