The web is not a broadcast medium in the traditional sense; nor is it a print medium.

Although some “brochureware sites” try to treat it that way, with heavy use of Flash and press release copy, most websites do exhibit at least some of the interactive elements missing from television and newspapers – discussion boards, feedback forms, online shops.

But historically, both the back-end capabilities and the front-end interface of a site have been entirely under the control of the site owner. If they provide an option to change the site colours, you can change them – usually between three equally vile schemes – but if not, you're out of luck.

If they have a discussion board, you can use it – subject to their censorship; otherwise, go talk somewhere else.

But why should this be? Shouldn't users be able to improve sites for their needs, creating new services by combining existing ones to remix the web?

When Tim Berners-Lee invented the worldwide web, he thought it was just as important to be able to edit as to browse. He may have been thinking of having a personal home page, but surely the principle extends to customising pages created by others?

The last year has seen a massive increase in web remixing, but the start of the trend was borne of necessity.

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