One of the interesting things about the internet is the idea of free We use social media without paying any money or we use other platforms without getting a subscription and we use services that seem to cost nothing at all.
At first it seems like a great deal.
Over time it has become clear that these systems are not really free.
They use something instead of money.
They use the information we give them when we click on things and search for things and interact with them every time we do something online it becomes part of a system that collects our information and uses it to make money or this information helps companies show us ads and recommend things to us and make money from us.
In ways the people who use these systems are not the customers the people who use these systems are the things being sold for a time people have been okay with this because it makes things easier to use or we can use platforms without having to pay or sign up for things and now people are starting to feel uncomfortable about it.
People are starting to realize how information they are giving away when they use these free services or they are giving away what they like and what they do and how money they have and even who they are and once they give away this information they do not have control over it anymore.
This makes us wonder about the future of the internet.
Should we have to give away all our information to use services?
This is where blockchain technology becomes important blockchain technology is a way to make systems that do not need to collect all our information of using systems that collect all our information and use it to make money we can use systems that respect our privacy.
There are companies like Midnight Network that are working on this.
They are trying to make systems where we can use the internet without giving away all our information.
This is a way of thinking about the internet.
Of making systems that try to get as much information from us as possible we can make systems that respect our boundaries in these systems the people who use them are not just sources of information or the people who use them have control over what they do online.
Course this is not easy to do.
The internet is set up in a way that makes it hard to change we need technology and new ways of thinking to make this work.
It is also hard to get people to use these systems people have to get used to tools and new ways of doing things.
It is worth it.
Because the question is not about technology the question is about what's important.
What are we giving up when we use the internet?
Is there a way to do things?
Maybe the next version of the internet will not just be about making things faster and more advanced maybe it will be about making things that respect our privacy or maybe the best systems will not be the ones that're free and maybe the best systems will be the ones that do not take much from us.
That would be a good thing.
The idea of free would be different then.
It would mean something
It would mean that we can use the internet without giving away everything.
That would be great.