The world is rapidly changing and the Internet is at the core of this transformation. Many look at the established companies as unbeatable. After all, how do you overcome the network effects that Google and Facebook enjoy? We know people are slow to change.
Here we see the first challenge. It is imperative that we stop looking at the world through our Web 2.0 eyes. This was a realm where the application level was king.
With the introduction of blockchain, we saw the ability to change things. It is a slow process but Hive is finally moving towards the time when it inserts itself in the discussion. To achieve this, a shift in thinking has to occur.
Ultimately, the foundation of Web 3.0 comes down to protocols. It is not one application that is going to take out something like YouTube. Instead, it will be a protocol that changes the face of video.
We already see a bit of this taking place with ChatGPT. It wasn't a new search engine that has Google on edge. It was a different creation that effectively serves the same purpose. In other words, it makes traditional search obsolete.
When we discussed the Virtual Smart Contract (VSC), we started to delve into some of the possibilities regarding this change. We also see it with SpkNetwork.
Over the last couple years, this project has caught the attention of many on Hive. The rollout has been slow, something that most are not accustomed to. However, this shows the difference between building a new application, a relatively straight-forward task, versus designing an entire protocol that changes everything.
The focus of SpkNetwork initially was decentralized video storage. Here we see the idea of moving away from a centralized server based system where the application can control all the content. Under this system, the community could host the content, removing the power from a centralized platform.
It is a project that evolved. Ultimately, what SpkNetwork is becoming is a decentralized cloud system. Like the Web 2.0 versions, this allows for the storing of any type of data. The main difference is that a company such as Amazon is not the provider. Instead, nodes will be set up by individuals all over the world.
Here is where we see the ultimate shift taking place.
When looking at a platform like YouTube, it looks insurmountable. That company has massive amounts of storage space. Also, people are in the habit of going there when they are looking for something. Couple this with the fact there is an enormous network effect, and we can see how it is nearly impossible for another site to disrupt this.
That said, TikTok is starting to put a bit of heat on YouTube. However, the adaptability means that whatever the former implements, the latter can duplicate. We are still dealing with Web 2.0.
Consider SpkNetwork in this discussion. We are not talking about 3Speak taking out YouTube. Instead, we are relating a different storage mechanism that will allow for anyone to integrate decentralized video storage.
The idea of skins is vital to consider. When front ends tap into back in infrastructure that is open, it alters the entire landscape of engagement.
Presently, if one is looking at a video, it is most likely tied to YouTube. Even if it is on a website, this is often uploaded to that platform. Essentially, that is the video hosting service most use.
Larger entities might opt to house their videos on an AWS. While they could share the videos out on YouTube, they prefer to control their content.
The point here is the content is resident on a centralized entities servers. Whether it is YouTube or Amazon, the outcome is the same.
Now consider SpkNetwork. This is offering a data structure similar to Hive. The content will be housed on many different unrelated nodes. This means that storage is distributed.
Ultimately, a front end such as Peakd could decide to show all the content that is tied to the protocol. This would become a "YouTube" type experience even though most of the video uploading did not occur through that front end. Of course, there might be other front ends that only choose to house their own videos and show no others.
What we are basically looking at is SpkNetwork becoming the back end like YouTube. However, unlike that, this can be accessed by dozens, if not hundreds, of different sites. If this idea takes hold, you could see hundreds of thousands of sites utilizing the protocol. Individual blogs could be tied in and upload videos directly.
A protocol is really nothing more than a way of doing things. Probably the most well known in the digital world is TCP/IP. This is a standard that everyone defaults to.
Hive is a new protocol for data storage. Unlike a centralized server based system, all text is housed in a different manner, providing transparency and immutability. We see this throughout the world of blockchain, even seeing a language such as Solidity emerge.
This all reverts back to the feeder system idea we discussed in the past. Applications do nothing more than feed into the underlying protocols. Hive.blog, Peakd, and Ecency basically access the same data. It matters none which application placed the information on-chain.
Front ends are responsible for the user experience. The data might be the same but the features and what users get out of the engagement varies. Here is where the separation occurs and where some will be better feeder systems than others.
Nevertheless, in the end, it all fills the same pot. All on-chain data is stored in the same manner and accessible by any application. This is key. It moves the power center away from the application while placing it squarely on the protocol.
Could some of this take over as a standard? We will have to see how smart contracts are tied in. These could provide the utility that is required for developers to create projects that have appeal beyond just posting text to a decentralized database.
That said, we can see a bunch of new protocols being designed on Hive.
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