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Wait, what is this Web 5 stuff?

Khansa Mueen on June 20, 2022

At Consensus 2022, Jack Dorsey said that TBD, Block's Bitcoin division, is working on a new internet vision dubbed web5. Thanks to this potential...
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jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy 🎖️ • Edited

Why does everything need a f***ing blockchain? They're slow, resource hungry, and cumbersome.

Sir. Tim Berners-Lee (yes, the guy behind the internet) has been on this for years - check out Solid (first released in 2015) - seems like a way better way forward than any of this web3, and now web5 nonsense

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

I'm with you, I've work with decentralized systems, blockchain and web3 at work for over 5 years now, and I can tell you than in most cases it makes no sense to use. It just adds a complex and expensive layer. I see the value of the tech, though it does not need to be used for everything...

I doubt it will stick for more than 10-15 years, at least at the level that it's being "used" nowadays. I don't think it's the solution for most stuff... Decentralization yes, blockchain I doubt it...

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olyno profile image
Olyno

I'm not agree with all you say. Are blockchains slow? Not every of them. Are blockchains resource hungry? Not every of them. Are blockchains cumbersome? As you guessed, not every one.

There is indeed a lot of cases where web 2 is betters than web 3, but there is a lot of cases where it's not. Taking the storage example. Storing a file online can be expensive. With the Blockchain technology, it's so much less expensive, you can't imagine. You also have a better free tier. Note: everything on the Blockchain is immutable, including files, meaning we can't delete files from the Blockchain, it's a cons.

Another example i could give you is the interoperability. It's easier to use something already existing with the Blockchain than the current web.

Other example, security. It's not that easy to hack a smart contract, but easier to hack a classic website.

I could give you more examples of good use cases of this technology, but that's not my goal. The point is, i totally understand we can't do everything with Blockchain, but this technology is not useless too.

You can read more about what i think of the technology here

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

Storing a file online can be expensive. With the Blockchain technology, it's so much less expensive, you can't imagine.

That's not true mate... If you are talking about storing the file data inside the blockchain it's not true, it's way cheaper to store on a regular old server. If you mean using something like IPFS or similar, maybe it's cheaper. Or if you're talking about nfts where you just point to a file on another server then yes it is, but the file is not in the blockchain.

Google drive offers 200GB for 3€ month. Try and store 100GB on a blockchain and then tell me if it's cheaper or not.

The point is, i totally understand we can't do everything with Blockchain, but this technology is not useless too.

I agree, the tech itself is usefull, what's not usefull is thinking it is the solution for every problem. For me the only way to make blockchains worth it is to remove speculation from the equation. Then make it cheap and not as resource intensive, then we might have something usefull and that will not polute the whole planet.

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olyno profile image
Olyno

If you are talking about storing the file data inside the blockchain it's not true, it's way cheaper to store on a regular old server

I think I expressed myself wrong about storage. When I was talking about cheaper storage, I was talking about raw file storage, like pdf files, images.... using IPFS or Arewave for example. This is part of the blockchain ecosystem, but it's not exactly blockchain, you're right.

For me the only way to make blockchains worth it is to remove speculation from the equation

Unfortunately, everything is subject to speculation these days. We can sell tickets for an artist at an exorbitant price.

Then make it cheap and not as resource intensive, then we might have something usefull and that will not polute the whole planet.

Concerning ecology, I think it's a bad argument. Many people say that blockchains pollute, but it's not really the case. If we change scale, airplanes pollute more, so do factories, so do nuclear power plants. Even a simple car can probably pollute more than a modern blockchain. Moreover, the energy of the blockchain is recycled from renewable energies, or in other uses.

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

This is part of the blockchain ecosystem, but it's not exactly blockchain, you're right.

Correct, most blockchains don't allow much data to be stored inside it, at least in the transactions themselves. Last time I experimenting with this, the bitcoin blockchain only allowed 1kb of data to be stored per transaction, so if you wanted to store a 1mb file in the blockchain you had to do many transactions. Then recompile all of them and reconstruct the image. Of course there are other options and blockchains have evolved quite a bit since I did that.

Unfortunately, everything is subject to speculation these days. We can sell tickets for an artist at an exorbitant price.

It's possible, if you don't let the users trade the coin, or even better remove the coins and currencies from the equation xD Decentralized systems should not be backed by a currency, currencies should be backed by decentralized systems.

Concerning ecology, I think it's a bad argument.

Id argue that it is, you see we're not in a point where we need to pollute more, we need to pollute less. Creating systems that require excesive amounts of power to run is not good, at least if we keep on the same track and not switch to cheaper ways to validate transactions. There are solutions out there that reduce the computing power by quite a lot, but they're still not implemented for reasons.

I agree that planes, boats, factories, etc... pollute more. But blockchain pollution does not only comes from the energy spent mining, but from the electronics that are needed to mine e.g. graphic cards, cpus, etc...

Moreover, the energy of the blockchain is recycled from renewable energies, or in other uses.

I don't think I understand what you mean here. Do you mean that blockchain uses renewable energy?

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olyno profile image
Olyno

I don't think I understand what you mean here. Do you mean that blockchain uses renewable energy?

Not every of them, but yes.

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jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy 🎖️
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olyno profile image
Olyno • Edited

Referring me to your article as an answer is not very argumentative, knowing that, as you say yourself, your article is only a simple repost of pre-existing articles or videos. I would have liked to know your subjective point of view about blockchain.

Edit: I would add that after reading some articles you mentionned, it seems clear to me that these are childish arguments. Some of your articles mention the fact that a blockchain is not secure, because anyone can be hacked. It is exactly the same with the current web, knowing that it is even easier to hack them.

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jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy 🎖️ • Edited

Personally, I think that in most cases it's still a solution in search of a problem. I've come across some use cases that do sound interesting and have merit (voting systems being a good one), but all the promising ideas are mostly buried under an avalanche of NFTs and "me too" projects that have blockchains tacked on for no discernible reason other than to ride the hype.

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olyno profile image
Olyno

So we are on the same page ahah, thanks for taking the time to give me your perspective on this technology!

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Jon Randy 🎖️

Tim Berners-Lee: Screw Web3 — my decentralized web has no blockchain

At TNW 2022, World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee explained why his plan for a decentralized internet aligns with Web 3.0 but not Web3.

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Volodymyr Yepishev

I miss Web 1.0 where you didn't have to "own" your data because no one was collecting it yet.

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Nick Oliveira

I think we need more discussion about this topic in the community. Idk how I feel about big corp trying to be the leader of the pack on this movement.

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Jon Randy 🎖️

See above - open standards ideas from the guy who basically invented the internet.

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saim

And Where is web 4 ???????????

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Jon Randy 🎖️

Doesn't fit in to the marketing spin