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Most people probably don't care about nor want decentralization. They want predictable. They want to make sure they get paid on time. They don't care whether t

Most people probably don't care about nor want decentralization. They want predictable. They want to make sure they get paid on time. They don't care whether the government nor Zuckerberg is spying on them. They just want to get on with their lives and anything that causes friction is annoying. Accordingly, this is why hardly anyone's dumping a ton of effort into decentralized services. There's no profit incentive.

xani_ 4y ago
It's also massively hard to get right. Preventing or punishing bad actors is way easier in centralized systems
- some_random 4y ago
  Not to mention that in centralized systems there's an ultimate authority who's willing to sacrifice a little of their profit as a cost of doing business in order to make sure that real customers that were scammed or had an issue of some kind have a good experience.
  - itintheory 4y ago
    And yet even with an essentially centralized service like Zelle, the system is rife with abuse: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/10/report-big-u-s-banks-are-stiffing-account-takeover-victims/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/10/report-big-u-s-banks-are...
- AnimalMuppet 4y ago
  ... except when the bad actors are the central authority.
- synu 4y ago
  Centralised systems seem to trend towards something like a protection racket.
anonporridge 4y ago
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” - Henry Ford What most people want isn't the most important piece of information for innovators and leaders. You have to know it so that you don't get so far away from what they want that they don't gang up and destroy you, but the reality is, most people don't have very big thoughts about the present or the future. Most people don't value decentralization because they live small lives focused on their individual problems. Nothing wrong with that, but somebody has to think about the larger problems of civilization resiliency and improvement. It's these people who think big who pull all of us forward towards a hopefully better future.

xani_ 4y ago

It's also massively hard to get right. Preventing or punishing bad actors is way easier in centralized systems

some_random 4y ago
Not to mention that in centralized systems there's an ultimate authority who's willing to sacrifice a little of their profit as a cost of doing business in order to make sure that real customers that were scammed or had an issue of some kind have a good experience.
- itintheory 4y ago
  And yet even with an essentially centralized service like Zelle, the system is rife with abuse: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/10/report-big-u-s-banks-are-stiffing-account-takeover-victims/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/10/report-big-u-s-banks-are...
AnimalMuppet 4y ago
... except when the bad actors are the central authority.
synu 4y ago
Centralised systems seem to trend towards something like a protection racket.

anonporridge 4y ago

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” - Henry Ford What most people want isn't the most important piece of information for innovators and leaders. You have to know it so that you don't get so far away from what they want that they don't gang up and destroy you, but the reality is, most people don't have very big thoughts about the present or the future. Most people don't value decentralization because they live small lives focused on their individual problems. Nothing wrong with that, but somebody has to think about the larger problems of civilization resiliency and improvement. It's these people who think big who pull all of us forward towards a hopefully better future.