Technology can offer dual purpose depending upon how it is used.
On one hand, it can be sustaining. Existing companies can incorporate it into their operations. This could lead to cost savings, greater efficiency, and increased productivity.
The flip side is that it could disrupt an entire industry. Those already operating have the ability to be disruptors but rarely are. Instead, the fact they utilize existing operations is their downfall.
Incumbents could realize a savings of 15% or more. This is a significant boost.
The difference is disruptors come at it from a completely new point of view. They do not blend it with existing operations. To the contrary, they design a totally new way of doing things.
What this means is the disruptors grab a clean sheet of paper and realize much larger costs savings.
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Web 3.0: Starting From Scratch
The tendency is to view things from the point of reference that we know.
I often use the example of the personal computer in the 1980s. To many, when first introduced into the business settings, it was "typewriter that saved documents". This was the mindset of the majority because word processing, at that time, was the major use case.
Obviously, this touched upon only a fraction of what computers were capable off. Move ahead 40 years and we see how laughable this concept is.
Much of what we see with Web 3.0 is similar to what went before. This is natural and could also be considered low hanging fruit. We look at what is out there and create Web 3.0 versions of it. It is what we are doing in social media, finance, and entertainment.
While new operations, this is the same mindset. This leads to slow adoption since people need something to be significantly better than what is out there for people to switch.
Of course, this is the logical starting point and, as with the computer, can prevail given enough time. The early cell phone adopters didn't flock to the service when it first came out. Yet today, there are billions utilizing mobile.
With Web 3.0, one of the true breakthroughs will be when innovation starts moving in the direction of a clean sheet design.
It is an opportunity to disrupt in a major way since entities will be created that were never envisions. Few would have been able to describe something like Google in the early 1990s. By the end of the decade, that was on its path to becoming one of the largest companies in the world.
Brand New Innovation
What will be the innovation that puts this into action?
If I could answer this, I would end up as a trillionaire. It is hard to forecast something that never existed before.
To even have a chance, we need to look at some of the technologies and how they can be incorporated. Where are things going in a general sense?
With Web 3.0, I think the most overlooked aspect is the "read-write-own" idea. It is the ownership that is revolutionary. How does this apply to a world where Big Tech only appears to be getting bigger?
The answer to that question might provide us insight into how things could unfold.
Companies utilizing the digital platform business model were not known prior to the Internet. This is the most powerful force in business. It is responsible for tens of trillions in value.
That was revolutionary and a clean sheet design. While it still used the same business structure from a corporate standpoint, we saw new economics applied to the online world.
Web 3.0 takes this even further.
Will the disruption comes from something like DAOs? How does tokenization factor into all of this?
To me, going back to the ownership, that is the key. If people start to look at things from the perspective of being an owner, it is new perspective. Does Elon look at X the same as everyone else? Did Bezos views Amazon as you or I? Is Zuckerberg's focus the same as the userbase?
It is obvious we are dealing with a radically new approach at that moment.
The Network-State
This was something that is an entirely new mental construct.
Anyone who researched this topic can see the viability of this as a concept. When we turn the focus away from the nation-state, we have a perspective that presents a number of opportunities.
To start, there appears to be a loss in power of intermediaries. Is the government a part of this? That is up to debate. However, as more is digitized, the ability to control it is reduced. We saw this with Hollywood and distribution channels.
Another factor that I think is important is the global nature of what we are dealing with. Ideas, innovation, and effort can come from all over the world. The natural tendency is still to think locally when, in fact, we are operating on a global stage. Thus, we have to see this as part of the mental adjustment.
Finally, it suddenly becomes a world for the dreamers. Those who "have their feet grounded" or "are realistic" have reduced utility. Anyone can look and see how things are. It is the special few who can envision something different and, most importantly, work to bring it into being.
Many feel the future has to be determined. This is a passive approach. Many, especially in the technology realm, believe the future is created. We are not passive in this endeavor.
Web 3.0 is the next phase of this evolution, at least from a digital perspective. Of course, the concept of digital is going to change as we see energy, bio-tech, and nanotechnology advance. Each of this could provide major innovation that alters society on its own.
Then, what happens when we have convergence of all these developments?
Web 3.0 is going to be that convergence.
If we rewind to 1990, the idea of Google, Facebook, and Twitter were incomprehensible to most of us. In fact, if we look at most of the silos that run the Internet, the majority of us could not foresee what was coming.
A few decades later, we are a bit smarter when it comes to technology. The issue is forecasting the future is just as difficult as it was then.
In 30 years, we will have entities that people use everyday which we cannot even hypothesize at the moment. They are nothing more than a thought in the heads of a few forward looking people.
Perhaps some of the concepts we described here will be a part of it. The network-state itself could be a clean sheet idea.
Whatever the outcome, it will all be a part of Web 3.0.
And who knows, by that time we will likely be working on Web 4.0.