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I think the main thing that this misses is the potential benefit of an open protocol. We still don't have a standard open equivalent of Dropbox.js (deprecated)

I think the main thing that this misses is the potential benefit of an open protocol. We still don't have a standard open equivalent of Dropbox.js (deprecated). That is, a user controlled account which a browser or phone knows about that can store files, and that every app that needs to store files can read and write to. Proprietary solutions and B2B solutions will never meet that need - it needs to be something that all the big tech companies can get behind, and which consumers have visibility and control of. I can't see a route to such a protocol right now, in terms of either technology or finance, other than something open source and based on a cryptocurrency. As such, I hope one of them succeeds. Even if all the files end up stored in Amazon, at least the protocol will be open and everything will be encrypted. And you will be able to trivially as a consumer store the data on a competitor (Microsoft, Google, Baidu), or on your own server if you want or need (countries and companies and people at risk of human rights violations may care).

frabcus 8y ago
To show this is possible: Note how ubiquitous git is now as such a filesystem and protocol for developers. Remember how that has come about over the last 10 years. Imagine the same thing happening with a consumer targetted file storage system and protocol.
- ksk 8y ago
  git is popular because of many external factors, some of which (github gitlab, etc) are centralized closed systems. I don't think git by itself would have become popular. I'd say that in today's world, you need someone somewhere making mad cash for a protocol to become that popular. Could an open storage protocol achieve that?
regularfry 8y ago
I honestly don't see the need for it to be distributed. A zeroconf home file server that handled giving you access when you were out and about would solve the 80% problem.
acdha 8y ago
I don’t think it’s missing so much as being realistic about the costs of developing a production grade service. Cryptocurrencies aren’t really up to that since it’s unlikely to lead to the kind of lottery returns VCs are chasing — the most people are going to pay is capped at Dropbox/iCloud/etc. rates — and the volatility makes it hard to sustain years of development to make something stable enough to trust and easy to use.
basch 8y ago
It's not exactly what youre describing, but isnt e-Mail a decentralized file store? Sure, most mail is google, microsoft, or verizon by now, but still, you can spin up your own compatible instance and participate with others. Almost any client you can dream of can access IMAP mailboxes and send through SMTP.

frabcus 8y ago

To show this is possible: Note how ubiquitous git is now as such a filesystem and protocol for developers. Remember how that has come about over the last 10 years. Imagine the same thing happening with a consumer targetted file storage system and protocol.

ksk 8y ago
git is popular because of many external factors, some of which (github gitlab, etc) are centralized closed systems. I don't think git by itself would have become popular. I'd say that in today's world, you need someone somewhere making mad cash for a protocol to become that popular. Could an open storage protocol achieve that?

regularfry 8y ago

I honestly don't see the need for it to be distributed. A zeroconf home file server that handled giving you access when you were out and about would solve the 80% problem.

acdha 8y ago

I don’t think it’s missing so much as being realistic about the costs of developing a production grade service. Cryptocurrencies aren’t really up to that since it’s unlikely to lead to the kind of lottery returns VCs are chasing — the most people are going to pay is capped at Dropbox/iCloud/etc. rates — and the volatility makes it hard to sustain years of development to make something stable enough to trust and easy to use.

basch 8y ago

It's not exactly what youre describing, but isnt e-Mail a decentralized file store? Sure, most mail is google, microsoft, or verizon by now, but still, you can spin up your own compatible instance and participate with others. Almost any client you can dream of can access IMAP mailboxes and send through SMTP.