This article excerpted some wonderful insights from Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z Crypto, from his new book “Read Write Own: Block chain network trends and potential to open WEB3 new game”. The translation is from relevant tweets from a16z, as follows:
Looking for ways to gain a deeper understanding of the world of technology, business, and startups? Want to learn about the history and future of the internet? Need a concise explanation of Cryptocurrency and the blockchain movement and its importance? We have the answers for you.
Here, we have selected the sharpest excerpts and most provocative viewpoints from the best-selling book ‘Read Write Own’ in The New York Times. This book has a high information density, and it delves into the hidden structure that determines how money and power flow in the network. Chris Dixon, the founder and managing partner of a16z Crypto, with decades of experience in investing in startups, reveals how the networks that dominate our lives operate and how to restructure these networks to truly empower internet users.
The viewpoints discussed in ‘Read Write Own’ provide a new way of thinking for business and life - from fostering innovation, to seizing disruptive opportunities, to boldly betting on non-mainstream directions. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the book as ‘a compelling vision of the future of the internet and its realization path.’ Whether you are passionate about the encryption field, just beginning to understand it, or simply curious about the surging trend in this field, this book can bring value to you.
The following are the most attractive passages in the book, each containing important inspiration:
1. The Essence of “License”
In business, seeking permission is not as simple as asking parents or teachers for permission, where you can simply get a “yes” or “no” answer; nor is it as clear as traffic lights setting out rules of passage. In the business world, permission often becomes a disguised tyranny. Dominant tech companies use the power of “permission” to hinder competition, disrupt markets, and extract profits.
2. Software as Art
The expressiveness of software is extremely rich. Instead of seeing it as a product of the engineering field, it is better to regard it as an art form. The plasticity and flexibility of code provide a very broad design space. The breadth of this possibility is closer to creative activities such as sculpture or novel writing, rather than engineering practices such as bridge construction. Like other art forms, practitioners in the software field also constantly create new genres and movements, fundamentally expanding the boundaries of possibilities.
3. Problems Solved by Blockchain
Blockchains can make strong commitments to their future behavior, a feature that makes it possible to create entirely new networks. Blockchain networks solve many of the problems that existed in early network architectures: they can connect people, build a Social Web, and give users more power instead of letting corporate interests dominate; they can support markets and Payment Networks, promote business activities, and significantly reduce intermediary costs; they can also give rise to new forms of monetized media, interoperability, immersive digital worlds, and AI products that reward creators instead of exploiting them…
Asking ‘What problems does blockchain solve?’ is like asking ‘What problems does steel solve compared to wood?’ You can build buildings or railways with wood or steel, but steel allowed us to construct taller buildings, sturdier railways, and more grand public works in the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Similarly, through blockchain, we can create a more fair, sustainable, and resilient network with broader prospects compared to today’s network systems.
4. A New Internet Era
Our current decisions will determine the future of the Internet: who builds, owns, and uses the Internet; where innovation happens; and how everyone’s user experience will be. Blockchains and the networks they support unleash the extraordinary power of software as an art form, and the Internet becomes the canvas for its creation. This movement of change has the opportunity to rewrite history, reshape the relationship between humanity and the digital world, and redefine possibilities… This is an opportunity to create an ideal Internet, rather than passively accepting the inherited Internet.
5. The Supreme Position of the Internet
Network design determines destiny.
The network is an organizational framework that enables billions of people to interact in an orderly manner. It determines the winners and losers in the world, and its Algorithm determines the flow of capital and attention. The structure of the network not only guides its own development direction, but also determines the concentration of wealth and power. Given the scale of the current Internet, even seemingly insignificant software design decisions may have far-reaching ripple effects. When analyzing the power structure of the Internet, ‘who controls a particular network’ is the most fundamental question.
6. protocol VS Enterprise
The difference between a protocol network like email and a corporate network like Twitter is that the network effect of email vests in a community, not in a company. Email is not owned or controlled by any company, and anyone can access it through software created by independent developers supporting the underlying protocol. Developers and users are free to decide what to develop and use. The decisions affecting the community are also collectively made by the community itself.
7. The Impact of New Technology
There are two main ways people use new technology: (1) to do things they can already do, but now can be done faster, cheaper, simpler, or with higher quality; (2) to do entirely new things that were previously impossible. In the early stages of technological development, the first type of application is usually more popular, but it is often the second type of application that has a lasting impact on the world.
8. Internet Controlled by Enterprises
The structure of the enterprise network is very simple: it is controlled by a company that provides centralized services to the network. This company has absolute control and can modify the terms of service at any time and for any reason, determine who can access the network, and how funds flow.
