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can someone explain why anyone would need this? just like bitcoin, the time you really need it is to avoid government oversight or censorship. if successful, wo

can someone explain why anyone would need this? just like bitcoin, the time you really need it is to avoid government oversight or censorship. if successful, wouldnt we all see the black market thrive while all regular use cases for the internet would continue on the regular distributed internet?

su 9y ago
You are confusing Bitcoin with Blockchain. We need this because internet is currently centralized and an authority in power can control the flow of information. Blockstack aims to provide decentralized internet using blockchain and that is a good thing as it makes the internet stronger.
- cookiecaper 9y ago
  Any new tech "using blockchain" is a non-starter for general use; they are constraining themselves automatically by adopting "blockchain" technology. People assume that "blockchain" is inherently good due to the buzz created by rampant speculation among Bitcoin traders, but the blockchain itself is an experimental platform that is dubiously fitted even to the narrow constraints of bitcoin, let alone forming the foundation of a "new internet".
  - BatFastard 9y ago
    My feeling on "using blockchain" is that any tech based on it is inherently not scalable.
acover 9y ago
Imagine if Facebook was decentralized. You could own your data. There would be competition to provide the best ui. The best experience. Anti-features wouldn't exist. One company wouldn't control how a billion people communicate with each other.
- cookiecaper 9y ago
  This is a political and legal problem, not a technical one. The internet already has the ability to make Facebook "decentralized". People have tried it to varying extents, and they've either languished outside of the walled garden or gotten crushed by Facebook's lawyers when they've tried to make runs to the inside for data (cf. Facebook v. Power Ventures). Our choice to analogize requests to a public HTTP server as trespass to physical property has deeply constrained the growth of the internet as a free platform that benefits its users. The EU has new data portability restrictions going in next year, and these may help some, but they aren't quite strong enough to resolve the issue.
- WJW 9y ago
  Imagine if Facebook was decentralized: Your grandmother would have to run her own node! Your bandwidth at home would determine if your profile was reachable. If something you post goes viral, just imagine the fun your family will have as their available bandwidth slows to almost nothing! There might be competition on providing a nice "experience" but you would either pay for it, have it be ad-supported or it'd turn in to a Linux-desktop shitshow. Imagine how much more fun spam filtering could be if it didn't have a dedicated team but it would just be you (or your grandmother) going up against the legions of determined spammers.
  - jpalomaki 9y ago
    Email is decentralized, yet I don't need to run my own SMTP server (but if I wanted I could do that).
    - WJW 9y ago
      Indeed, and so can I. However, there is a huge crowd outside of HN that is neither capable of running their own servers, nor are they remotely interested in learning to do so. Also, I would argue that in practice email is very much centralized, with a few large providers that manage all the complexity for their users (such as spam blocking and maintaining servers).
muneeb 9y ago
I want to cross-link a recent Reddit discussion where people are asking similar questions and there is a good relevant discussion with answers: https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/6j6ub1/new_blockchainbased_decentralized_internet_being/?ref=share&ref_source=link https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/6j6ub1/new_bloc...

su 9y ago

You are confusing Bitcoin with Blockchain. We need this because internet is currently centralized and an authority in power can control the flow of information. Blockstack aims to provide decentralized internet using blockchain and that is a good thing as it makes the internet stronger.

cookiecaper 9y ago
Any new tech "using blockchain" is a non-starter for general use; they are constraining themselves automatically by adopting "blockchain" technology. People assume that "blockchain" is inherently good due to the buzz created by rampant speculation among Bitcoin traders, but the blockchain itself is an experimental platform that is dubiously fitted even to the narrow constraints of bitcoin, let alone forming the foundation of a "new internet".
- BatFastard 9y ago
  My feeling on "using blockchain" is that any tech based on it is inherently not scalable.

acover 9y ago

Imagine if Facebook was decentralized. You could own your data. There would be competition to provide the best ui. The best experience. Anti-features wouldn't exist. One company wouldn't control how a billion people communicate with each other.

cookiecaper 9y ago
This is a political and legal problem, not a technical one. The internet already has the ability to make Facebook "decentralized". People have tried it to varying extents, and they've either languished outside of the walled garden or gotten crushed by Facebook's lawyers when they've tried to make runs to the inside for data (cf. Facebook v. Power Ventures). Our choice to analogize requests to a public HTTP server as trespass to physical property has deeply constrained the growth of the internet as a free platform that benefits its users. The EU has new data portability restrictions going in next year, and these may help some, but they aren't quite strong enough to resolve the issue.
WJW 9y ago
Imagine if Facebook was decentralized: Your grandmother would have to run her own node! Your bandwidth at home would determine if your profile was reachable. If something you post goes viral, just imagine the fun your family will have as their available bandwidth slows to almost nothing! There might be competition on providing a nice "experience" but you would either pay for it, have it be ad-supported or it'd turn in to a Linux-desktop shitshow. Imagine how much more fun spam filtering could be if it didn't have a dedicated team but it would just be you (or your grandmother) going up against the legions of determined spammers.
- jpalomaki 9y ago
  Email is decentralized, yet I don't need to run my own SMTP server (but if I wanted I could do that).
  - WJW 9y ago
    Indeed, and so can I. However, there is a huge crowd outside of HN that is neither capable of running their own servers, nor are they remotely interested in learning to do so. Also, I would argue that in practice email is very much centralized, with a few large providers that manage all the complexity for their users (such as spam blocking and maintaining servers).

muneeb 9y ago

I want to cross-link a recent Reddit discussion where people are asking similar questions and there is a good relevant discussion with answers: https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/6j6ub1/new_blockchainbased_decentralized_internet_being/?ref=share&ref_source=link https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/6j6ub1/new_bloc...