Re:Decentralization Roundup for 2017
by tlrobinson on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @09:13AM
(#16008663)
Out of curiosity, what are some counter-examples of decentralized protocols, or at least open protocols, that have gained significant adoption in recent decades?
The only major one I can think of is BitTorrent. Bitcoin and Tor are still niche.
It's too bad there aren't more. It seems very difficult for anything as fundamental and important as HTTP or SMTP to gain traction when there's no incentive for large companies to adopt an open protocol. Are we stuck with walled gardens like iMessage/WhatsApp/Slack/Twitter/Facebook from now on?
The only major one I can think of is BitTorrent. Bitcoin and Tor are still niche.
It's too bad there aren't more. It seems very difficult for anything as fundamental and important as HTTP or SMTP to gain traction when there's no incentive for large companies to adopt an open protocol. Are we stuck with walled gardens like iMessage/WhatsApp/Slack/Twitter/Facebook from now on?