The reason why the enterprise network is centralized is that ultimately all rules are decided by one person, usually the CEO.
9, Block chain as a non-Consensus bet
Blockchain is different. It is a non-Consensus gamble. Despite the recognition of its potential by many, including myself, mainstream institutions often overlook them. In fact, the prevalent view in the tech industry is that only the technological improvements that existing giants have already followed are important, such as larger databases, faster processors, larger neural networks, and smaller devices. This view is too short-sighted.
10. How Hobbies Drive Future Industries
Unlike mainstream technologies, ‘outbound’ technologies typically emerge from the edge field. They are driven by amateurs, technology enthusiasts, Open Source developers, and founders of startups, incubating outside the mainstream. These efforts often involve less capital and formal training, thereby leveling the playing field to some extent with industry insiders. However, the lower barriers also lead to a lack of attention from insiders to these technologies and their advocates.
Hobbies are the catalyst for future industries. Hobbies are often the energy invested by the smartest people when they are not constrained by short-term economic goals. I like to say that what the smartest people do on weekends will become the daily routine of others ten years later.
11. Simplicity of Tokens
What Token ‘is’ is far less important than what it ‘can do’.
Tokens can represent ownership of any digital asset, including money, art, photos, music, text, code, game items, voting rights, access rights, and even anything people may come up with in the future. With some additional building blocks, they can also represent real-world things, such as physical goods, real estate, or dollars in a bank account. Anything that can be represented by code can be wrapped in a token for purchase, sale, use, storage, embedding, transfer, or any other purpose.
If all this sounds too simple or even insignificant, that’s exactly the original intention of Token design - simplicity is a virtue.
12. Owner vs. User
The concept of ownership is so deeply ingrained in our lives that it’s hard to imagine what the world would be like without it.
Imagine if the clothes you bought could only be worn in the occasion of purchase; if you couldn’t resell or reinvest in your house and car; or if you had to change your name every time you went somewhere? This is the digital world built by today’s corporate networks.
13, Block chain is like a city
The functionality of blockchain has astonishing similarities to urban planning.
Launching a Block chain network is like building a new city on undeveloped land. The city designers construct some initial buildings and then design a trap land allocation and tax incentive system to attract residents and developers. Property rights, or ownership, play a crucial role, providing property owners with a strong commitment: they will always own their property and can confidently invest in it. As the city grows, the tax base expands. Taxes are reinvested in public projects such as streets and parks, more land is allocated, and the city continues to rise.
14, Restore the community through Token
Blockchain networks deeply embed community ownership into their core designs, which has almost become ingrained in their DNA.
While variants like Dogecoin, a “meme token”, may seem like a joke, they demonstrate how users seek a sense of community and connection in the digital world through various tokens, whether humorous or serious, to fill a sense of belonging.
These Tokens are not just technical tools, they have become a way for people to unite communities. By holding these Tokens, users become participants and owners of the community, rather than just consumers. This design empowers users, breaking the control of centralized companies in traditional platform economies, and creating possibilities for more Decentralization and goal-oriented communities.
15, Block Chain as the Network Constitution
Network designers can use the blockchain to create formal rules enforced by code. These rules are like the constitution of the network. The content of the constitution can be the subject of argument, debate, and experimentation, but the very existence of it and the ability to embed rules into immutable software is an unprecedented advancement that was not possible in previous network designs.
16. Two Cultures of Crypto Assets
There are two radically different cultures interested in the Block chain.
The first culture believes that blockchain is a way to build a new type of network… I call this culture ** “computer”, because its core idea is that blockchain is driving a new computing revolution.
Another culture is primarily interested in speculation and making money. People with this mindset only see the Block chain as a tool for creating new Tokens for trading. I call this culture a ‘casino’**, because its core essence is simply gambling.
But ‘casinos’ should not drag down ‘computers’.
Additional Part: Good Old Times
Blockchain is at the forefront of computer development, much like personal computers in the 1980s, the internet in the 1990s, and mobile phones in the 2010s.
Today, as people look back on the classic moments in computer history, they imagine the scenes of Noyce and Moore, Jobs and Wozniak, Page and Brin. Those amateur enthusiasts who explore, debate, and drive technological development, those creators who immerse themselves in ‘coding’ on nights and weekends.
It seems like it’s already late, but it’s actually early. Now is the best time to reimagine what the Internet can be and what it can do. Software is an unparalleled playground for innovation. You don’t have to accept the current state of the Internet as you find it, but you can create something better… As builders, creators, users, and most importantly, as owners.
You are here now. This is “Beautiful Old Times”.
Original Text Link
