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Tweaks to Web3 entry

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Jack Jackson 2 years ago
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      blog/content/posts/criticisms-of-web3.md

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@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ I'm writing this post primarily to articulate the questions for myself, to state
Most of these questions assume that the project aims to reach some critical mass of size. This is a particularly reasonable assumption for projects that have a social component (there's no point posting on a social network if your friends aren't there!), but also applies to general economic considerations. Most of these questions assume that the project aims to reach some critical mass of size. This is a particularly reasonable assumption for projects that have a social component (there's no point posting on a social network if your friends aren't there!), but also applies to general economic considerations.
Many thanks to my proof-readers [Éamon](https://twitter.com/cloudycelt) and [George](https://www.georgelockett.com/), who identified a common theme of these questions - "_How are you planning on solving the non-technical sides of the problem (i.e. those that are primarily economic or socio-political)?_"
# Questions # Questions
## Soft Questions ## Soft Questions
@ -88,7 +90,7 @@ So - you need features in order to attract customers, and you need a _lot_ of fe
* those investors will expect a return on their investment * those investors will expect a return on their investment
This is not a problem that's unique to web3-based services, by any stretch! "_Launch fast with a compelling offering, acquire a critical base of customers, then pivot to profitability_" is a tried-and-true Silicon Valley strategy. However, it may be a little more difficult to sustain when two key pillars of your offering are: This is not a problem that's unique to web3-based services, by any stretch! "_Launch fast with a compelling offering, acquire a critical base of customers, then pivot to profitability_" is a tried-and-true Silicon Valley strategy. However, it may be a little more difficult to sustain when two key pillars of your offering are:
* privacy - which precludes you from two key sources of income that don't come out of your customers' wallets; ads, and selling customer data. * privacy - which precludes you from two key sources of income that don't come out of your customers' wallets; personalized ads, and selling customer data.
* low-friction of migration between services - so, you cannot rely on economic moats; your service will live or die on whether its features are better than a competitor's. * low-friction of migration between services - so, you cannot rely on economic moats; your service will live or die on whether its features are better than a competitor's.
At the risk of repeating myself - this is not a fatal gotcha! There are certainly imaginable ways that a web3 service could navigate these requirements, by building features that attract and retain customers while achieving profitability. But this certainly seems like a harder product problem in a space where you cannot profit indirectly from customers, and where the friction of moving to a competitor is low. At the risk of repeating myself - this is not a fatal gotcha! There are certainly imaginable ways that a web3 service could navigate these requirements, by building features that attract and retain customers while achieving profitability. But this certainly seems like a harder product problem in a space where you cannot profit indirectly from customers, and where the friction of moving to a competitor is low.
@ -113,11 +115,11 @@ Note that this question is related both to ["Why would real-world authorities re
### Why do you need a blockchain/decentralization for this? Does portability/scarcity even make sense? ### Why do you need a blockchain/decentralization for this? Does portability/scarcity even make sense?
Don't get me wrong - [blockchains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain) are fascinating data structures, with many interesting and potentially-useful properties. But they're also overkill if you don't _need_ or benefit-from those properties. Similarly, the ability to represents ownership on a distributed ledger in a system-agnostic way is very cool - but, if your use-cases only ever include transferring ownership within systems owned by your own company, you have just introduce a _ton_ of complexity to achieve an outcome that is indistinguishable from "_a row in a traditional database_". Don't get me wrong - [blockchains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain) are fascinating data structures, with many interesting and potentially-useful properties. But they're also overkill if you don't _need_ or benefit-from those properties. Similarly, the ability to represent ownership on a distributed ledger in a system-agnostic way is very cool - but, if your use-cases only ever include transferring ownership within systems owned by your own company, you have just introduce a _ton_ of complexity to achieve an outcome that is indistinguishable from "_a row in a traditional database_".
# Conclusion # Conclusion
To repeat - my articulation of these questions does not mean that I think that web3 is doomed, nor that I inherently oppose it. I responate with many of the ideals professed by many web3 projects, and I really hope that projects exist that can answer these questions and provide value to users while avoiding significant environmental impact. This article is a framework for evaluating common flaws in proposals, _not_ a comprehensive takedown of all of web3. To repeat - my articulation of these questions does not mean that I think that web3 is doomed, nor that I inherently oppose it. I resonate with many of the ideals professed by many web3 projects, and I really hope that projects exist that can answer these questions and provide value to users while avoiding significant environmental impact. This article is a framework for evaluating common flaws in proposals, _not_ a comprehensive takedown of all of web3.
[^1]: Definitions are nebulous and various, so for this purposes I'm categorizing web3 as "_any project which opposes or inverts the monopolistic power of web service providers, by decentralizing components, reducing lock-in, increasing competition and portability, and/or increasing privacy and control of data_". So, by this definition, cryptocurrencies and blockchains _aren't_ inherently part of web3, though they might be used _in_ a web3 system. [^1]: Definitions are nebulous and various, so for this purposes I'm categorizing web3 as "_any project which opposes or inverts the monopolistic power of web service providers, by decentralizing components, reducing lock-in, increasing competition and portability, and/or increasing privacy and control of data_". So, by this definition, cryptocurrencies and blockchains _aren't_ inherently part of web3, though they might be used _in_ a web3 system.
[^2]: In contrast to most cryptocurrency-forward systems, which seem intent on the commodification of, and insertion of artificial scarcity into, almost everything ([Eevee](https://twitter.com/eevee) had a _great_ tweet about this that I can't now find, elaborating that the reason she's so opposed to crypto/web3/NFTs is that they're all about introducing scarcity to a digital space, the one place where it makes _no_ sense to exist - these [two](https://twitter.com/eevee/status/1467829679369326594) [threads](https://twitter.com/eevee/status/1460357576906850306) aren't it, but echo the sentiment). I'm generalizing - profiteering web3 projects and abundance-minded crypto projects both probably exist - but these are the themes I've noticed. [^2]: In contrast to most cryptocurrency-forward systems, which seem intent on the commodification of, and insertion of artificial scarcity into, almost everything ([Eevee](https://twitter.com/eevee) had a _great_ tweet about this that I can't now find, elaborating that the reason she's so opposed to crypto/web3/NFTs is that they're all about introducing scarcity to a digital space, the one place where it makes _no_ sense to exist - these [two](https://twitter.com/eevee/status/1467829679369326594) [threads](https://twitter.com/eevee/status/1460357576906850306) aren't it, but echo the sentiment). I'm generalizing - profiteering web3 projects and abundance-minded crypto projects both probably exist - but these are the themes I've noticed.

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