A “World Computer” to overcome the shortcomings of traditional IT is here
Web3 versions of any interactive webservice now possible on the Internet Computer blockchain.
A “World Computer” is a perfect computing system that replaces all the existing protocols including cloud computing. Traditonal IT has served it’s purpose, however today it faces huge challenges, especially when it comes to trust, transparency and ownership. The idea of a “World Computer” was initiated in the early Ethereum communities in 2014–15 with this vision:
A universal computer which is accessible from anywhere by anybody, and which always gives the same results to everybody.It’s a global resource which stores answers and cannot be subverted, denied or censored.
This fascinating concept is based on smartcontracts that run automatically basis code on a system of hardware that is distributed all over the world and not ‘owned’ by corporations. In simple terms it means a system where the blockchain can host software, computation & data, and humanity shares and governs the “World Computer”
It literally means re-inventing the the entire IT stack which is today based on Cloud Computing, owned by a very few influencial people and corporations.
Sounds utopian? Maybe it is, but imagine our lives if they were not governed by policies of Google, Facebook and Amazon and instead the control was in the hands of user communities. With years of R&D put into building it, this utopian concept has been brought to life by the Dfinity Foundation, in the form of the Internet Computer blockchain.
Why haven’t traditional blockchains been able to do it?
While the concept sounds perfect, traditional blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum were just not built for it. Their architecture is built for security, but not for speed and efficiency for web services to run on them. And most of the other blockchains like Solana are forks of Ethereum, with similar ways of working, leading to lack of efficiency at various fronts like :
- CO2 emissions
- Costs of computing & storing
- Scalability
- Building truly “non cloud” services
As a result of this most blockchains have built a way to be compatible with Cloud . Estimates say 99% of their architecture is centralized — both for webservers as well as blockchain nodes.
Welcome to 2021 — Genesis of the Internet Computer blockchain
Realizing the original “World Computer” vision, the Internet Computer opened up to the world in May 2021. It is a unique protocol where both the platform and the storage are on the blockchain, unlike most others where only a small percentage of the service is on-chain. This means that interactive web experiences on the Internet Computer can run directly from the blockchain serving smart contracts directly to users without traditional IT like cloud computing. And all this is simplified to be accessible to users from their regular web browsers.
While there is super advanced Moonmath and cryptography running in the background, there are two main planks to it:
- The Computing Power — this consists of both the hardware (nodes & subnets) as well as the execution layer which is have been highly optimized for efficiency, including CO2 emmissions, speed, scalabilty & affordability. The Internet Computer runs on special devices called node machines much like traditional routing devices, connect using the participation token ICP.
- Control & Ownership — A “World Computer” cannot have control is in the hands of a few. The Internet Computer itself runs as a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization), where any kind of change has to go through a motion proposal, voted by all ‘staked’ parties. This same system is applied to all services built on it. In this system, the end users interact with both the services as well as the governance.
To be a scalable “World Computer”, efficiency accross parameters is key, which the Internet Computer is delivering everyday.
- CO2 emissions: While most blockchains have a bad record when it comes to green credentials, the Internet Computer is not just much better than them, infact it is more carbon efficient to build on the Internet Computer , than building on traditional IT.
- Cost efficiency: Unlike other blockchains which are marred by high gas fees for users and costs going to millions of dollars for storage of data, the Internet Computer is designed to be able to offer costs as low as $5/GB/ year. And whats more, unlike the token linked variable costs, on the Internet Computer it’s a fixed cost,not dependent on price of ICP.
- 100% on-chain: Internet Computer is probably the only blockchain which can store not just files, but structured data like in a Social Network, while allowing the service to run directly from the blockchain without cloud.
- Scalability and speed: Using the prorietery Subnet architecture, the Internet Computer has made it possible to scale blockchain based webservices to unlimited scale, while also retaining WebSpeed.
- Interoperability: A World Computer cannot be limiting, so the Internet Computer allows transactions on any other blockchain without using bridges, it even allows direct interaction with the Web2 world with Direct HTTPS Calls.
The possibilities are simply endless, it’s upto the imagination of the builder. As a developer, one can build anything on it from social networks, email services, video platforms which require high data flow and transaction speed, to applications on DeFi using features like the native Bitcoin Integration to build the most secure financial services. The key is that using the Internet Computer , one can get rid of the cloud from the current Web3 architecture and manage the service by forming user based communities — all on a “World Computer” owned and used by humanity.
The early adopters of the Internet Computer are already building 1000’s of webservices running directly from the blockchain, here is a great showcase of the possibilities.
To hear more directly from Dominic Williams, here is him talking about the World Computer in a recent Keynote address :
