This is an excellent overview of the emerging user interface paradigm of cards from Chris Tse. It attempts to answer the basic but still open question, “What is a card?” and proposes a very compelling if still not definitive set of answers. I don’t agree with everything in this presentation, but I think Tse gets at least a few things very right: cards represent a potentially powerful link between the open web and native apps, and that the “movability” or interoperability of cards are a critical factor in their success.

Tse approaches the conceptual foundation of cards as a proponent of open standards and in opposition to “lock down.” He delivered this presentation as a preview of Cardstack.io, an effort to build “a Card Ecosystem based on Open Web technologies and Open Source ethos that fights back against rampant lock-in.”