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The Future Is Decentralized

modernconsensus.com

21–30 of 62 posts

Re: The Future Is Decentralized

#21
post #18

Can't anyone still share information using the normal internet? You don't need the blockchain in order to set up a website and start sharing information. Few choose to do this because it is more work than using a centralized system. Using Facebook or twitter is much easier to use. What does the blockchain really change? So far, it doesn't seem to be any easier than sharing information the traditional way.

I don't know if that strictly goes to what the article was talking about, but nevertheless: Blockchains can prove that two parties once agreed on something, cheaply. That is remarkably valuable information (of such bricks economies are built). And it is truly remarkable that there is nothing in the blockchain that a government can do about it. Ditto anyone else. I believe it is financial information and preference da…

> Blockchains can prove that two parties once agreed on something, cheaply.

it's not as cheap as trusting a third party. The evidence for this is that block chain as a form of financial payment system is still way outstripped by commercial credit card providers. And it's not just existing/legacy momentum either, because if you look at china, the advent of digital payment systems on the mobile _could've_ been using the block chain, but it hasn't.

> nothing in the blockchain that a government can do about it.

And unless the entire transaction _only_ occurs on the blockchain, a gov't can always do something about it using the rubber-hose law of security.

Re: The Future Is Decentralized

#22
post #9

No it is not and it never will be. There is no business model for it. The business models are in centralization and those central points have the money to make an unbeatable user experience. Decentralized solutions can not compete and will thus never gain traction.

what a lack of imagination. You could copy paste your argument changing the nouns and apply it to any open source endeavour. Of course there is strong resistance from the powers that be, but to claim never is an incredible act of Hubris.

Decentralization is almost always touted by people who are clueless about economics, human behavior, technology, finance etc.

Re: The Future Is Decentralized

#23
post #9

No it is not and it never will be. There is no business model for it. The business models are in centralization and those central points have the money to make an unbeatable user experience. Decentralized solutions can not compete and will thus never gain traction.

what a lack of imagination. You could copy paste your argument changing the nouns and apply it to any open source endeavour. Of course there is strong resistance from the powers that be, but to claim never is an incredible act of Hubris.

There is relatively very little money in open source. Also the scale of running a large application is very different compared to running an open source project most of which ironically are centralized in some way if not via GitHub, then certainly by the presence of a BDFL who drives the project.

Re: The Future Is Decentralized

#24
post #8

> Decentralizing the web through new technologies like blockchain and decentralized protocols can ensure that the web remains community-focused and user-oriented, Let's be realistic. A safe-place for anonymous money transactions is never ever going to be community-focused. It may start out community-focused but we all know it is going to end up like 4chan.

4chan is a community oriented place on the Internet just like any other. Just because it doesn't cater to your tastes specifically it doesn't mean it's a negative example of a community.

When people mention "community-focused", they often omit that the community refers to their own community.

Re: The Future Is Decentralized

#26
What a dumb article,

2020 proved what a decentralized system will optimize for -- Toilet Paper.

You needed a concentrated, centralized entity to gather resources, enforce rules, provide massive stimulus, control interest rates to tackle this.

In fact the better centralized you were (China, South Korea, Taiwan), the better you did. US, most western democracies can't do 100% centralization and hence suffered the most

Re: The Future Is Decentralized

#27
post #3

I think one of the more killer features brought to the table is using walletconnect to log into dapps. I can navigate to an app ‘log in’ using my own wallet and it allows me to purchase items without needing to create an account. This is a breath of fresh air compared to modern ecommerce sites that ‘require’ you to send over a truckload of personal information, create a login, verify your email etc just so you can pu…

How does the merchant ship your single item of clothing w/out you giving them your address?

You create another Dapp, which connects the merchant with a PO-box like warehouse which has numbered drop locations. You pay for a drop location, and the merchant gets the id of that drop location only. They send it there, the warehouse Dapp has to pay somebody to do a physical verification that a drop happened. Then you get notified of the drop, and go pick it up.

Re: The Future Is Decentralized

#28
post #18

Can't anyone still share information using the normal internet? You don't need the blockchain in order to set up a website and start sharing information. Few choose to do this because it is more work than using a centralized system. Using Facebook or twitter is much easier to use. What does the blockchain really change? So far, it doesn't seem to be any easier than sharing information the traditional way.

I don't know if that strictly goes to what the article was talking about, but nevertheless: Blockchains can prove that two parties once agreed on something, cheaply. That is remarkably valuable information (of such bricks economies are built). And it is truly remarkable that there is nothing in the blockchain that a government can do about it. Ditto anyone else. I believe it is financial information and preference da…

> ... cheaply ...

For some values of "cheaply", of course. Reliance on a mutually-trusted third party, where feasible, is a lot cheaper than any blockchain.

Re: The Future Is Decentralized

#29
Isn't this fundamentally a political issue? Even unbreakable encryption and stuff like shortwave broadcasts can be outlawed by a government which will lead to a very few number of holdouts on the run from law and the rest of society is going to comply.

True change can only happen if people passionate about this manage to convince the REST of the 95% to back them and adopt the ideals.

Re: The Future Is Decentralized

#30
post #8

> Decentralizing the web through new technologies like blockchain and decentralized protocols can ensure that the web remains community-focused and user-oriented, Let's be realistic. A safe-place for anonymous money transactions is never ever going to be community-focused. It may start out community-focused but we all know it is going to end up like 4chan.

4chan is better for your mental health than facebook, twitter or istagam.
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