Millions of servers
The Friend Network provides a new, decentralized deployment infrastructure and a “Massively Multi User Operating Environment” that is being embedded into the Internet. Each Friend server can interconnect with the network to form a so-called “Macro Computer” connected to the Ethereum “World Computer”. It is a scaling game, and it could change the Internet as we know it.
When logging onto a Friend web sign-on site (or access node), by using a web browser, a smart phone app or by connecting with a Friend Native PC, you will authenticate with a global user account connected to the Ethereum Blockchain. You can now interact with millions of computers that feed your user interface with data and services. We will write more about the Friend Network in a future article.
This is not a new idea. System architects envisioned this kind of network decades ago in Universities and research institutes all over the world. But the network bandwidth was not yet there. The right networking protocols were not advanced enough. And a programming language that could embrace such a network was not yet developed.
Now, all of the technologies required to build a massive, world-wide computing grid are available to everyone through browser technologies and the Internet. It was just a matter of time before a system would be developed to take advantage of this and build an entirely new Internet based operating system.
The Internet becomes a computer for developers
The Friend Unifying Platform is one the first projects that will embed a distributed operating system into the Internet. Ethereum has already disrupted the Internet by placing secure, decentralized computing technology into the network. Friend will put a user-facing system on top of that infrastructure.
Diverse network services and massive processing power is already accessible to developers. We are lowering the threshold to get in. With Friend, even fresh developers will be able to access Blockchain and decentralized technologies using high level programming interfaces and user interface abstractions.
Empowering the user
Decentralized computing grows organically. The Internet itself is evolving as a force of nature. This is why authorities have failed to find a prevailing solution to limit access — developers are pushing out tools that remove boundaries all the time and distributing them online. This is what organic growth looks like — and it is beyond good or bad, it’s just a process.
Friend will funnel this process into a coherent structure that looks like a computer. Here, users will be able to game or work with immense power at their fingertips. They will be able to choose how their computer appears to them, through themes, settings and apps that augment their experience. There are no pushed upgrades. No downtime. The virtual cloud computer lives its own life inside of the Internet. And it comes with a built-in marketplace where all of the participants can trade and support each other; with no middle man. It is autonomous.
The Internet is evolving
People’s online activity has increased massively since the mid nineties. More and more of our information is contained in data-stores owned by the big giants. Blockchain started an irreversible pivot away from centralized systems. Now, various projects are spreading the risk and removing the requirement of the legacy subscription model. Users are paying each other to host data and deploy services using tokens. And this is a massive disruption once it finally proliferates and trickles down to the common user.
Friend makes the evolution towards decentralized computing take a more familiar form. In addition to that, it makes the complexity involved appear simpler and easier to use.
We can imagine a future where freedom of choice is embedded into the Internet through self-ownership and individual sovereignty. This will make sure that we can retain our tools and digital mobility in an ever changing and multi-polar world.
