My question with any blockchain application is always what does it solve that a centralized trusted database doesn't solve faster and with less waste? You can implement social recovery in a centralized database with less waste.
Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1
31–40 of 319 posts
Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1
#32Several years ago, Mozilla/Firefox created "Persona," which was an open-source federated identity system that provided all the benefits described here. The idea was that it would eventually be built into browsers. I used it on a commercial site myself for many years. It failed to gain traction, and Mozilla eventually pulled the plug. Persona had many advantages over the Web3 vision described in this article. It was p…
Agreed. This comes down to lack of power to push a system onto it's potential users, mozilla didn't have a userbase large enough nor could incentivize 3rd parties to force onto their users. You could argue if the ux was good it would have just succeeded, but I think that's bs. Funds are the number one predictor of success of anything.
My worry with the blockchain is that now it has VCs that are going to pump so much funds in it to keep it spinning and force everybody to use it because you need that service, and now (in the future) it's only provided through the blockchain (because the alternative off-chain company cannot raise funds so it doesn't exist, it fails, or it's a worse experience).
Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1
#33My big question with using a Web3 login is what advantages it gives the website owner. With social Web 2.0 login, I can be fairly sure the person logging in has a valid email address, a name, etc, and it is a single click for the user vs filling in all the info all over again. With a Web3 login, it is basically the same. Except I'm not really given any personal info like name or email, so I need ask them for that any…
Web3 emphasizes privacy be default. Emails are no longer needed for password management so if u need them for something else users should opt-in.
I have a hunch that many services they will probably want to collect the emails anyway. It provides websites a convenient excuse to ask people to join their marketing spam list. In most cases privacy isn't a profitable business proposition.
Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1
#34Several years ago, Mozilla/Firefox created "Persona," which was an open-source federated identity system that provided all the benefits described here. The idea was that it would eventually be built into browsers. I used it on a commercial site myself for many years. It failed to gain traction, and Mozilla eventually pulled the plug. Persona had many advantages over the Web3 vision described in this article. It was p…
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Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1
#35Are there security/UX risks with users getting used to using their wallet for auth ? It's difficult to know a safe vs. potentially unsafe site when it comes to crypto. Reading the docs, it appears to be relatively limited permissions, but either by giving more permissions than desired or phishing? Or can they combine the authentication with additional information to become a more effective spearphishing target?
If my email account is phished or hacked, it's bad, but there's a level between my cash and my email account. If I make a mistake here, potential losses are higher. In which case I'd probably have a 2nd wallet for auth and another I actually use, which then becomes more of a pain. I don't trust my parents or less technical relatives to use this flow safely.
Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1
#36Several years ago, Mozilla/Firefox created "Persona," which was an open-source federated identity system that provided all the benefits described here. The idea was that it would eventually be built into browsers. I used it on a commercial site myself for many years. It failed to gain traction, and Mozilla eventually pulled the plug. Persona had many advantages over the Web3 vision described in this article. It was p…
One possible advantage web3 has over Persona is that it is not under the control of Mozilla or whatever foundation Mozilla set up to address those very predictable concerns. Being distributed might help it gain early adopter mindshare which could lead to future UX improvements. (Not saying I believe this will definitely happen, just that Persona failing isn't a guarantee of failure here.)
That’s a lot of words to say “this will have better marketing thanks to crypto hype.”
Seems to be the selling point of most web3 and blockchain solutions once you brush the buzzwords off the copy.
Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1
#37Several years ago, Mozilla/Firefox created "Persona," which was an open-source federated identity system that provided all the benefits described here. The idea was that it would eventually be built into browsers. I used it on a commercial site myself for many years. It failed to gain traction, and Mozilla eventually pulled the plug. Persona had many advantages over the Web3 vision described in this article. It was p…
One possible advantage web3 has over Persona is that it is not under the control of Mozilla or whatever foundation Mozilla set up to address those very predictable concerns. Being distributed might help it gain early adopter mindshare which could lead to future UX improvements. (Not saying I believe this will definitely happen, just that Persona failing isn't a guarantee of failure here.)
If it only were Persona the thing that failed... But I've seen quite a lot of attempts at federated identity and turns out people don't care too much about that. People just want to login to whatever site to do things. Login with Twitter/FB/whatever is offered to reduce login friction, not because people think of them as identity providers. Offering "another identity provider" is solving the part of the problem most users really don't care for.
Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apple already provides something like that that’s WAY more popular and doesn’t require the waste of resources a public blockchain would. I know some people (especially us techies) like to control the whole stack but who do you think the majority of normal users would prefer?
Bitcoin doesn't support web3. Ethereum is moving to proof-of-stake, so the resources issue is gonna become a thing of the past. Also using web3 for authentication doesn't broadcast any transaction. So zero resources are used at that point. Apple has a closed platform mindset, I hope users will see the benefits in a decentralized open protocol.
> I hope users will see the benefits in a decentralized open protocol.
See I think this here is the biggest issue. I feel like we have 30+ years of proof that normal users LIKE centralization for the convenience and ease it provides.
Email is basically the last man standing when it comes to distributed implementations and 1) it had reached mass adoption early enough to survive and 2) we’ve centralized it to a large degree anyway with Gmail and outlook.com
Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1
#39Several years ago, Mozilla/Firefox created "Persona," which was an open-source federated identity system that provided all the benefits described here. The idea was that it would eventually be built into browsers. I used it on a commercial site myself for many years. It failed to gain traction, and Mozilla eventually pulled the plug. Persona had many advantages over the Web3 vision described in this article. It was p…
federated systems are bad, they combine the negatives of centralized and decentralized systems it is no wonder that they fail repeatedly
Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1
#40Are there any security risks with signing onto a site with Metamask? Is there any way for them to drain your wallet without prompting you?
If not, then it seems to be a superior method and experience. You don't have to deal with usernames/email/password, and it offers more functionality with currency.