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Is Web3 anything?

chris-granger.com

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Re: Is Web3 anything?

#151

Post by mattwilsonn888 »

bushbaba wrote: post #48
CurrentB wrote: post #43

Nice read. What I don't get about all the crypto haters, who will probably make up the majority of replies here, are they really just happy with the status quo? Do they really think the current financial system is great and their online bank account is perfect and nothing radical is worth trying? That usernames and passwords given to each of a million different companies are so great, why would people want to manage…

Idk. I get my direct deposit into my account from my employer for free. I can transfer funds to pay bills for free. And I can go anywhere in the world and withdraw money for less than a 5$ fee in less than a minute. Try doing that with crypto.

"I can get my favorite articles delivered to my door, I can watch my sports games live, I can talk to my parent's across country instantly and cheaply over the phone. Try doing any of that with 'the internet.'" Sometimes you're just early, bud.

Re: Is Web3 anything?

#152

Post by mattwilsonn888 »

nprz wrote: post #125
CurrentB wrote: post #43

Nice read. What I don't get about all the crypto haters, who will probably make up the majority of replies here, are they really just happy with the status quo? Do they really think the current financial system is great and their online bank account is perfect and nothing radical is worth trying? That usernames and passwords given to each of a million different companies are so great, why would people want to manage…

HN readers love to pretend the status quo needs changing, but when anyone puts forth a concrete idea on how to make that change (like the crypto community), they'll agree there's an issue, but say that this solution isn't the right one. They will endlessly repeat this cycle and proclaim frustration when nothing ever changes.

If a problem actually gets solved then what will everyone complain about? It will make this place completely irrelevant!

Re: Is Web3 anything?

#153

Post by myownpetard »

onion2k wrote: post #77
robbedpeter wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As open source successes start to accumulate, the costs will go down. Reuse is incentivized as development on the cryptocurrency as opposed to a perpetually monetized rent extraction by regulators or "professionals."

As open source successes start to accumulate, the costs will go down. That hasn't happened in any other area of open source. Linux is supported by billion dollar companies with hundreds-of-millions in revenue. Container software is supported by tech giants. Browsers are the same. Web frameworks are either from corporations or they're built by people who are sponsored to build them. Most successful open source project…

I don't think they are talking about the cost of running an open source project. They are talking about the cost of creating and deploying a robust application. In that sense the cost has absolutely gone down. It's trivial to create a web application today in a way that would have been incredibly costly 20 years ago.

You don't have to pull a Paul Graham and invent a the concept of a web application for the first time. You can piggyback on decades of development and open source software and frameworks and libraries. One developer and create and deploy an application in a weekend that would take a team of engineers months to build 2000.

Re: Is Web3 anything?

#154

Post by 908087 »

EGreg wrote: post #31

[flagged]

> FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HUMAN HISTORY, YOU CAN WRITE A PROGRAM THAT EVERYONE CAN TRUST TO DO WHAT THE CODE SAYS.

Yes, which often translates to: "If someone interacts with this buggy code in an unexpected (to the developer) way, allow them to irreversibly transfer all user funds to themselves"

But hey, code is law.

Re: Is Web3 anything?

#155

Post by mattwilsonn888 »

aardvarkr wrote: post #29
westoncb wrote: post #10

> Most of the descriptions I’ve seen focus on mechanisms - block chains, smart contracts, tokens, etc - but I would argue those are implementation details ... The real question is what fundamental capability are people pointing to when they talk about web3? That's exactly the change in focus needed in order for discussions of this topic to be more rational/sober/productive, imo.

Then it just becomes a solution in search of a problem. Utterly useless.

That's only the most negative way to frame it, and it assumes from your own opinions facts about what people in general want.

Re: Is Web3 anything?

#156

Post by cormacrelf »

maccolgan wrote: post #143
cormacrelf wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, but as we speak Russia has amassed 150k+ troops on the Ukrainian border and Putin is waiting to see whether the West can apply enough sanctions to make the whole effort a net loss before he gives the green light on an invasion.

But why do I have to care about that? Due to the overreach of US policies even companies in countries which don't have sanctions against Russia have to worry about the efficiency and performance of payments going towards Russia. SEPA and ACH may be marginally performant but SWIFT is incredibly expensive, which is the only option you have for international transfers that doesn't depend on an American monopoly of power…

Do you just not care about anybody else in the world? We live in a society.

I am surprised at the political ideas on display in this thread. This isn’t even under the comment in which I described the influence of “techno-libertarian anarcho-capitalism” on the crypto community! If you are not part of a western democracy, of course you do not have to care, but if you are, then you should. (Moreover if you think war is bad, like that other commenter agreed before wondering how to erase the effect of sanction deterrents, you should also care.)

Re: Is Web3 anything?

#157

Post by gorgoiler »

lmm wrote: post #7

But is there any case where you'd actually trust a pile of blockchains more than an existing trust mechanism (whether that's neighbourliness, contract law, or something else)? If you're not a programmer, getting a programmer to review your smart contract probably costs more than getting a lawyer to review your regular contract. If you are a programmer, you probably know better than to rely on some code being bug-free…

This idea of a legal bug is interesting.

It feels like The United States unofficial 0th amendment is the enshrined concept of getting off on a technicality. It comes with the territory with a written constitution.

OJ, sexual relations with that woman, Capone’s unpaid parking tickets, hanging chads… or anything heard by the Supreme Circus.

A huge part of the legal system, or at least the part that goes to trial, is exploiting the equivalent of bugs in the legal code.

Re: Is Web3 anything?

#158

Post by fatbird »

latchkey wrote: post #148
fatbird wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Miners choose where it's profitable to mine, which will always be the more active blockchain. It's called voting with your feet, and clearly Ethereum miners followed the quorum of powerful individuals. What matters your massive holdings of ETC when there's no buyers?

Disclosure: I'm a very very large miner and I've been doing it across many protocols over the last 7 years. You're right that miners choose profitability, but we also choose technology. I don't mine BTC any more, I mine with GPUs (and thus ETH). There are a dozen chains I could mine with these GPUs, but I'd like to see the success of ETH over others. I can tell you with certainty, no quorum of powerful individuals in…

I understand. What did influence that decision? I expect it would be your overall appraisal of the viability of a particular blockchain and future expectations of activity. Is that accurate?

Re: Is Web3 anything?

#159

Post by ElFitz »

Longwelwind wrote: post #62
tracyhenry wrote: post #3

> Once submitted, that “contract” will be carried out exactly as specified. It is observable to everyone, debuggable, and non-falsifiable. But a centralized database can also achieve this, right? The premise of the general public trusting a blockchain more than an established, centralized 3rd party (e.g. government) seems so feeble.

If I understood Web3 correctly, it would be exactly like traditional web, except that: * The source code of all websites would be open-source, and accessible to anyone. It could still be changed, but it could not be done secretly. * All the actions of the users of the websites would be public. If we take social forums, for example Hacker News, it would mean that: * The algorithm behind the front page of social forums…

> The biggest downside, though, is that there would be a fee to any action done on the website.

I’d also add keeping an eternal, permanent, public record of everything as a big downside.

Re: Is Web3 anything?

#160

Post by dmz73 »

I am starting a campaign for web4. Optionally decentralised internet with no trust. It is simple, you can browse anything anywhere anytime and you can never trust any of it. It can be static forever or dynamic so it always changes. It can use blockchain as a way to verify history or as anonymous messages as you can make them. No obligations, no commitments. Free or not. Just do it!
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