1 year ago
As with immoderate narrative, the Web3 narrative serves definite stakeholders and is successful turn, fueled by them to service their interests.
On 1 side, it is the task capitalists facile exhortation astatine a euphemism for the word that K Street does not favour (“crypto”); connected different broadside it is simply a half-hearted effort by the hoi polloi connected LinkedIn/Twitter to connect themselves to what they spot arsenic the adjacent large thing; connected a 3rd side, it is simply a proactive effort by immoderate entrenched crypto players to piggy-back connected the task capitalists selling and effort to legitimize themselves; and, from a 4th side, it is simply a pre-emptive run by the deep-rooted exertion manufacture giants to negociate marketplace expectations and presumption themselves arsenic the inevitable winners of this ostensibly evolutionary trend.
Let america propulsion the curtain backmost and demystify what is happening down the scenes.
The Original (Static) Web: Access to Information, Search and E-Commerce
“Well, I recovered it frustrating that successful those days, determination was antithetic accusation connected antithetic computers, but you had to log connected to antithetic computers to get astatine it. Also, sometimes you had to larn a antithetic programme connected each computer. So, uncovering retired however things worked was truly difficult. Often it was conscionable easier to spell and inquire radical erstwhile they were having coffee.”
That was his aha moment, and Sir Tim Berners-Lee went connected to invent a fundamentally caller mode to stock accusation utilizing hypertext. He besides managed to invent HTML, HTTP, and the ideas down URI/URLs successful his spare clip and coded the archetypal web browser (“WorldWideWeb.app”) and the archetypal web server (“httpd”) to boot.
Now, to springiness recognition wherever recognition is due, the prolific inventor Vannevar Bush had earlier envisioned libraries of probe with annotations akin to today’s hyperlinks, and it is nary mishap that nexus investigation yet became the cornerstone for hunt algorithms. Search led to fulfillment i.e., buying and selling implicit the web, and the advent of SSL 1.0 to unafraid online transactions sealed the deal, truthful to say.
We had go online “consumers”. Then modern-day Silicon Valley took implicit to bash what it does best, which is to “capture” value, and we saw what ensued with the dot com bust.
The Second (Dynamic) Web: User-Generated Content, Social Media and Surveillance Capitalism
The Web 2.0 tag emerged arsenic a catch-all operation to notation to the mushrooming exemplary of enabling consumers to interact and collaborate with each different done “social media”, virally bootstrapped by “user-generated content”. This was successful opposition to the archetypal question of the Web wherever users were constricted to passively “consuming” immoderate contented was rendered down the HTTP tube from the website.
Berners-Lee did not similar this tagline – helium is said to person described it arsenic jargon. But we did not care, and with the advent of Facebook, YouTube, etc. we were enthralled by the caller “social” web (VC-jargon) oregon the “read-write” web (technology manufacture jargon) and we were each present contented creators. Life was bully until the realization that nary 1 other was paying either and that we had each present go the “product”.
The prophets who had predicted a shifting distant of power backmost to the idiosyncratic and to the consumer-creator proceed to beryllium faced with the world of a dystopian strategy of surveillance capitalism; “the unilateral claiming of backstage quality acquisition arsenic escaped earthy worldly for translation into behavioral data” to punctuation Professor Shoshanna Zuboff.
Yes, it is free, but astatine what cost? Loss of privacy, firm and authorities surveillance, undermining and seeding, and feeding distrust astatine the local, national, and supra-national levels, and sowing part left, close and center. But remember, the ads are personalized, and the behaviour manipulation is subliminal to springiness the devil his due.
The bequest of Web 2.0 volition beryllium viewed successful however it reconciles its individuality arsenic an bonzer profit-making instrumentality that turned commercialized and concern models connected their caput with its ain contentious aboriginal 21st period relation successful the American zeitgeist.
Sovereignty: What the Web is not, and what Blockchains are about
“We person projected a strategy for physics transactions without relying connected trust”. That was Satoshi Nakamoto’s succinct decision successful his seminal paper.
A strategy for physics transactions without relying connected a trusted 3rd party.
That is it. There is thing successful determination astir the Web, oregon Web 2.0 oregon the putative Web 3.0. If you are gathering a strategy for physics transactions without relying connected a trusted 3rd party, past by each means usage blockchains. Else, spell your merry way.
In applicable terms, blockchains are economical platforms that alteration the improvement of systems for processing physics transactions without relying connected a trusted 3rd party. Why economical platforms? Because, dissimilar each accepted computing platforms, blockchain platforms person intrinsic economical incentives that guarantee the integrity of the infrastructure.
Now, determination are broadside effects to not relying connected a trusted third-party, notably sovereignty i.e., power implicit applicable (private) information oregon different assets, capableness to take wherever specified assets are stored and/or custodied, and the quality to supply entree to pertinent information (or not) to those who request it for nevertheless agelong you chose to.
Sovereignty is interesting; it is significant, and it volition beryllium indispensable successful the coming years. You cognize this and I don’t request to accidental much here.
The assemblage did not request to usage the word Web3 until the VC-types showed up; to spell afloat circle, Berners-Lee precocious called retired that “In fact, Web3 is not the web astatine all”, and helium has his ain connection termed “Web 3.0” to reshape the Internet, to adhd to the word-salad; perhaps, it is clip to driblet this baggage and conscionable telephone it a blockchain. Neither much nor less.
The station Op-ed: Web3 — consciousness and nonsense appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.
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