We've had, as you'd expect, a flurry of questions as to how Autonomi is different from other technologies such as IPFS, Filecoin, Arweave, the ICP etc.
First off… this is all cool tech, that moves us all forward. But do we want to settle for Web 2.5, or go the whole hog?
Overarching it all is the need for an autonomous network that can securely store, preserve, serve and be there in perpetuity for anyone and everyone's data. Equal access and no middlemen. Because allowing wiggle room for gatekeeping, is a slope that's slippery, and slides in only one direction.
Secure; permanent; private; decentralized; owned by and accessible to us all. These are the vital elements to the infrastructure of a full-bhoona Web 3.0. So let's take a look at why we haven't relented in our pursuit of them, and why a network that has them all is still just as vital 18 years after we started.
A lil' breakdown of the current alternatives…
IPFS
This is the bread and butter of data storage for Web3 at present. Again this is nifty tech. Content addressable data is needed.
But it doesn't store anything. It creates pointers to data. Data that is stored elsewhere (predominantly on traditional servers). So progress, but only part of the puzzle.
Filecoin
This is a decentralised marketplace for IPFS data storage. You buy coins in a decentralised way… and negotiate with a storage provider to store the data for you in a traditional way. And you have to figure out between you how to get the data to them.
Plus, you'll still have to renegotiate year-on-year, and pay the bills to keep that data alive. Useful marketplace, but not quite fitting our requirements in full yet.
Arweave
Permanent storage of data. Great! But not private, nor encrypted. Boo!
Maybe you can roll your own encryption? I don't know. But why can't we all just have end-to-end encryption all the time for all the things. Is that too much to ask?
Internet Computer Protocol (ICP)
Once again, great tech, and pushing the boundaries. Like all these others, allies and friends.
But. Not permanent data. And the barrier to entry is very very high. So high that some might say it has a natural tendency toward centralisation.
If you want to contribute your resources to the network and run a node, you'd better have a data centre and a few $100k to back it up.
What if we can have it all?
So, just imagine if we could combine:
Content-addressable data like IPFS
Decentralised marketplace of Filecoin
Permanent data of Arweave
Have everything encrypted all the time as standard
and have a massively distributed network of millions of everyday devices that even you with your 15-year-old PC can be part of and have a stake in?
Just imagine!! 😉
Why do you think we've been grinding for so long? And why do you think we are so excited about what happens at the end of this month?
