“Blockchain”, “Web 3.0” and “Decentralized” – words I’m sure you’ve been hearing a lot about both pre-Covid pandemic and still now. It’s very easy to lump those three buzzwords together as some promised future tech we’ll all be able to uniquely identify (as developers) and inevitably be using (like your average Joe). The truth is, that the reality and likelihood of such a future is likely never going to come.
Let’s take a look at each of those three technologies.
Web 3.0 sounds fancy, but most people outside of the IT Industry can’t even comprehend what Web 2.0 is (or the difference versus Web 1.0). To the average Joe, “the internet is the internet” and it’s not versioned like your next iPhone. Right now, as it stands, Web 3.0 isn’t clearly defined (let alone defined at all) – it’s nothing more than a pie in the sky idea on what people “think” it should be, with it being “Decentralized” as one of it’s hopeful shining attributes.
There isn’t much more to say about Web 3.0, which brings us to our next talking point.
I think we can all mostly agree on the appeal of a “Decentralized” internet and the façade that privacy will be put back in the user’s hands (that’s usually the selling point). With “no big evil tech firm” to collect, sell and profit off your precious data it’s collected, sounds like an idea the average Joe can get on board with. The reality is that your average Joe doesn’t care.
In fact, there is a very easy test to prove this – simply ask your parents/siblings what they think! You’ll likely get a response akin to “Oh dear, that is bad!” not long before returning to using WhatsApp, checking Facebook or completing a Google search on their phone.
Go on, give it a try!
The “Blockchain” is a very efficient piece of technology. In it’s current state, it’s got it’s shortcomings, but it does what it says on the box. It’s the backbone of Cryptocurrencies and NFTs and it does those things well (for the most part). The problem with Blockchain is that when we step outside of that realm and start naturally thinking it can be applied to other things, thinking it will somehow magically improve (or replace) them. Just because a piece of technology CAN do something, doesn’t mean it SHOULD be doing something.
I personally feel the very feature that blockchain touts; “immutability” and “an immutable ledger” is the very feature it’ll never be widely adopted.
You see; at a government, bank, hospital level you cannot realistically have data/records that cannot nr manipulated (*tin foil hats on!* for better or worse), which for the most part sounds fantastic. However, that is a dystopian nightmare for such large entities. The capitalist world we live in, would literally crumble from the inside out.
A quick refresher on how the blockchain works; Each transaction that is verified by the blockchain network is timestamped and embedded into a “block” of information, cryptographically secured by a hashing process that links to and incorporates the hash of the previous block, and joins the chain as the next chronological update. In other words, if data is tampered with, the blockchain will break, and the reason could be readily identified. This characteristic is not found in traditional databases, where information can be modified or deleted with ease. In other words, the blockchain is essentially a ledger of facts at a specific point in time.
As I mentioned, the Blockchain is a very efficient piece of technology not without it’s shortcomings – only one of these issues mentioned above. We won’t touch on blockchain size or speed (in a nutshell; currently also not great) – the technology has a place, but you won’t be seeing it magically take over or being incorporated into your everyday lives or work. It’s efficient in the space it lives in like Cryptocurrencies and NFTs, but you won’t be replacing databases or looking to use it as an all-telling lie-detector with it.
My closing thoughts; Web 3.0 (what ever it eventually looks like) will inevitably come, but your average Joe won’t know or care. There is no written rule that Web 3.0 has to be decentralised and because of that, it won’t even involve the blockchain as it currently stands (a very small maybe that some type of variation may be used) and while we think Web 3.0 may be the decentralised internet we want, it might not be, as that was never promised.
Questions we need to stop asking ourselves about the blockchain:
Q: Is blockchain the future?
A: No. It’s a piece of tech that has some good uses. It will not replace everything (think about this; you wouldn’t cut a loaf of bread with a water pressure cutter, you’d use a knife like we have been doing for centuries).
Q: How will blockchain affect my personal life or job?
A: Short answer; it won’t. If adopted correctly, it will be a seamless a transition you wouldn’t even notice.
Q: When will Web 3.0 happen?
A: You likely wouldn’t even notice it happening until many years had passed, just like Web 1.0 to 2.0.
Q: Will Web 3.0 make the developer redundant? (an actual question I was asked!)
A: No.
Q: How can my company get ahead of the curve on blockchain or incorporate it?
A: If you’re asking this question (and the answer isn’t immediate), the blockchain is not for you to worry about. Move along.