RE: APPICS - A next generation Social Network - My First MILESTONE!
It's kind of astonishing that this is all being done on the assumption that SMTs will actually be developed and work. As far as I know, that's a plan but no guarantee. There's very little info on who exactly is working on it, what the timeline might look like, how it will actually work, and so on.
Even if Steemit inc puts it out, if the witnesses reach a consensus and don't like it, it ain't going in a hard fork.
How could you have an ICO knowing that?? How can any development actually have been done, given that the basic building block, SMTs, don't even exist yet? I don't understand it.
Is the code going to be open source?
It's also clear that this is centralized. 10% of the funds go back to the company, and the whitepaper talks about "our moderators" and "our regulations".
It's also very, very unclear how this is different than Steem. @sarahstarkey, why are you so excited? You are gushing about it without ever even explaining what is so great about it as an alternative to Steem. The whitepaper itself sounds more like an intro to blockchain tech in general, and it just sounds like a Steem clone.
Honestly at first glance this looks like a cash grab. I'm open to being convinced that it is not, but I think people should be very, very wary.
Doesn’t make me wary at all. There have already been several reputable SMT announcements. It’s evident that partner endeavors are in discussion with Steemit Inc. that we don’t see, and most likely have a first look and confidence in SMT development. @ned is listed as an official advisor of Appics.
Your concerns about witness adoption are valid, but yes, all the Steem blockchain tech is open source. Vice.org had an early SMT announcement but later revised their info in a way that makes it seem they are launching their own chain based on Steem tech vs. an SMT on the Steem chain. If witness adoption were to become a major impediment, other ventures could do the same (or jump to a competing chain like Vice).
Appics is easy to wrap my head around. bobsrepair.com is a much more esoteric SMT use case, but equally exciting because it does show the diverse applications of the technology!
And as with everything, the blockchain itself is uncensorable, but front ends can absolutely moderate content visibility. Steemit Inc. has even been known to block accounts of minors to comply with existing laws, but blocking accounts limits access on a website specific basis, and not to other Steem based front ends. And there is no ability to lock or confiscate funds.
I feel some of these developing SMTs may be behind the current Steem price rise. SMT ventures will need to backstop their token with some Steem to create an automated liquid market as the SMT white paper discussed. Anyone with resources who is anticipating a successful SMT launch of their own would do well to buy Steem in advance, either to profit on the price rise their token offering could create, or to lower their Steem acquisition cost and have more of their ITO cash free for development.
Thank you so much @bryan-imhoff for your explanation, as I began to worry about this comment above and couldn't quite put a response into such depth you have, as after all, I am still a beginner myself! Your post has helped answer questions for not just @dhouse , but for me too and I am confident in confirming that I am happy and certain of my decision to be involved in APPICS. Thanks again!
You're welcome, I love thinking about this stuff! I certainly don't have all the answers, it's hard to envision where we'll be in another year, 5 years, or more. But it's exciting and Appics looks very serious, professional, and exciting. I'm just disappointed it seems I can't even participate in the bounty system being a US resident.
Oh no! .. That's not fair! How frustrating... However, I'm sure that once it takes off and you get going, it will all pay off then ;-)
Perhaps I can participate... I can't get to the nifty dashboard you have pictured above, but I did find some direct sign up links for the different bounty accounts. Put in a couple and we'll see if it works!
@brian-imhoff I’m sure you will be able to participate via steemit. Thanks for your informative well thought out reasonable comments. The best quality comments get rewarded (please see above) ;))
Thanks much! I was just snowed in today and it was a great opportunity to read plenty of Steemit and muse about the future!
Sounds like you're in the right place to me! Yayy. In order to link your Steemit account, it instructs you to send 0.001 steem to phenom so they can verify it is you. Hope this makes sense and you can participate!
Fair enough. Still don't know what the point of it is, and what it adds that steem is not doing.
