This talk by Douglas Crockford, standard bearer of JSON, is an interesting history lesson on JSON’s origins. Douglas provides plenty of amusing perspective on JSON’s position as the popular data interchange format it has become and the landscape it evolved in. He seems to enjoy taking a “heretical” perspective, which is usually more fun to listen to in a tech talk, and this is no exception.One recurring theme that caught my attention was the aspiration to simplicity in the format, especially in comparison to xml. It’s a lesson worth revisiting.