Format Design

"Smart people think of good things that are crazy enough that they just might work, and then they give them away, over and over, until they slowly take over the world." — Anil Dash

What Is It?

Format Design is the art of creating data formats, protocols, and conventions that actually get adopted. It's not about technical superiority — it's about fit, timing, and community.

Markdown beat Textile. JSON beat XML. RSS survived. Why?

The 10 Reasons Markdown Won

From Anil Dash's "How Markdown Took Over the World" (January 2025):