Well you're certainly not wrong that it's basically a copy of the Steemit system, but that's kind of the whole point of SMTs, just branded extensions of the Steem protocol. Dedicated sites and new networks are kind of the ultimate in curation. I like to show bescouted.com as a great example of this. They've already integrated their existing site with the Steem blockchain and are planning to offer an SMT when they are more publicly available I believe.
Different front end sites will have their own user interface and tools that will appeal to different people, as well as just a different character of community and different focuses. For instance Steemit is still heavily dominated by crypto enthusiasts, while Appics could launch with a much more casual user base that better engages with and rewards general lifestyle content. SMT platforms will also have their very own whales. If a current Steemit whale would want to downvote content in an SMT community they'd have to buy into it first! SMT launches can give a community a bit of a reset button, immunity, and new camaraderie that some might feel is needed.
Appics already seems to have their act together better than Steemit in the UI and Marketing departments, and since they can leave a lot of the heavy tech lifting to Steemit Inc. blockchain development, it's a win win for everyone. Of course, that's just based on promotional materials so Steemit has time to catch up before Appics launches! But I already feel like that Appics promo video is one of the best things I could show to people I know to explain what's going on here at Steemit.
I also love the fact that my blockchain account will travel with me through the years and new sites. Imagine if Facebook had just been able to import all the data from MySpace because it was on an open blockchain. Whoever presents the best user experience will "win". But if the SMT exchange system works as intended, all the value transfers through Steem at some point and will increase the value of the core Steem token. There will be an interesting trading dynamic as people who convert their tokens from one community to another at the right time could see great value increases. Again, imagine MySpace had awarded tokens for use, which users began converting to Facebook tokens as one site grew in popularity and the other waned. The early adopters of Facebook would have outsized gains while the last to abandon MySpace would have seen the $ value of their token conversion plummet.
There's going to be some wild dynamics playing out, I hope they design an excellent wallet & token management system for everything as a whole!
LOVE this. And this is exactly why I am so excited. I am a user of Instagram and from what I have so far understood, an Appics account holder will be able to post and share content in a very similar way. Only difference is Appics rewards the content in tokens. This is why it's all a no-brainer to me!
Exactly! Even now at this early stage, I can post a blog post on Steemit, a quick micro blog on Zappl, a couple pictures on Steepshot, a video on dTube, and maybe a meme or two on dmania.lol ... and it's all through my same account on the Steem blockchain with the potential for rewards. Every platform has something different to offer but they're all part of the same whole. I've never had an Instagram and though I was considering it, I can't bring myself to do so now! I browse Facebook for friends, but all other online platforms for me are Steem based now.
But this is more than another front end, a smt uses a token that's backed by Steem but is a different token. Not sure how this works exactly, but it will be a separate system in some way.
From my understanding of the published paper, SMTs will all be linked to Steem via an internal automated exchange. Think of the currency market we have now to change Steem/SBD and extrapolate that to deal with SMT tokens. In order to ensure a minimum value & liquidity that will allow token holders to sell, the issuers will lock up Steem in their token exchange as a perpetual automated “market maker.” So SMTs should drive Steem demand for this, but also, with Steem as an intermediary before cashing out to fiat or other cryptos - all the transaction volume in the system each day should be reflected in Steems price.
SMT sites then have all the operation capabilities of Steem, but the site can customize variables like rate of inflation, how the tokens are distributed, how they impact voting, etc.
Hope I’m not inaccurate, and of course things could change. But SMTs really are parts of the same whole. One way I conceptualize it is imagine we all had our own tokens. The tokens in my account are BRY, yours are DHS. Of course mine have no value to you... cause they’re mine! But by sending them to you they become DHS. We’ll be moving between SMTs but there will be an overall value of the Steem ecosystem as a whole. You’ll have to put your tokens into the communities you care about most.
You should check out the new website, complete with whitepaper, FAQ's, and roadmap!
thanks for the followup. ill take a look. always trying to be objective and keep an open mind, i just call things like i see them.
Keep it real, be a realist! Right?