Right now is a magical time!
Innovation seems to be accelerating! In a mere fifty years, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, Matt Damon went to Mars, scientists cloned dinosaurs and made a documentary about it called "Jurassic Park," the Internet was born, and now a rethinking of human interaction.
What if we are finding our way "back" to something like being part of tribes? But instead of "back," it's UPWARD to something more nurturing and challenging than either the current way or the old tribal way?
Before we dive in, let’s answer the question everyone has on their minds. How can we have unlimited pizza while living forever with young healthy bodies?
I kid! That's a different story. What I meant to say is: How will dApps affect you?
Short answer
- Reduction in corruption.
- Increase in efficiency.
- Increase in security.
- Decrease in cost of services.
Is your interest piqued? Wanna know more? Tell me all your passwords.
I kid. Read on.
Let's begin by understanding what a decentralized app is
In a nutshell, decentralized applications (dApps) are pretty much incorruptible, unhackable, and require no condoms to keep you safe. As you will see by the examples below, dApps often provide a solution to a service that previously suffered from requiring a "middle man". Think lawyers, bankers, used car dealers, currency traders, bond traders, stock brokers, escrow agents, et al.
Let's look briefly at an important type of dApp called a "smart contract"
Here are some pretty pictures showing some ways smart contracts will be used and how they work:
Now that you see a few of the gazillion ways dApps can be useful, let's zoom out and talk big picture for a moment.
Not that far out, silly. Let's focus on Earth for the moment.
Speaking of Earth, how will the rise of decentralized applications change your world?
I'll start by expanding on the short answers given at the start of this article. Then I'll relate those items to how these technologies will help you and - by extension - humanity.
Reduction in corruption
One example of corruption seen in the financial system of any Country sporting a central bank: The Federal Reserve prints money and loans it out at super low interest to banks owned by their buddies. This causes the value of the currency to drop. This affects the entire economy in various negative ways, including destruction of savings and incentive to be in debt. That system could no longer work in the cryptocurrency world because no one entity has sole control over the currency.
Increase in efficiency.
With the only "middle man" being software that is fast and predictable, we remove the cost in time added to any process when humans are involved.
Increase in security.
Blockchains are not hackable, primarily because they exist simultaneously in so many places. Take one down or corrupt it and the network will immediately know that corrupted ledger doesn't match the 28,500 other ledgers that do match each other.
Decrease in cost of services.
Because of the added efficiency mentioned above, a computer doing calculations is usually quite a bit cheaper than the time of a human.
Now let's dream!
- How about a network of satellites encircling the Earth? What if those satellites provided Internet access to the entire planet? It's happening right now. Check out http://www.nexusearth.com (NXS).
- When you post to Facebook, you are gifting them with your personal information and making them money. What if there were a social network that pays you to post and curate content? This one has been around for over a year and a half: https://Steemit.com. Steemit and https://D.tube offer alternatives to censorship-ridden Facebook and YouTube.
- How about a web browser, mobile Ethereum wallet, and identity/reputation system all in one? https://blog.toshi.org/toshi-a-dapp-browser-for-the-ethereum-network-5a64bde25757
- You may have heard or learned from experience that cryptocurrency exchanges can be unreliable, untrustable, or regulated to death. Now that you know what a dApp is, I bet you can picture a cryptocurrency exchange that is unhackable, incorruptible, self-regulating, and empire resistant: https://EtherDelta.com
- How about a Universal login that is unhackable so you no longer have to remember two hundred fifty-six passwords? https://www.uport.me
- Or how about a better, cheaper, safer alternative to the way the Internet handles data? Check out IPFS (InterPlanetary File System). It is a decentralized replacement for HTTP using a distributed hash table. HTTP is the current method of accessing web sites. The idea is that - instead of tying data to an address (IP Address) - we address by content. With HTTP you can take down a web site via regulation or hacking, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. You can not take down data stored via IPFS because that data is replicated throughout the network and has no single point of failure.
- What if we could transform the way we deal with solid waste? This is a HUGE problem waiting to be fixed. What if you can lower your waste bill while saving the planet? In addition, you can get in early on the ICO for their cryptocoin, called "Save!" http://www.zerowasteadvocacy.com
Conclusion: Potential for Utopia?
Maybe we'll finally get our sex robots and flying cars? I'll be satisfied for now with a car that drives itself and even runs around town giving people rides, earning me money when I am not using the car. The sex robots? I'm not sold on that yet but I can see it being a very useful and popular item. Not even going to talk about a.i. in this article :-)
Let's back up a tad and tie these ideas together. I mean, if you are done staring at those robotic nipples above.
It starts with economics
Decentralization tends to drive down cost while driving up quality. The rich will get richer. And. The poor will get richer! "Poor" will come to mean someone who has to work 3 hours a day to afford a house most of us would drool over nowadays, sex robots, and yearly vacations to hang out with Matt Damon on Mars.
Before "blockchain" became a mainstream word, we were already seeing the disruptive and positive results of decentralization. Think Uber, Lyft, AirBnB, Torrenting, Craigslist, Ebay, Zappos, open source software, and even your brain.
Brain what? OK. Sure, your body is centrally controlled by your brain. However, the brain itself is a network of neurons. While the loss of certain parts of the brain will cause loss of specific functions like appreciation for Rick & Morty, it is possible for the brain to rewire itself as it learns new things.
Conclusion for reals this time
Right now is a magical time! Innovation is accelerating! In a mere fifty years, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, Matt Damon went to Mars, you are feeling deja vu, scientists cloned dinosaurs and made a documentary about it called "Jurassic Park," the home computer was invented by Al Gore, the Internet was born, Phillip K. Dick wrote books, and now a rethinking of human interaction using - for now - technology as the tool.
About that last part. Is it obvious that I mean blockchain tech?
What decentralized applications do YOU see coming?