Web 3.0 is the future of the Internet. Contrary to what the naysayers and doomsdayers are saying, this is the direction things are heading in.
Many ask what problem does cryptocurrency solve? That is something that we could spend a week discussing. There is, however, a much simpler view on things.
Blockchain is the foundation for something completely different. This started out focusing upon the world of finance due to distributed ledger technology. That said, due to the emerge of technological advancements such as Hive, we see something completely different emerging.
The problem this solves is the issues with the Internet. Here is where we see something that generates tens of trillions of dollars being completely reworked. This is the essence of Web 3.0.
Find a need and fill it.
That is the old adage when it comes to business. With the present state of Web 2.0, we found a need as large as a black hole.
Web 2.0 Failure
The simple fact is that Web 2.0 is a failure.
Certainly, we did see the advancement of society but at what cost. Today, people are unhappy since they lost control of their data and do not have any privacy. We all heard the saying "we are the product". Companies such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter have excelled due to the "free" labor they receive. People spend hours posting content only to have the company, and its shareholders, benefit.
Here is where Web 3.0 enters.
It completely reverses the model. Through tokenization, we see how people are being rewarded for said content. Also, due to the pseudo-anonymity that is offered, people can take steps to protect their privacy.
Remember when Google was called the "evil empire". Then it was Facebook. Now it is TikTok. Keep in mind that, just because someone else took the title, that does not mean the previous ones suddenly became benevolent.
The same is true with Elon Musk and Twitter. No matter what you feel about the guy, he will only be, at best, a benevolent dictator. That is simply the nature of Web 2.0.
Web 3.0 is going to change this. It is true that few realize it at this point. Unfortunately, few foresaw what the future would be with the Internet in the 1990s. There were, however, some who were able to nail it.
Cypherpunks Re-Emerging
This is not exactly accurate since they never really went away. Nevertheless, we are seeing a revival of the principals and tenets they hold.
Who were the Cypherpunks? This was a group of software developers who were the early pioneers in decentralized, open source payment systems. People like Nick Szabo and David Chaum were there at the start. They were always concerned about things such as encryption, privacy, government reach, and the ability of corporations to take control.
These topics are still the basis of many discussions today. We see how the fears that these individuals had did come into reality. The Internet they foresaw unfolding emerged.
Now, they are pinning their hopes (and efforts) on Web 3.0. The advantage is the battle was joined by a lot of other people. No longer are we dealing with an email list of a couple thousand developers. Instead, we are dealing with tens of thousands of people around the world who are actively involved in a daily basis.
Those who are participating and building on Hive are part of this process.
We are laying the foundation for Web 3.0.
Growth Of Digital Technology
The reason why we can claim that Web 3.0 will be a major success is due to the fact that the growth of digital technology is not slowing at all. A trend that was started in the 1980s is only surging ahead at a steady pace. The difference today is that we are dealing with a more advanced state as compared to decades ago.
For example, we saw a number of digital money systems emerge in the early days. The aforementioned Cypherpunks created two of them. They ended up in failure for a variety of reasons.
One of them, according to Chaum, was the fact that his system could not reach more than prototype. The reason was simply due to computing power at that time. It wasn't enough to power what he envisioned.
Of course, 20 years later, when Satoshi Nakamoto stepped forward with Bitcoin, the juice was there.
Here we are 14 years after that and consider the power of computing. It advanced light years since that time. We have 5.25 billion connected to the Internet, more than half who access via mobile.
The "world of bits" keeps expanding. Look at all we can buy online. Every single Teslaand Rivian is sold in this fashion. People can even buy houses although it is still rare. No longer, in the developed world, do you ask is someone has access to the Internet. That is a foregone conclusion.
The Crossroads
We are dealing with some rather large entities in the likes of Facebook and Google. However, there is something that is vital to understand in the digital world.
It is not uncommon for an application to go from zero to 50 million in a matter of a couple months. This happened on a number of occasions. When the network effect starts to take off, it gets insane.
The key is simply to provide people with a replacement product that is easy to use. That was the challenge for Web 3.0 thus far. It is still clunky and complex. We discuss that regularly on Hive.
Hopefully some of the measures being employed will lessen this. When we reach that people, humanity will be at another crossroads.
Suddenly, there will be another option for Web 2.0. What is frustrating people will no longer be an issue. Few are excited about the idea of true account ownership yet that is vital for a democracy. As we know, when one does not own his or her account, it is very easy to censor.
To me, there is no hedging on this one. It is a matter of diving completely into the Web 3.0 pool. This is where I am betting the future is.
We will see how this all turns out.
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