Anyway, my talk gave some context for the crypto revolution, included Bitcoin, introduced the notion of distributed, P2P file systems not depending on blockchains, then delivered an outline of the Safenetwork. The message was that mobile devs should start to build an understanding of the emerging crypto space and in particular start to think about how they will integrate their apps with Safenetwork, consider Safenetwork as a completely new distribution venue and the value proposition of Safecoin.
While the audience was great, receptive, well-considered in their questions, etc, the general lack of awareness of crypto, even of Bitcoin, really surprised me. This was a professional group of mostly working devs. Almost without exception they develop native apps. They are quite sophisticated generally. Only about 5% had any real knowledge at all of what’s happening in crypto and the notion of a server-less world was very perplexing to all of them (quite understandably). So, my big take-away from the experience is the size of the gap between us insiders and everybody else, even tech professionals.
As part of my community work, I’m intending to try to take Safenetwork and P2P generally to other professional groups, with a focus on devs. This is difficult, because we still can’t really demonstrate a whole lot, so it’s really about potentiating the developer community so that when we can really start deploying, we’re not starting from scratch.
So, any suggestions on what to tell people at this stage, how to tell it, example stories, etc to help me make my presentations more engaging would be greatly appreciated.
I like to imagine how the $4 smartphone opens up the door to global transactions between billions of more individuals. What will be their crypto currency of choice? As soon as these billions of new participants discover there is a means to store their data privately, permanently and for nearly free using a cryptocurrency that they can generate by being a part of the network then it is just a matter of time before that network begins to flourish as it becomes the leap frogging financial technology of choice. Developers that create useful apps for these billions of new participants will be rewarded greatly by the network automatically. Developers who can create DAOs built on such a network will be creating the means for nearly everyone on the planet to have a stakes in new business ventures that were previously inaccessible to everyone but the worlds wealthiest (referring to $1mil in liquid assets or $200k per year income required by the SEC to become an accredited investor).
On the picture, I see no one with a laptop yet. Maybe the next time, let everybody take along a laptop and install the App Launcher and demo app. First hand experience is always good.
Thanks EddyJohn, I think in the room we probably hit 50. Really appreciate the idea of the launcher, but it was really, really early for these folk. My intention it to target all the dev communities, find out who’s already primed and see if I can get them involved in our MBTC group. Those who aren’t, I’m intending to do follow up talks, to reinforce the ideas, and at some point, yes, will try to get them to install the launcher.
Hear hear, so often I try to ponder this imponderable: what does the global financial system look like when the next billions join us. This could happen very quickly once it really starts.
Just had a thought re mobile app integration. As a stop gap before there is a mobile client, you could access the safe net proxy on a supported device, via a LAN/Wi-Fi.
It would allow native mobile apps to be developed, without the dependency on a native safe net launcher.
Ofc, the user experience would be slightly different (as access requests would appear on the server, rather than the mobile), but it should work. Note that I haven’t tested this!
Hi @PeterRobertson, thanks for the update and your continued efforts to promote the network. Maybe @ioptio can chip in with some thoughts here, she’s been giving these talks for a wee while now!
I would like to have a platform independent layer for SAFE apps. Native apps are like 90s technology. Having to install software manually, like smartphone apps, is really stone age technology. But web technologies are still too limiting as a general platform for apps, especially in mobile browsers. Maybe as a start at least a SAFE browser based on Chromium or something similar could be developed as an open source project for Windows, OS X, Linux, Android and iOS, with integrated SAFE access and perhaps even farming capability. Is anyone working on something like that?
Well, I’ve generally been targeting developers with relevant interest… free software community, Tor/bitcoin devs, etc. People who already know the basic idea behind a dht.
For a more general developer audience, it might be better to focus on the importance of security overall and responsibility/liability it brings to developers who are building these applications. And follow up with security implications of central servers and reference the massive consequences of some of the latest breaches. I can see benefits to giving an intro to security while pushing the decentralized/client-side approach.
Interesting thoughts. Me too, I’d like a safe browser and I think I’ve seen discussions somewhere along these lines. Perhaps someone could chip in here?
Hmm. I’m of the view that there is a fairly wide range of applications that can be quite respectably delivered through the web stack, although not all, I agree. I’m targeting the easiest path to get things happening as quickly as possible once we’re live and my reasoning is that both native mobile and html stack (packaged as apps or just mobile-responsive) developers are very well placed to move quickly on this provided they see incentives for doing so, hence this focus.
Yes, I agree! I had to shoehorn this particular presentation into a theme, but I agree 100% that this would be a great lead in. My hesitancy in presenting on a tech level to a tech audience is that I’m no security expert and these audiences tend to be fairly sophisticated, but I guess a more general, ‘business level’ presentation would still find a reception among these types of groups.
I think I’ll pursue this track, because then it can be presented to both tech and business audiences.
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Having to install software manually, like smartphone apps, is really stone age technology. But web technologies are still too limiting as a general platform for apps, especially in mobile browsers. Maybe as a start at least a SAFE browser based on Chromium or something similar could be developed as an open source project for Windows, OS X, Linux, Android and iOS, with integrated SAFE access and perhaps even farming capability. Is anyone working on something like that?