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The "problem" in this article's premise is coupling links with physical servers, for which DNS and CDNs have solved. Distributed computing certainly has it's r

The "problem" in this article's premise is coupling links with physical servers, for which DNS and CDNs have solved. Distributed computing certainly has it's role, but the added complexity of cache invalidation, versioning, and content synchronization are undeniable.

macawfish 9y ago
DNS and CDNs may have solved this problem in a limited context, but they're hardly accessible, and are too dependent on centralized infrastructure for a lot of peoples' needs. I hear you on the added complexity of it all, and I think that's why its taken so long for this stuff to be developed. It's been stewing for a long time. LANs have been around since before the internet, but a lot of stuff that's relatively easy on the internet is much, much harder in distributed and mesh networks. I think we're currently witnessing an epiphany. Having the ability to recognize the same resource, and to request it, from multiple, disparate devices in just about any network setting is a totally different level. And on a human level, I believe it could foster healthier social interactions around the sharing of digital content. When content is in its infancy, these kinds of applications create incentives, however slight they may be, to share it in closer physical proximity to people. It gives us back the awesome joy of the LAN party. Facebook says "you need to share your content via ISP and it must be stored on our servers at all times." Whereas distributed network applications invite us to imagine more humane, local, trusted environments for sharing digital content. If you want to share old family videos, get together for dinner, watch them on the TV and then share them privately over the WIFI. If you're in a band, make arrangements with local cafes to host your album. People who come for coffee will have the best bandwidth on it. If you're an artist, host your portfolio on your phone. Share it with people like you'd share a business card. If they like it, they may choose to help seed it, even without your asking. We're talking about the internet for LANs. This stuff has the potential to refresh the art of digital collection and curation, something that's been co-opted by centralized content providers.
AgentME 9y ago
IPFS lets users contribute to the hosting too. I've had a lot of favorite sites go down in the past that I wish I and others could easily help host in a way that all the old links still worked.

macawfish 9y ago

DNS and CDNs may have solved this problem in a limited context, but they're hardly accessible, and are too dependent on centralized infrastructure for a lot of peoples' needs. I hear you on the added complexity of it all, and I think that's why its taken so long for this stuff to be developed. It's been stewing for a long time. LANs have been around since before the internet, but a lot of stuff that's relatively easy on the internet is much, much harder in distributed and mesh networks. I think we're currently witnessing an epiphany. Having the ability to recognize the same resource, and to request it, from multiple, disparate devices in just about any network setting is a totally different level. And on a human level, I believe it could foster healthier social interactions around the sharing of digital content. When content is in its infancy, these kinds of applications create incentives, however slight they may be, to share it in closer physical proximity to people. It gives us back the awesome joy of the LAN party. Facebook says "you need to share your content via ISP and it must be stored on our servers at all times." Whereas distributed network applications invite us to imagine more humane, local, trusted environments for sharing digital content. If you want to share old family videos, get together for dinner, watch them on the TV and then share them privately over the WIFI. If you're in a band, make arrangements with local cafes to host your album. People who come for coffee will have the best bandwidth on it. If you're an artist, host your portfolio on your phone. Share it with people like you'd share a business card. If they like it, they may choose to help seed it, even without your asking. We're talking about the internet for LANs. This stuff has the potential to refresh the art of digital collection and curation, something that's been co-opted by centralized content providers.

AgentME 9y ago

IPFS lets users contribute to the hosting too. I've had a lot of favorite sites go down in the past that I wish I and others could easily help host in a way that all the old links still worked.