The Most Important Operating System: Why Everyone Will Care About Decentralization
I know: most of the world does not care about decentralization.
We are well aware of it on Steem. Here is a decentralized platform that cannot censor anyone in the sense all text posted using an interface does get published to the blockchain. Even if the interface removes it, it is still on the blockchain.
At the same time, nobody can control the data like they do on YouTube or Facebook. Anything that reaches the blockchain is running on witness nodes all over the world that are continually updating. No single individual controls these nodes. This is much different from the centralized world.
However, as we are seeing, most of the online world is still on YouTube and Facebook. Steem, in comparison, has a very low usage rate. Where they operate in the hundreds of millions (into billions), Steem counts tens of thousands.
So what is going to change?
The answer lies in the idea of an operating system. I want everyone to think of Windows and Bill Gates on steroids.
For decades, the computing world was run by one company. Sure there were many making computers but Windows has almost a monopoly on the PC and laptop market. Outside of Mac and a few Linux people, Microsoft ran the show. Nothing happened without the approval of that company.
Ironic that the geeks, those in the computer industry, went the other way. Most of the server market is actually non-Windows based with Linux making up the lion's share of the operating systems in that realm.
Here is what I want everyone to consider: how would you like to only be allowed to make the bulk of your purchases at Amazon? Or Wal-Mart? Or whatever store was decided for you?
This does not sound too appealing does it?
Under a centralized world, this is exactly what is going to happen to you. It is only through decentralization that it can be alleviated.
Source
There is going to be a race to develop the operating system for your home. This is going to be the most important battle that we see taking place. People need to wake up to the fact that Amazon, Google, and Apple are all working on this.
The main idea is easy ordering. There is going to be a time when our house, or the items in it, handling all the reordering for us. Things such as toilet paper, cleaning supplies, soft drinks, paper towels, and cat food will all be done through automated ordering.
At present, the ordering process is full of friction. These are all items we need over time and, for the most part, required at regular intervals. Today, we make a list of stuff and then go purchase it either by heading to the store or logging on. The difference is we make the choice where we go.
Not in the future. If Amazon is able to get into the house and control what takes place, do you think they will offer up the option of where you can buy your cat food? Of course not. The same will be true for any other company.
To me, blockchain is a lot like Linux. There are many different versions being created. Some are going to be raging successes with big followings while others have only a few versions out there. We are seeing a great deal of open source meaning development is accelerated. Essentially, it is more creative as opposed to a competitive system.
As we talk to people, they scoff at the idea of decentralization. After all, the centralized systems offer what is needed and, to most, they are not the spawns of Satan like many of us think they are.
However, have some fun and ask them if they would like to only be able to shop at one store? Most will say no. Then lay out how the operating system in the home could lead to that end unless it is decentralized. That will wake some people up.
What we are seeing today is a prelude to the future. While it is not evident in many ways, if one understands how technological innovation is starting to unfold, it is easy to see how dangerous certain things can be. This is why blockchain technology is so crucial. It is also why it is one of the things that will change the world.
Ultimately, a decentralized social media platform might not be the vital innovation the world needs. It is, however, a foundation upon which other technologies will be build. Once we get to the point where a decentralized operating system for the home is offered up, we will then comprehend how crucial all this is.
There is a lot more taking place than meets the eye.
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I feel that you are correct in the short term, however, it will only destroy boogle/microsloth/amazonium in the long term.
What this conglomerate wants to be is THE middle man. THE gate keeper.
T.H.E.Y. not only want to record all your transactions, T.H.E.Y. want to steer your decisions.
The problem with amazonium is that they are fastly becoming just a front end to a bunch of little suppliers. And, middle men are easy to eliminate with robotics.
An example, there are a few manufacturers of toilet paper. You can order a pallet from any one of them. And, thus, you could get toilet paper cheaper than you could even get at costingCo. You, and your friends in the community you live in, well, all the computers get together and combine order it.
Further, we are going to see a move back to well built products that you can make replacement parts with your own 3D printer.
We are also going to be seeing locally grown food on the rise. So, again, centralized suppliers are going to be cut out.
These things are going to change the entire playing field.
So, Microsloth/Boogle/amazonium are making a product for a market that won't exist in ten years.
P.S. I don't see my favorite operating system listed. Where's Dr. DOS?
This is inline with my perambulations of late, regarding decentralization and the increasing empowerment of individuals technology brings. Accordingly, the development of goods delivery systems via broader markets than any one company can serve will eventuate, and provide premiums over centralized company stores.
There was a brief period of time where certain locales were necessarily driven to company stores by monopoly on suitable sites. When a mining, logging, or other such resource extraction company owned a sizable tract and workers lived on site, independent sources of goods like food were unable to site stores in suitable locations, forcing those workers to depend on the company itself for their goods and services. Various predatory schemes eventually became intolerable, as companies allowed workers to front purchases for impending pay, and charged exorbitant rates.
Eventually, late in the 20th Century, almost all such schemes ended, and very few people are either availed of such monopoly or so preyed on by their employers. However, the new online 'real estate' comprised of networks, digital content, and communications, represent an entirely new venue for such schemes, and we are seeing their rise. Fortunately, the pace of innovation increases exponentially, as technology does, and such captive markets are being subjected to competition almost before they can form.
It is a truism that competition fosters affordability, and we see that open source and free products are competitively priced (it's hard to compete with free LOL), so proprietary systems are at a disadvantage from the outset of this field - although creating captive markets via OSes, ISPs, or other networking features yet presents opportunities to companies seeking rentier income from company stores.
I am glad to see you bring this up, as it is a potential degradation of individual freedom and prosperity for any that might be captured by some company or cabal thusly, and making more folks aware of it potentiates entrepreneurs preventing such predatory mechanisms via profitable competition.
Thanks!
It is interesting to see the progression that we are going through.
30 years saw a lot of changes and now there is an acceleration of technology. I agree the established entities cannot stand up to the open source, digital nature of things that are coming.
As you said, you cannot beat free or near free.
The newer generation and older cryptopunk generation indeed/will embrace decentralization more. However the current and past generations don't trust themselves and "delegate" their trust to others. We won't be going anywhere with them and the sooner we realize it the more efficient it become. Might of sound too harsh but it just the way I see
Very nearly seven decades around on this planet and for most of my life edging toward a decentralized existence; same for many of my friends, without being either crypto-fundis or I dare say punk - so don't count all of us out bud! ;)
I expect even those that faint at the thought of decentralization and open source systems will yet respond to costs and benefits. It is hard to imagine proprietary, centralized systems not seeking to maximize ROI by increasing cost to consumers.
Competition by players with lower overhead and less need to provide maximum dividends to stockholders will be able to provide lower cost goods by sourcing them from a more diverse market of suppliers, with similar economic motivations.
In the end, competition kills profiteers.
When alternatives are considered, the case for decentralization continues to win despite the gains that centralized organizations have accomplished as diversity continues to be important in a borderless society we continue to see grow in the digital space. Trust will be the main factor that will tip the scale toward decentralization as peer to peer will overcome the shortcomings of middlemen.
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Elastos has a great vision if they can make it happen. Are you familiar with the project?
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I would never let any "smart" system into my house.
Pure surveillance
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I am using Ubuntu since 2014, and I never regret i made that decision eversince.
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