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Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

billprin.com

221–230 of 319 posts

Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

#221

Article: web3 solves decentralized auth, and you are now in control! Also article: to use it, you need to trust a centralized entity like Metamask that develops your Chrome extension and some unknown programmers that code some "smart contracts" aka unverifiable code in esoteric programming languages. Also article: look! a solution! it's better!

You don't need to specifically use Metamask to use a blockchain, just like you don't need to use a specific browser to view this site.

Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

#222
post #187

So now I have to manage not only my own key, but they keys of any of my friends who want me to vouch for them every time they lose their phone? No thank you.

The contract would likely be constructed to use any address (public key) you prefer, so it could be the public address your favorite private key. Or not. The choice is yours.

Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

#223
post #169

So what happens when you get phished with Web3? If the value of all crypto goes down 10% YoY why would you use it? The author makes a bunch of silly assumptions: > We need some way of saying “who we are” on the internet in a consistent manner. That way we can communicate with others in a verified way and associate with digital data that we own. We also often need that data to be interoperable between different web pr…

> No, this is not true. That's why most people on this site are not logging in through Google. Sites will store their own data, and if you trust them to store that data there’s really no reason to just trust them to store a link to your identity. You're missing the point. Yes, we don't need oAuth to log into HN. But HN is a site that is over 15 years old, and reflects the technology of its time. Instead, look at the…

I don't understand your point.

Even if HN used oAuth - even if they required oAuth - ultimately oAuth, oAuth as implemented on most sites is just a thin layer over email so you don't have to make another account.

The problem doesn't require blockchain as a solution. What would the website administrator gain from accepting a blockchain login? People would create accounts but you have no way of contacting them since you have no email. Clearly the kinds of sites you're describing wouldn't accept that.

OK so you associate an email with your blockchain login - so now it's the same as the status quo. What's the point?

Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

#224
post #180
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if I run an online service, and you login with web3, if you're an asshole, I can still ban your "indelible" account

Web3 services will be run by assholes for assholes so they won't need to ban anyone.

Sure they will: The people who call out the BS.

Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I thought I explained it effectively, but there are numerous scenarios where you'd want to use the same identity across multiple services, cross sharing of data, provable rights, etc. But that doesn't mean you're limited to one, or that you want to use it for every service you use. The benefit doesn't disappear, the benefit only applies when you want it. It isn't all or nothing.

You just described OAuth/OIDC.

OAuth helps but it still forces you to rely on a single central provider as your "root". So it's not a complete solution.

Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

#226

> We need some way of saying “who we are” on the internet in a consistent manner. That way we can communicate with others in a verified way and associate with digital data that we own. We also often need that data to be interoperable between different web properties. Do we really need this? Do we really want to permanently tie identity across websites like this? I find this initial "need"/justification/requirement qu…

Yeah I think it is mostly businesses that think this is a huge problem to solve to have identities matched across everything seamlessly. Mostly what I care about is logins and payments which are addressed by password managers and form filling for credit cards. I just want a friction free experience for setting up an account, logging back into it, and maybe purchasing something. And ideally I'd like to self-host, mayb…

[deleted]

Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

#227

All of these decentralization arguments make me think of early git: >Every Git clone is a full-fledged repository with complete history and full revision tracking capabilities, not dependent on network access or a central server... http://web.archive.org/web/20080821113906/http://git-scm.com... Sure git can be used without the need to have have a central server, but everything became so much simpler with github and o…

Is that a bad thing? Web3 is ultimately about building hierarchies(DAO). I would like to see a diversity of new digital hierarchies, new federated systems with unique properties. Not just a purely decentralized system. Decentralized vs. Centralized is a false dichotomy IMO.

Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

#228
post #138

I'm open to the idea that there are real problems that are best solved by PoW/PoS blockchains and smart contracts, so I was hoping this article would reveal one. It doesn't. As mentioned elsewhere, Persona was already a perfectly good technical solution to this, years ago. It failed for various reasons, none of which would be addressed by blockchains/smart contracts. Likewise, the problem of "conveniently and securel…

Have you actually used a web3 website? Once you have your wallet setup it's the most seamless login experience I've ever had. Also, I find it funny whenever someone says something like "web3 doesn't actually solve anything that hasn't been solved by other technologies like X". Then why isn't anyone using X? Why is nobody using Persona or Webauthn despite being "superior"?

> Also, I find it funny whenever someone says something like "web3 doesn't actually solve anything that hasn't been solved by other technologies like X". Then why isn't anyone using X? Why is nobody using Persona or Webauthn despite being "superior"?

I find it funny that you do not detect the irony in what you just said.

Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

#229
post #69

He isn't describing the true state of the world. Banks, brokerages, mortgage providers, and medical entities mostly don't use oauth2 and won't use this stuff either. The world is still old school. Grandpa dies and I go find the paper will. I get an affidavit from a lawyer and a death certificate with a seal from the state. I go into the bank with a bunch of papers and they figure out what to do. There isn't a chain o…

It's forever off because it's the wrong solution to a problem that no one is invested in even fully identifying let alone working at. My hot-take parallel argument is that full self driving is a smart road problem with 'dumber' cars and not a dumb road and smart cars problem. But there's no scope to VC of profit your way into smart road infrastructure so we do it the wrong way round and hope we can throw resources at…

You are correct. I would be plenty happy with 80% self-driving and lots of safety features, but the VCs want the robot trucks and taxis for their trillion dollar win. No way full self-driving can do the last mile or work in all conditions. For example, human eyes have pretty decent dynamic range in dark, snowy conditions. We basically make intuitive decisions about which patch of white stuff in the dark of night is the best one to smash through to get our driveways, and I don't think the computer vision is yet discerning enough to facilitate that.

Re: Real Problems That Web3 Solves, Part 1

#230
A question that isn't really delved into here, given a social recovery scheme, this iiuc must run on chain, so there are gas fees associated with account recovery. What's the cost to recover an account if I lose it today? Is there any way to reduce that cost, or will there always be some (potentially hundreds-of-dollars) fee associated with account recovery?
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