Take off or not – two different points of view on Web3
New format
Entrepreneur Chris Dixon is among those who believe Web3 is the future. He convinced, the new concept will combine user-friendly interfaces and reliable decentralized schemes that will return users control over their data and generated content. Web3 can change not only the usual approaches to development, but also transform the entertainment industry. Several large companies are planning launch metaverses with a blockchain-based economy. In theory, musicians, writers, streamers, and other content creators will be more fairly compensated for their work.
At the same time, there is an opinion that Web3 will create a new gig-economy in which there are no centralized platforms, and workers can be paid for their work without aprons. The goals and ideas of the concept of the new Internet are quite ambitious and even utopian. However, the founder of Signal and the protocol of the same name, Moxy Marlinspike convincedthat all this is not a passing fad that everyone will forget about in a couple of years. Too much money has already been invested in related technologies (and the industry itself is showing impressive growth) to just get up and leave.
buzzword
Of course, there are those who consider Web3 “buzzword‘ with blurry meaning. Yes, the concept emphasizes blockchain technology and the decentralization of the Internet, but it misses the reason why centralized platforms even arose – because ordinary people do not want manage their own servers (and most likely never want to). In addition, in the current implementation of Web3, centralization is still present. The same metaverses are formed in the context of ecosystems of developer companies. In such conditions, content is produced, promoted and monetized within a controlled environment, and users operate with internal currency.
There is no reason to believe that companies will abandon the source of income, so there is no need to talk about full decentralization. Skeptics considerthat a hybrid model will be implemented, including a centralized Internet with Web3 elements.
Another difficulty is related to the fact that does not exist an efficient way to connect thousands of blockchain networks with each other. Although the solution may be the development of a specialized cross-chain infrastructure. First steps in this direction already doing — in December 2021, they announced a network protocol that implements the exchange of data between open and closed blockchains.
Worth a miss
The modern Internet is slowly moving to new solutions. Just look at the rate at which IPv6 is being adopted – no more than 21% of websites are using it so far. In the IT community, one can come across the opinion that the new generation protocol was outdated even before it became widespread. Similar thoughts visit enthusiasts in the context of Web3. Therefore, they express ideas for moving to Web4.
But how it will look, one can only guess. One of the Hacker News users thinksthat the concept will mark the return of federations with data hosted on users’ computers and phones and secure methods differential privacy. On the Earth 2050 website, where futurists and scientists publish predictions, you can meet the ideathat in Web4 we are waiting for the development of bidirectional neurocomputer interfaces for the exchange of information between the human brain and any electronic device. But in any case, before the appearance of such technologies, a lot of time will still have to pass.
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