Decentralizing the Internet - Helium
This morning I saw an Ad that actually got my attention, while browsing this morning I came across an Ad that was of interest to me. That rarely happens.
Decentralizing the Internet is what Helium says they want to do. The pitch is that you buy a hotspot and in turn you will earn some of their CryptoCurrency tokens for adding to the network.
I have not done due diligence yet, the topic interests me. To be clear I am not recommending you either buy or not buy a hotspot, but I love the idea of not having a pay a large ISP for my connection and I love the idea of having connectivity through my neighbors and peers vs large corporations or government installed utilities.
I am curious if anyone else has heard of this company or looked into it.
Many people think taking our currency back from governments is key to Freedom and limits oppression. That idea is one of the reasons Bitcoin launched and gained visibility after the 2009 financial crisis.
I believe Bitcoin (currency) is an excellent first step, in addition we need to take back: Information, Entertainment, Education and the Arts. This can be done with STEEM and it's Dapps even though we are currently focused on "Blogs", our blockchain is well suited to communication, Freedom of Information and Publishing.
Another important part of the Freedom picture is access. That means decentralizing power and the Internet.
I'm going to look into Helium, don't confuse that with buying in, I just want to do some research. While I don't know if this is the project to support I do want to support projects which disrupt the current control of our information/knowledge and access to it.
If you have looked into this project or are curious, let's crowdsource vetting it! Many of you have a much greater ability to understand any important technical details.
I don't know if we need to tokenize everything, but I do want to decentralize everything!
We are seeing these projects popping up all over the place.
That is why I believe this tug-o-war is already won. There are simply too many projects out there to stop it all. While most will fail, a few will break through and become major successes. Those that do, with what they are dealing with, will have enormous impact.
And yes, Steem could be used for a lot more than just blogging on content creation. That is only the first phase.
I will also take a look at helium to see what it is about. Sounds very interesting.
Well I think it is an interesting development. If not this project, I am hoping to support a project like it.
Hey, @whatsup.
I've been looking at decentralized or peer to peer ways to get on the internet, or create a new one for a couple of years now. Not all are blockchained based, but there are definitely more and more companies getting into the space. It will be cool to see if someone can do it, and get it right.
Helium, from what I've been reading on their website, is selling Helium hubs to create networks for the Internet of Things, which are low power, low data types of devices. In other words, not smartphone, tablets or computers, but more like dog collars to keep track of pets, and sensors on refrigerators or water coolers that can tell when supplies are low so a vendor can provide more food or water.
Very cool concepts, though, and probably very much worth looking into. Helium is trading right around $0.02 USD after a January all-time high of $3-plus USD. They've got some venture capital coming in as someone else said.
It's just not built or designed to be the network that gets us all away from Comcast, Verizon or AT&T and providing or own daisy-chained access to the Internet. :)
It also connects to existing WiFi connections, so I'm not sure how that's supposed to get away from the big IPs.
For that you should check out https://althea.net
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Hey, @hueso.
Interesting. I notice they don't quote equipment costs. Are you a part of the network? I'm wondering if you have experience with it as far as cost and performance. From what I've read so far, sounds like a cool idea. :)
I am currently not running a node. Costs will depend on your setup but minimum requirements are 128mb ram and 16mb storage so you could run it on a low-end router, a raspberry pi or an old computer, plus antennas and/or cabling. See https://althea.net/firmware
Nothing like offering up something free or reduced off the backs of others infrastructure (lol). Something tells me in the end free or reduced won't be so free and reduced when the lawsuits from the giants start flying.
Hey, @sunlit7.
Yeah, that will be interesting to see. I did do some more reading about that. The access to the internet is actually purchased through a wholesaler, so the folks before the giant IPs we deal with. I'm not sure what that costs, but my guess is, it's not what I'm paying a month. So, the more people they can sign up and help to offset the costs through their tokens, the better, I imagine.
re: infrastructure
Kind of like STEEM, where the witnesses set up their own servers? I haven't been able to find how much the antennas and cabling costs, but the routers are normal off the shelf types that get a firmware update.
At any rate, I like the idea of peer to peer, or a decentralized internet. Whether this is the solution, I don't know, but with each iteration, something's bound to work, which I think is more or less what whatsup's said. :)
I went all in! I want to become a billionaire overnight! Jk, will take a look 🤣
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You are not telling the truth @stackin.
It takes at least 3 days to become a billionaire. 😁
I’m tying to make it happen in 3 hours 😂
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Decentralizing is not the same as being a billionaire, in fact... if a person hates Billionaires, it would be harder to become one in a decentralized economy.
If by chance you become an over night billionaire. Remember me! kidding.
Is @dan a billionaire? He should come back to steem and hook us all up 😂😅😅
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ssshhh...don't give away secrets.
@whatsup,
This is interesting, wanna check more! Thank you!
$trdo
Cheers~
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So many red flags with Helium. Starting with the fact that you came across by means of a paid ad; bold promises, no code, taking money for preorders, "mining" bullshit, their whitepaper make no sense to me. I call it a scam.
If you like the idea of incentivized mesh networks check out https://althea.net
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I agree. A distributed internet connection is pretty novel. The part where you earn currency for basically running a node is awfully nifty too!
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This space is pretty cool. Big VCs such as USV and multicoin have already invested plenty into helium. Multicoin wrote an article about their thesis for their helium investment a few months ago. Others to look at in this space that I know of are Althea (see their website for how to earn airdropped tokens on republic) and magic (only just heard about this).
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I haven't read anything about it, but I'll try to find out what it's all about and I'll keep an eye out for comments around here. Suddenly a reader appears with first-hand information.
It's a nice move for helium company! Let's Join force to decentralize the internet.
Hope there hotspot will be much affordable?
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