I'm a huge fan of both Mr Robot and Silicon Valley.
Mr Robot shows us just how bleak the world can get with too much blind faith in technology. Most of all how megacorps can get to rule the world. We're all just little busy worker ants, ruled by a small elite of puppet masters, fighting between themselves to gain more power than the others. A great show that constantly references relevant real life current events indirectly, sometimes directly.
With great writing and acting just like Mr Robot, Silicon Valley features a bunch of clumsy, geeky originals that shows us just how weird, random, hostile and wonderful the world of tech can be.
(Spoiler alert): In Silicon Valley season 3, we're introduced to the idea of decentralized computing when Richard wants to use his compression algorithm to distribute storage of files in small chunks on people's smartphones in order to provide cheap and secure cloud storage.
This idea is not far-fetched, as we're seeing similar services being offered through blockchain technology as we speak. See: https://themerkle.com/what-is-siacoin/
Private messaging and instant transfer of wealth across borders, smart contracts (still in their infancy) being used to fund startup projects as if it was the tech bubble all over again! And it will of course crash, just as it did last time.
Yet, what followed after the tech bubble crashed was amazing. The companies and technologies that offered real value were revealed, and thrived in the aftermath.
I think the main driver for a new decentralized, more secure Internet is that we need more security everywhere, all the time. Nowadays, our wealth is more and more being converted into data, 0s and 1s. Therefore we must either secure our data better OR take it off the grid, which is less than convenient ...
We're living in fascinating times, where memes have unprecedented power and mainstream media is dying. These are mere symptoms of how the times are changing, but since we're in the middle of it all, it can be hard to see exactly where we're headed.
I think that both Mr Robot and Silicon Valley are on point, they're making a prediction for the near future: that a new decentralized Internet is coming. And that it will be bringing decentralized currencies and private messaging that is truly private to the masses.
It's going to be built on the foundation of the current Internet, so the only way to stop it is to shut down the Internet. But that would be near impossible to do, as everything from grocery shopping to banking happens on the Internet these days.
Of course the evil megacorporations and governments will try to take control. They will try to stop this democratization by any means necessary. Will they success? Let's hope not.
This is just the beginning. And while it could be a bumpy ride, it will certainly be an exciting one for everyone participating. I think I'm ready. At least I hope so.