I've had this idea floating in my head for a while, that one thing that might make the world better is some kind of distributed database, and a gravitation back to open protocols (though instead of RFC's... maybe we could maintain an open source library for the important bits) I was thinking the architecture of DNS is a good starting point. From there we can create public indexes of data. This includes searchable data, but also private data you want to share (which could be encrypted, and controlled by you (think PGP). I'd modify browsers so that I don't have to trust a 3rd party service)
Centralization happens because the company owns the data, which becomes aggregated under one roof. If you distribute the data it will remove the walled gardens, multiple competitors should be able to pop up. Whole ecosystems could be built to give us 100 googles.... or 100 facebooks, where YOU control your data, and they may never even see your data. And because we're moving back to a world of open protocols, they all work with each other.
These companies aren't going to be worth billions of dollars any more.... but the world would be better.
I think a lot of people dismiss Solid based on its deep origins in Semantic Web, or because it's a slow project, based on Web standards, intended to solve long term problems.
But being part of the Web is a huge process, and with DIDs it maps just fine into decentralized worlds.
Unless there's a significant change in human behaviour, convenience is always going to trump everything else including privacy - we have seen over and over again that people will happily hand over their personal data in return for a free service that is simple to use. So any solution where you control your own data is going to have to be as convenient as alternatives, otherwise there'll be an opening for a new centralised "we'll do all the hard work of owning your data for you" mega corp tech titan.
Centralization happens because the company owns the data, which becomes aggregated under one roof. If you distribute the data it will remove the walled gardens, multiple competitors should be able to pop up. Whole ecosystems could be built to give us 100 googles.... or 100 facebooks, where YOU control your data, and they may never even see your data. And because we're moving back to a world of open protocols, they all work with each other.
These companies aren't going to be worth billions of dollars any more.... but the world would be better.