People often wonder what the future holds. It is interesting to follow different technologies and see how they evolve from the scientific/laboratory stage right through implementation. Paralleling that is the transition that a technology goes through in terms of the media. It starts on the science/engineering sites, them moves to technology, then the business/investing pages, and finally ends up on the mainstream sites.
One of the many reasons I love the potential of STEEM is because I believe it is leading the charge into the tokenized world. In the next 3 years or so, we are going to see people starting to get tokens from many different sources. It is not out of the realm of possibility that one will be receiving tokens from 25-50 different sources each month within the next 5 years. Basically, most everything we do that is digitized will be tokenized.
For this reason I laugh at some of the disputes about the basic income idea. Personally I believe there will be basic income yet it matters not what the governments do. They are not required. Instead, the tokens will be giving people the basic income which will help them get the baseline necessities they need. Nevertheless, as this debate becomes more mainstream, those in the "know" keep arguing about how to pay for it. To me, this proves how few people realize what is taking place with crypto/blockchain and how powerful it really is.
Obviously, anyone who is contributing anything at all on Steemit (or the steem blockchain) understands what I am referring to. We all are receiving an income of some sort on here. Each time we hit the upvote button, it carries some type of monetary value. While it is not a significant amount in the beginning, it does grow over time as we participate more. At this point, many of us are reinvesting the proceeds (powering up) since that increases our future earnings plus there is a high probably of sensational growth of this token. Personally, I am willing to sacrifice short-term income for long-term gains.
STEEM is the first of many tokens that each of us is going to be receiving.
The new mantra is "Get Paid For ___________________________________".
Last night, I came across something that I intuitively thought would take place. In fact, I mentioned it to a buddy of mine a few weeks ago when talking to him about blockchain and the potential of it.
Before going any further, I must state this company is in pre-ICO before launching their ICO next month. In no way is this post advocating this token or the company that is setting this up. I have not read the white paper, therefore, have no an opinion on the situation. Personally, I do not touch ICOs so, from this perspective, it is not a relevant issue to me.
What is relevant is the fact that this company is dealing with independent film makers. This is what I thought would be part of the early blockchain penetration. Most films that are made never see a movie theater nor do they do much in the rental market. The challenge for small, independent studios is they do not have the clout to compete with the major entities. Of course, one of the reasons is the major movie studios own many of the theaters, hence keeping the competition out.
So what we have is a token that is designed to not only reward the independent film makers but also pay people for watching the films.
"Get paid to watch movies".
Just like STEEM is a token that pays people to post, comment, and upvote, the APLC token (ApplauseCash) pays people to watch independent films. Using the blockchain to accomplish this enables the rewards to be divided up between the site Cinemawall, the film maker, and the viewers. Again, this is no different than how new STEEM is divided among the interface, content creator, curators, and witnesses.
Consider the transition in this field. A decade ago, we went to Blockbuster or Movie Gallery and got a couple movies for $7-$8. This was a good deal because 2 people at the movie theater cost $20 or more when drinks and popcorn were included. With the video rental, an unlimited number of people could watch yet the cassettes has to be picked up and returned.
Fast forward to now. For $10 a month we have Netflix which allows us to watch unlimited number of shows and movies that is on their platform. If you have a Prime membership, you also access to part of their video library for nothing. Therefore, for an insignificant sum to most, you have more videos than you can watch in a month.
Now we are seeing the emergence of the next generation. It is not good enough for something to be an insignificant amount or even free. Instead, people will have to be rewarded for their attention. We are moving rapidly into the "attention economy". You want my attention, pay me. That is the new model.
That is why I believe we are going to be in a tokenized world in a short period of time. If you want me to use something that you have, pay me. It is really that simple. Companies are accustomed to paying for attention, so this is nothing new. What is new is that they are not going to be paying Google, Facebook, or some television station for my attention but, rather me directly.
And the same holds true for you. If they want your attention, you will have to be paid.
For those of us on the STEEM blockchain, we know this intimately. However, STEEM is just token number 1 that you will be receiving. There are many more to follow.
Perhaps even some tokens for viewing, upvoting, and commenting on films.
Watch out Netflix.
If you found this article informative, please give it an upvote and a resteem.
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