The big rub here with tech always comes down to this: money and distribution, both of which the powers at be have in spades.
Let’s consider an example. I have been stoked about decentralized platforms like Lemmy and Mastadon rising up.
They are user supported ecosystems that have grown organically and have all the honorable values of decentralization at their heart.
In 2023, Facebook entered the fediverse with Threads. And with that single launch, they single-handedly exploded the number of users and content on the fediverse simply because they are… well… Facebook.
Fantastic right? Well, unfortunately I fear that the inevitable outcome here is that Facebook just sucks up all the air of the fediverse, and then… just closes the doors… quickly eliminating the threat of the fediverse entirely. Surely this is their vision right?
I think decentralized solutions likely will continue to be outliers for a long time (perhaps forever). The masses will use centralized solutions because they are easy and available. The niche techies will choose otherwise, but be forced to also have a platform on centralized solutions too due to their reach.
I think we’ve actually already proved that blockchain and decentralization (in its current form) WON’T disrupt centralized companies. The real threat will come from a new innovation we haven’t yet discovered and it will happen fast (like we’ve seen with AI disrupting search).
The big rub here with tech always comes down to this: money and distribution, both of which the powers at be have in spades.
Let’s consider an example. I have been stoked about decentralized platforms like Lemmy and Mastadon rising up.
They are user supported ecosystems that have grown organically and have all the honorable values of decentralization at their heart.
In 2023, Facebook entered the fediverse with Threads. And with that single launch, they single-handedly exploded the number of users and content on the fediverse simply because they are… well… Facebook.
Fantastic right? Well, unfortunately I fear that the inevitable outcome here is that Facebook just sucks up all the air of the fediverse, and then… just closes the doors… quickly eliminating the threat of the fediverse entirely. Surely this is their vision right?
I think decentralized solutions likely will continue to be outliers for a long time (perhaps forever). The masses will use centralized solutions because they are easy and available. The niche techies will choose otherwise, but be forced to also have a platform on centralized solutions too due to their reach.
I think we’ve actually already proved that blockchain and decentralization (in its current form) WON’T disrupt centralized companies. The real threat will come from a new innovation we haven’t yet discovered and it will happen fast (like we’ve seen with AI disrupting search).