Blockchain tech could hold the key to unlocking a very different digital future from the one we have been hearing so much about. Though there is a lot of focus on how artificial intelligence is going to change everything from education to ordering a pizza, it is decentralization that has the most power to disrupt and develop the way we live both online and IRL.
Evolution Powers Revolution
The humble app, whether on a cellphone or a pc, has become the most powerful digital product on the planet, with many evolving to adopt blockchain tech to create decentralized Web3 apps (dApps). Developers and users with or without crypto education can utilize these applications to allow peer-to-peer transactions and interactions without relying on a centralized system to facilitate connections or act as an intermediary.
This gives users a greater level of ownership over their content, and the networks of people they develop through social media followings or eCommerce. Adopting decentralization means developers can offer consumers user experiences with higher levels of customization, privacy, and control that are not currently on offer, disrupting the app ecosystem and challenging many established names in software.
Open Source For The Win
For too long, consumers have been overpaying for underdeveloped software. Closed source code usually results in an inferior product, but sales numbers tell a different story. Microsoft Office is far more financially successful software than Apache’s Open Office, for example, but the open-source Open Office is a more user-friendly and capable offering. There has always been a lot of interest in open-source solutions, but they lacked funding when they needed it, which has stymied their market share.
With blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized ownership structures, small but powerful open-source software can access funding directly from users or micro-investors across a range of crypto platforms. By integrating funding options into software, independent developers gain access to investment streams to help them push their product up a level and take on the big names at their own game.
Leveling The Playing Field
Blockchain tech creates a distribution opportunity that could smash the hegemony of the Apple App Store and Google Play. Web3 apps can be distributed through blockchain ecosystems and remove the need for an app store completely. This allows developers to create software without having to satisfy corporate concerns like geofencing or data mining and their apps can be sold directly to consumers, taking the fees developers pay app stores off their balance sheets.
This will disrupt digital distribution massively, giving consumers access to more apps and services than ever before without having to involve the manufacturer of their cell phones. With a freer flow of information and applications, consumers will be able to do more than ever before while enjoying privacy and security from decentralized applications and networks.
It is more than just the world of finance that is going to be disrupted by decentralization and blockchain tech. Software is going to change, and be able to do more, and small-scale developers that include Web3 technology in their products are going to be in a much better position to react to the digital revolution and reap rewards from the change.