Hive: Designing Protocols
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.
Source
Hive Designing Protocol
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.
Web 3.0: Protocol Is King
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.
Establishing New Standards
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.
If you found this article informative, please give an upvote and rehive.
gif by @doze
logo by @st8z
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Great piece! It's exciting to think about what Web 3.0 could do and how protocols like SpkNetwork could change the way people host and store videos. The idea of a decentralised cloud system is especially interesting because it gives data storage a new level of openness and can't be changed. It's interesting to think about how this could change the way power works in the tech industry, and I can't wait to see what happens next. Thanks for telling us what you think about this.
It is interesting to think about how things could change. We do not know how it will unfold but the potential there. Decentralized cloud seems in line with the mindset of many within the computer/tech world.
Distributed computing is fascinating.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I see crypto more like Linux. So everytime we had "the year of the desktop" and unfortunately we Linux users didn't grew beyond a few percentages. Why? Mostly because of the open source nature of it. It's not a product, something you are being market to. So users are not exposed constantly to the benefits and 'cool' factor of let say Apple and others. Instead you only heard the negative issues like users being frustrated, their modem won't work, their webcam won't work, that's obscure piece of hardware or that super fun game they just bought won't run on Linux.
Eventually it took Google to productize Linux into Android for the majority of the world to use it. You hardly had people complain or the media talking shit about Android or have Android being called a cancer.
Crypto is the same, often discouraged, people complaining, media attacks and things like volatility and bear market having even the most enthusiasts being forced to look for alternatives.
Let see if crypto goes the same route Linux goes and only a tiny minority ends up using 'true crypto' and the rest ends up using a product instead.
I think Linux being incrementally growing OS, I don't think there will be year of linux but moments of linux. And it's dominating on cloud and server and even for other use case. We don't need to preach linux anymore if people don't use it, they miss out. Same with hive and crypto in general. You come to this solution or you miss out.
All true although LINUX took over the server market. So for the people who were technical in nature jumped all over it and crushed Softy in that area.
I would say a lot of that exists in many new techs. For example, AI open source is going to take off. If someone builds the ML models others will use it.
As for crypto, there is no doubt the infrastructure and tools have to be build and interoperable. That is the developer level. On top of that, users simply have to have a solid experience. The how it works, in the end, is of no concern to them.
A good analogy.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
There is great value in using a decentralized cloud storage platform. And I can understand building or cloning a front end to get at the data storage. What I am not sure about is the protection of the data and security access. Is it possible for me to store my images, videos, text and restrictive access or can anyone see everything because it is on the blockchain?
!LUV reading your articles but I have to avoid some of them so I don't forget to complete my owns tasks, Task !LOLZ
Have an !AWESOME day and thank you for all the encouragement to take advantage of the hive protocol.
!LEO
!CTP
!PIZZA
!ALIVE
@taskmaster4450! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @fjworld. (1/10)
The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want.
Images and videos are not on the blockchain. Only text is on Hive for example.
But if it is on the blockchain, it can be seen by all.
As for IPFS, I am not sure how that works. There is the potential to encrypt info on Hive so I guess things stores in that manner could be "hidden" in that way.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
As a business owner, risk analysis and mitigation is always top priority. Moving from an existing system to a new system means lots of learning and being prepared for surprises.
I just read an interesting article relating data and access on blockchain.
https://www.cyberscope.io/blog/security-in-blockchain-the-landscape-in-2023
IPFS is still public, but it can be encrypted and isn't permanent. So from a privacy perspective it's a little bit easier to hide sensitive data.
"Images and videos are not on the blockchain. Only text is on Hive for example."
@taskmaster4450le What do you know about ordinals?
"Ordinals can be composed of almost any type of data, ranging from pictures to videos to applications (Figure 4)."
https://grayscale.com/can-ordinals-unlock-new-potential-for-bitcoin/
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@fjworld(1/5) tipped @taskmaster4450
Decentralised protocols could become a prevalent theme in the coming years in application building. The limitations of centralised servers are becoming more evident so it's time for an infrastructural change and Hive is heading in that direction.
There will be a place for centralized servers obviously. However, when it comes to stuff posted out there for all to see, having it in that way only gives power to the platform (company).
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
This post has been manually curated by @bhattg from Indiaunited community. Join us on our Discord Server.
Do you know that you can earn a passive income by delegating your Leo power to @india-leo account? We share 100 % of the curation rewards with the delegators.
100% of the rewards from this comment goes to the curator for their manual curation efforts. Please encourage the curator @bhattg by upvoting this comment and support the community by voting the posts made by @indiaunited.
The Technology shift happening as a result of web3 is something else. At some point, people thought things have gotten to their highest standards technologically but today, we see different technological improvements. From IoT to AI and now blockchain and Smart contracts. We still expect much change. I believe blockchain is not the end. As far as humans exists, the world technological systems will keep improving.
Technological trends are in place. Some will fall flat but we have to be prepared to ride the wave and take advantage of it.
It is interesting, we are creating the revolution in Web 3 but are aided by other technological advances.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Yeah, Yeah. We just have to be prepared for them. It's a mind-shift for me.
The SPKNetwork concept has always interest me, it is taking time to build the but well worth the wait, we have to always bear in mind building from the ground up isn't going yield results immediately.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Infrastructure and protocols take time to build. It is a lot slower than building a website or app.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
It's nice to see all these decentralized protocols come out and I hope they become the new standards for people. We need a shift from the Web 2.0 models.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
https://leofinance.io/threads/view/mercadomaestro/re-leothreads-2sde1igg3
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people ( mercadomaestro ) sharing the post on LeoThreads,LikeTu,dBuzz.