The server here is actually not a centralize server in a traditional world. It's a node that connect to the network and replica state.
When running transaction, you send it to that node, that node then broadcast it to network. This node here is like a replica in a traditional database.
You can run that node, and talk to it through http, websocket.
The point about trusting server signature the author bring up is bad IMHO. Even with a database, if you install some malicious Postgres package that return fake data for example, it doesn't help you at all if you enable TLS or not.
The point about verification is that read-only data isn't important because write always get verified. If you connect to a malicious node, that change the data it returns to you on purpose, then it's fine. But when you write data to the system, it always get verify so it isn't a problem at all.
The point here is that you are the one that run that node, and you are responsible for it. Entire point of Ethereum is that anyone can run node that connect to the network to replicate its state.
If you take out all the hype(OpenSea is a massive scam here no argue), I found web3 is really amazing.
1. It's a public dataset that anyone can read data and listen to event
anyone know something like that in current web1/2? Example, when I bough a domain name on namecheap or google domain. Can anyone know that? When I change my DNS, do anyone know that?
With Ethereum when you run a WRITE method on a smart contract, when you transfer event. Everything can be emitted. And you can listen to it.
The code is almost always open source.
2. Build-in Authentication System
Many website use wallet to sign in but didn't verified a signature. In fact, that signing is very cool in deed. That signature verifcation ensure that only you can sign that data, send it to server and server can verified it with your public key, which is part of your address
3. No one can stop you
If you search hacker news, you will found many people got blocked/suspended randomly by Stripe, Paypal then what do you do?
4. Openness
This is a system that anyone can read. Think about that for a second. Anyone can read its data. Without the need of any API. Everything follow a standard, which is smart contract.
Anyone can write, if you're willing to pay.
You're pretty much can see the code of any legitimate company. Pretty much all of them published their contract on ethscan, to make it convenience for you to run directly.
If you don't like some webui, you can just write to its directly.
Literally just a `curl`, without you to even register for an account.
I know that many people like to dismiss web3, the term is broad and bad IMHO, but think about the thing that it gives us. I can think of some example how web3 is great.
1. ACL: any changes is published, if a malicious activity happen, pretty much anyone can monitor it
2. Charity Fund: we can see what happen with the fund, transfer to where, when, who made it