HTML, and the web stack by extension, have their faults, but the advent of the web should've been a humbling experience for Alan Kay. I deeply respect Alan Kay for his achievements, but he appears to have been stuck in "object land" for a few decades now. For example, he seems to hate the idea of "simple data" for philosophical reasons (see [1]), but it's undeniable that "data" is not a bad idea at all and we use it proficuously every day. The fact that a physicist succeeded in creating a worldwide hypertext, and the best computer scientists didn't, should be telling. There is a lesson here somewhere, just dismissing the web as the work of amateurs is missing the mark. I love Alan, but sometimes, he is his own worst enemy.
[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11941656