The Hot Web Balloon

Data indexing protocols in the early days of the web were on a race to capture data users.
These services were rolled-out at a pace that accounted for real time as well as historical data_ data online or on its way online. A critical feature of services offered by search products from Google, Yahoo and MSN were their key feature of rapidly ranking websites according to relevant input keyword search results when queried, serving as an easy point of entry for most new users, as well as a critical tool for existing users.

Technology
Digital banking rails defined the nature of payment services offered online - how businesses receive payments from users. This can be seen in the timeline of services that were first offered online like payment processors and digital banking services such as Paypal and X, which enabled more businesses to join the hot web balloon.

Then the bubble popped.

A few decades later, some say we are at sunrise of the web in a new form.

Tegan’s take
Tegan Kline, CEO of Edge & Node - in a recent tweet celebrated the leading data indexing & curation role played by the The Graph protocol, as the top decentralized data indexing protocol, with no number 2.

@theklineventure

Models
Digital Native argues for AI models and products built around them as a revolution in tooling or production capacity, in light of the preceding web growth phase that transformed distribution.

Two bits split in the woods...
BitTorrent, a renowned peer-to-peer file sharing protocol, leverages distributed networks to facilitate the efficient transfer of large files without relying on centralized servers. Introduced in 2001 by Bram Cohen, BitTorrent has transformed the way users access and share digital content, enabling rapid dissemination and reducing the reliance on traditional centralized hosting platforms. The protocol operates by dividing files into smaller pieces, allowing users to download and upload these segments simultaneously, thereby optimizing the use of bandwidth and reducing the load on individual users or servers.
This decentralized approach promoted resilience and scalability, making BitTorrent an attractive solution for distributing large files, such as software updates, multimedia content, and open-source projects.

Then in 2009, along came Bitcoin.

💡Decentralizing the industry of finance creates new payment models for online services.
Thriving communities on the web are evolving beyond central payment processors and digital banking rails. Diverse groups are leading change that reflects relevant ideas of freedom and universal access. These are the active generations of user-focused developers, user communities they gather around, and products they embrace and fervently evangelize or look askance from - abandoned in shorter hype cycles.

So - where are the users ?

The first wave of responses to this question were faux pas of extreme proportions - informational materials of a distinctly technical flavour on one hand, and ICO waves of ‘numbers go up’ memecoins on the other. The less said of the latter, the better.

Why is leading with introductory informational material for non-technical audiences an error ?
A clue is that first phrase introductory.
Terse ‘explainer’ launch videos about cryptography and token fungibility is dead-on-arrival. There is a reason the whole world uses google, but barely a handful know how it works.

💡Users are looking to complete tasks efficiently, not just slurp more of the same sensory overload

Model evolution
Smartphone ecosystems unfolded as a camp split down the middle between Apple’s walled iOS garden and Google’s Android - everything else - Windows mobile OS , Nokia symbian OS- choked in the exhaust fumes of the top 2 systems accelerating growth & utility within strong developer ecosystems.

Almost 2 decades after, the smartphone industry is approaching maturity, evolving in its undisputed place at the center of daily routines, data tracking, and online commercial activity.

What came to define that era of successes and failures were Apple’s fidelity to excellent user experience, licensing all aspects of hardware & software production and distribution.

💡Where are the users - where is the improved user experience ?

How many dapps and notifications will your insert user persona here launch twice a day and pay for tiered access?

This era of web evolution - it's clear winners - will also be defined by their strong developer ecosystem focused on excellent user experience and product utility, and execution of design-led initiatives. It's quickly forgotten filler characters will be markers of technology-led efforts that were doomed to fail.

How far into exuberance is this rising wave of evolution ?