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A replacement could be just a protocol. If you signed your message with "This is a reply to msg 33398198 by Timja. Signed: twblalock", then nobody could take t
by Timja 4y ago
A replacement could be just a protocol.
If you signed your message with "This is a reply to msg 33398198 by Timja. Signed: twblalock", then nobody could take this converstion away from us again. I could copy it and put it on any server. Owned by myself or run by some service provider. And it would always be clear to everybody that this conversation really took place between the two of us.
- twblalock 4y agoYeah but who would use a system like that outside of a small hardcore contingent of techies?
- Timja 4y agoThe interface could be just like Twitter or Hacker News. In fact, users could use any service they like. It would not matter what client you use to reply to me. Your reply would appear on Hacker News, because HN would follow the protocol and accept properly signed comments relayed to it.
- dd36 4y agoIt already exists: newsgroups.
- augustuspolius 4y agoThe messages would still need to be stored somewhere, right? Is SMTP a decentralized protocol in this sense? You can send a message from any client... however most people still use centralized solutions, not their own mail servers. In your example HN would still need to retrieve and store billions of messages, handle user authentication, discovery, aggregation, additional data handling (e.g. you want to attach a video, or go live). They will need to monetize _something_. So we are back to square one, just with a much more inconvenient client setup process (like we do right now setting up pop3/smtp/imap).
- holler 4y agoWhat incentive would Twitter or Hacker News have to support the protocol?