Context
The internet has been a decentralized network since its conception. As this network is used to move vast amounts of valuable data, there is an incentive to become a hub for this data.
The ossification of the web into the control of a handful of major hubs is in no way surprising. Any such system will tend towards capture over time via social contracts that provide a disincentive to exit (e.g. social networks). The fundamental gravity of centralization needs to be actively and persistently resisted by applying opposing forces if the web is to stay open.
The web of the 2020s is beginning to show signs of social flux: average, everyday people are beginning to become conscious of the value of their personal data and the role that these technologies play in their society, politics, and daily lives. The past decade has seen new approaches to security, distributed systems, and decentralization.
Software continues its march of abstraction.
Increasing abstraction
Containers
DevOps specialists
Kubernetes complexity
Challenges estimating billing
FaaS / Serverless
Still early in its curve
Primarily controlled by the major cloud companies
Tied to specific implementations
Edge
Lower latency
Flexible
Tied to specific providers
Wasm Isolates
Extremely early, but showing promise
Difficult to compete with the rolling weight of the Big Four
GDPR, CCPA
Lock-in fatigue
Data security
Self sovereignty
Scandals: Snowden, Cambridge Analytica
Apple has begun marketing its services as "more secure"
If you don't like what you got Why don't you change it? If your world is all screwed up Rearrange it! ~ Trooper, Raise a Little Hell
Content addressing gives us a single unified namespace
Portability
Location independence
Caching
Constraints of this system mean that it should be secure-by-default
Assume that the pipes are broken
Scale independent
From single person or IoT device up to large organizations
People are fundamentally lazy
Want to change as little as possible
Rolling weight of existing software
Familiarity-as-UX
We systemically tend towards centralization and capture
Periodic paradigm shifts that allow for increased freedom, competition, and efficiency
End-users are becoming aware of the dangers of concentrated technological power
Decentralized IDs will happen
W3C
Microsoft
BC Government
WebAssembly will be available everywhere
Content addressing effectively makes data location a non-issue
Pragmatism
Self-sovereignty
Universality
Modularity
UX and DX (broadly HCI)
Convenience
The past 60 years have been a progression from bespoke hardware through mainframes, timeshare, hardware ownership, cloud computing, containers, FaaS, and finally, hostless/universal systems.
