In the past few months, the drumbeat of distress about the state of the internet has grown louder. Increasing numbers of individuals are asserting that the internet, as it currently stands, is broken. They argue that the tool that was supposed to unite us is instead dividing us; that the data that was supposed to free us, now enslaves us.
Could blockchain technology be the internet’s savior? Is a technological panopticon a viable solution to the ails of the internet? More specifically, is it in any way a desirable solution? Possibly. One answer may come in the form of a new blockchain-based browser using a distributed ledger. This approach would involve a complete rethinking of identity, perhaps one of the internet’s most outstanding issues.
The technology is evolving extremely rapidly and on many fronts beyond cryptocurrencies: all of this breakneck innovation and exploration is tremendously exciting. Yet it is also leading to fears that 90% of firms building blockchain technology will fall into the “chasm of death” and disappear before the technology gains widespread adoption.
Clearly, both enthusiasm and caution are indicated in equal measure.
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Here are the articles that inspired and informed this newsletter. We recommend them to you as interesting data points in your consideration of education and decentralized technologies.
- Blockchain Offers Hope for the Broken Internet — Jeff John Roberts
- Blockchain’s Chasm of Death—and Who Will Make It Out — Jeff John Roberts
- Bigger than bitcoin? Enterprise Ethereum Alliance grows in size — Neil Ainger
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