New Book by a16z Partner: "Read Write Own: Blockchain Bridges Early Open Source Project Weaknesses, But Needs to Overcome Speculative Culture"

Chris Dixon, editor of the Stanford University Blockchain Review blog and partner at the well-known crypto venture capital firm a16z, recently discussed his new book "Read Write Own" in which he delves into the long-term implications of Web3 in the digital industry and the current development challenges it faces due to speculative culture. Discussion.

Understanding the Value of Web3 Requires Understanding the Network Architecture

The book "Read Write Own" begins with stories commonly heard in the community—most of the value on the internet today is dominated by tech giants like Google, Meta, and Amazon, and blockchain will be a turning point. To understand the technology and cultural significance of blockchain, one needs to grasp a broader understanding of internet history.

Because most of the value on the internet, including social networks, financial histories, and medical records, is recorded and captured on these interconnected network structures. Therefore, to understand the modern internet, one must first understand network design; how these networks are designed will directly impact how money and power flow within the network system.

Before the emergence of blockchain technology, the internet economy had two main designs: protocol networks and corporate networks.

There are mainly two types of network architectures: protocol networks and corporate networks

Protocol Networks

Protocol networks are defined by a set of open-source rules that describe how different participants in the network interact with each other. Since the protocol is completely open-source, any participant can launch a similar application, and all value belongs to the participants of that protocol, rather than any centralized entity that charges high fees.

One of the most classic examples of a protocol network is RSS. RSS is a simple aggregation protocol that allows users to subscribe to content of interest.

Corporate Networks

Corporate networks are closed networks, such as Facebook or Twitter, designed and maintained by a single company to promote its own interests.

While many corporate networks support APIs and ecosystems for external developers and creators on their platforms, the interests of users are still secondary to those of the company. Therefore, the vast majority of value for creators, developers, and other users on the network belongs to the platform rather than the users themselves.

Closed corporate networks like Facebook or Twitter have triumphed over open protocol networks like RSS. Twitter was initially a frontend designed to support RSS and make it user-friendly. However, over time, users began to rely entirely on Twitter's platform and network rather than RSS, leading Twitter to decide to end support for RSS in 2013 and capture user value.

Corporate Networks Succeed Due to Strong Financial Backing

One of the core reasons these corporate networks can replace open protocol networks is because they are well-funded and strategically designed to advance their own interests. Platforms like Amazon, YouTube, and Uber are willing to continuously burn money in the early stages to subsidize user growth.

On the other hand, many protocol networks, due to their decentralized nature, lack systematic funding to sustain the development and maintenance of projects. Many developers maintain networks purely out of goodwill, creating a stark contrast.

The Opportunities and Challenges of Web3

Opportunities: Blockchain Allows Protocol Networks to Compete

Blockchain introduces a new form of network economy that combines the openness of protocol networks with the financing mechanisms of corporate networks, which may help fundamentally address the issues mentioned above.

Blockchain can use "tokens" as a means to realize the business model of open protocols, where tokens represent ownership and value units within open-source programs.

Challenges: Conflict Between Computer Culture and Speculative Markets

Unfortunately, blockchain and tokens often carry a negative connotation due to their association with speculation and gambling. This is because the blockchain industry is currently filled with two cultures:

• Computer culture: Developers, entrepreneurs, and visionaries place cryptocurrencies within a broader internet history, understanding the technical significance of blockchain in the long run and pursuing ideals.
• Casino culture: Speculators, traders, and those focused on short-term gains and profiting from price fluctuations in the trading market culture.

Dixon believes that by strengthening regulation and increasing legal clarity, it may be possible to reduce the short-sightedness and harmful effects of the casino culture. One potential solution could be leveraging ownership plans and time frames, locking tokens for a specified period through techniques like staking or traditional legal means such as contracts. This can promote longer-term thinking in the field, thereby harnessing the power of blockchain technology for societal good.

Essentially, this is the clash between the culture of freedom and value pursued by Web3, and the conflict of crypto culture driven by capital and speculation, which fundamentally differ. Some argue that speculation is the main hindrance to the development of Web3.

The key to the real implementation of Web3: returning the discourse from traders to actual participants

Blockchain Will Reshape the Digital Industry

Existing internet culture is dominated by corporate networks, where users, developers, and participants are relatively deprived of value, while the network structure of blockchain has the opportunity to bring protocol culture back into the market, improving this current situation.

If blockchain is to truly change the current internet culture, it needs to reduce the proportion of casino culture. By leveraging the flexible design framework of computer culture and tokens, open-source projects have the opportunity to complete a cold start in the early stages with a new business model. Eventually, with the emergence of network effect advantages, these projects can become long-term competitive open-source projects.

With the completion of infrastructure, the above situation may soon occur, killer applications may emerge in the crypto field, becoming truly implemented industries.

The Chinese version of "Read Write Own" has not been released yet.