Gregory's Server@mildpeach I think there are things where cookies are sensible. Eg user prefs. Or: I built myself a page to check my local real-time bus API and I wanted a way to store my frequently used bus stops as favourites. There's probably other ways but cookies was most lightweight.
I think the problem came when people stopped thinking "What data should the browser remember about the website?" and started thinking "What data can the website (/3rd-party advertiser) remember about the browser?"
@zeborah @bagder
Yes, one of the things it’s easy to forget is the theoretical advantages of how an internet feature plays out (dns, cookies, yada yada) vs how it has been monetized in reality by faceless entities. The Internet has not played out anything like the people at DARPA envisioned. So, imho, some things like cookies have taken on such an evil character/usage that they should be banned. Just saying…