MCP: An (Accidentally) Universal Plugin System

Why would they be incentivized to do that if they survived all the previous hype waves and still have access gated?

> user wants automations on data and actions on a service they are already using,

How many users want that? Why didn't companies do all this before, since the need for automation has always been there?

Obviously, for http apis you might often see something like an open API specification or graphql which both typically allow an api to describe itself. But this is not commonly a thing for non-http, which is something that mcp supports.

MCP might be the first standard for self-described apis across all protocols(I might be misusing protocols here but not sure what the word technically should be. I think the MCP spec calls it transport but I might be wrong there), making it slightly more universal.

I think the author is wrong to discount the importance of an llm as an interface here though. I do think the majority of mcp clients will be llms. An API might get you 90% of the way there but if the llm gets you 99.9% by handling that last bit of plumbing it's going to go mainstream.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29225777

DonHopkins on Nov 15, 2021 | parent | context | favorite | on: Xerox scanners/photocopiers randomly alter numbers...

The iSmell developers were hoping to make money the same way, by selling big smell combination pack cartridges that you have to entirely replace after any one of the smells ran out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISmell

>The iSmell Personal Scent Synthesizer developed by DigiScents Inc. is a small device that can be connected to a computer through a Universal serial bus (USB) port and powered using any ordinary electrical outlet. The appearance of the device is similar to that of a shark’s fin, with many holes lining the “fin” to release the various scents. Using a cartridge similar to a printer’s, it can synthesize and even create new smells from certain combinations of other scents. These newly created odors can be used to closely replicate common natural and manmade odors. The cartridges used also need to be swapped every so often once the scents inside are used up. Once partnered with websites and interactive media, the scents can be activated either automatically once a website is opened or manually. However, the product is no longer on the market and never generated substantial sales. Digiscent had plans for the iSmell to have several versions but did not progress past the prototype stage. The company did not last long and filed for bankruptcy a short time after.

This Wired Magazine article is a classic Marc Canter interview. I'm surprised they could smell the output of the iSmell USB device over the pungent bouquet from all the joints he was smoking:

You've Got Smell!

https://web.archive.org/web/20160303130915/https://www.wired...

>DigiScent is here. If this technology takes off, it's gonna launch the next Web revolution. Joel Lloyd Bellenson places a little ceramic bowl in front of me and lifts its lid. "Before we begin," he says, "you need to clear your nasal palate." I peer into the bowl. "Coffee beans," explains Bellenson's partner, Dexster Smith. […]

>"You know, I don't think the transition from wood smoke to bananas worked very well." -Marc Canter

The failed quest to bring smells to the internet (thehustle.co)

https://thehustle.co/digiscents-ismell-fail

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17476460

DigiScent had a booth at the 1999 Game Developers Conference, with scantily dressed young women in skunk costumes.

I told them about a game called "The Sims" I had been working on for a long time, and was hoping to finish and release some time soon.

They unsuccessfully tried to convince me to make The Sims support the iSmell, and even gave me a copy of the SDK documentation, because they thought it would enrich the player's experience of all those sweaty unwashed sims, blue puddles of piss on the floor, stopped up toilets in the bathroom, and plates of rotting food with flies buzzing around on the dining room table.

The whole hype around AI replacing entire job functions does not have as much traction as the concept of using agents to handle all of the administrative stuff that connects a workflow together.

Any open source model that supports MCP can do it, so there’s no vendor lock in, no need to learn the setup for different workflow tools, and a lot of money saved on seats for expensive SaaS tools.

https://elevenlabs.io/

https://layercode.com/ (https://x.com/uselayercode has demos)

Have you used the live mode on the Gemini App (or stream on AI Studio)?