Facebook’s rebranding tells us about the “platform game” of large tech companies

In his monthly encryption technology column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira introduced emerging technologies in the fields of encryption, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain, and their role in shaping the 21st century economy.

Sometimes, the name of a project will tell you all about it, no matter how niche it is. Take “Krypton” as an example. A recent NFT game sold for 24 hours in one second. You know, according to its name, it must involve some kind of cute monster evolution and battle, and you know it must be blockchain-based. Clear, concise, and to the point.

Facebook’s new name Meta is not exactly Put on the same shelfAdmittedly, it does indicate that the company is setting sail for Metaverse, but this destination is still unclear. As many critics have pointed out, at this point, Metaverse is both vague and seductive or dystopian, depending on who you are asking.The hint of heavy virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR) components from gadgets such as haptic gloves is still just Tell We don’t know much about the future.

Regarding Meta’s name game, one thing is clear, that is, it represents a kind of ambition. The company has already tried this trick on Libra, Its potential stablecoin When it found itself under some of the same censorships that Meta now has, it got the support of other tech giants.The coin was renamed Diem to Highlight its independent ambitionsConsidering that the project was still abandoned in the end, it did not succeed. Just like Google and Alphabet or Snapchat and Snap Inc, Facebook’s rebranding announced its intention to go beyond – Yuan By the way, in Greek-the original platform.

related: One currency rules everything: Facebook’s Diem has global ambitions

However, there are other things at work here: the reverberations to the larger technological world trends, which can have a serious impact on the Internet itself and us and its users.

Me and your rules

Earlier this year, we saw Epic Games, one of the world’s largest gaming companies, Waving his own meta-universal ambition, Against Apple by accusing Apple of monopolistic behavior in its App Store rules.Although the monopoly accusation was not established, the court did approve Epic’s bid director The user uses his own in-app payment method.Epic games also Conflict Google’s case also revolves around the latter’s application market. Facebook itself has made more than a few angry words against Apple about its feud with the tech giant. Focus The privacy rules of the latter platform are updated.

You may have found the central theme here. Being locked into a particular product and service ecosystem has its limitations-think about Apple’s removal of the standard 3.5 mm audio jack in 2016. Of course, it may help waterproof, but it is also to promote its own connectors to increase its revenue. By the way, this rule also applies to small developers who release products on other platforms, as well as giants like Epic and Facebook. You can get a convenient release, but it comes with a number of additional conditions. To say the least, it is unwise to assume that the terms and conditions remain the same in the long run.

Nowadays, almost no one really expects large technology companies to stand up for a more free and open digital ecosystem. In this ecosystem, interoperability is legal and users can freely choose the best gadgets and services. Will not be locked by any supplier. They would rather make sure that users are locked into their respective platforms, while they have the maximum versatility of running their own ecosystem-and set all the rules. This makes sense from a business point of view, but it is hardly beneficial for cooperation that requires trust, and one of the main reasons for building your own platform is that you don’t trust anyone.

This is exactly what I saw when Facebook changed the name to Meta, as a desire to build my own full-scale ecosystem, which is very likely Include Lots of components, from all VR/AR gadgets to its own operating system. However, this does make me wonder whether other giants bidding for Metaverse will follow suit and build the entire technology stack, perhaps for the Internet itself, because if it does, things may get very bad.

related: Yuan Festival: Mark Zuckerberg’s beautiful new world

Get caught in the network

What is worrying is that if this “platform game” is introduced into the network, it may promote its stratification and isolation.

When you visit a website, your device downloads its building blocks from a remote server, preferably with a set of instructions, which can be customized for different types of devices such as desktops or mobile devices. Adding Metaverse functionality does not seem to be difficult. You only need to download more data to let your tactile shoes, scent generators and other things understand your sensory experience. However, the devil lives in the details.

According to a good product support cycle, we may eventually encounter a situation where some services will eventually give up support for their non-metaverse version. This is especially true for projects operated by corporate groups that provide Metaverse hardware. Why don’t they want to inspire more consumers and businesses to buy their stuff? In the same way, we can get a network that is divided into Metaverse and non-metaverse portals. If search engine algorithms start to favor the latter, this will again increase the cost of developers and consumers.

If different parts of Metaverse are supported by different and non-interoperable protocols (good vendor lock-in, remember?), if you push your platform far enough, this may lead to network isolation. No one knows how far things can go in this regard. On the one hand, the isolated Metaverse as a concept will be downright self-defeating. On the other hand, at least some frictions between competing agreements and networks are not unheard of. Yes, you may want to enter Ariana Grande concert Use the 3D avatar from Facebook-verse on Epic’s Fortnite, but for this, it must first be fully compatible with the game. To this end, Meta and Epic must first achieve product compatibility. For this, they should establish a more or less trusting relationship.

Trust, but blockchain

Looking to the future, one of the ways to build bridges rather than walls in the technological world is to conduct business on the blockchain. Yes, the idea that you can fix broken things by putting it on the blockchain is a bit too much, but this argument holds in this case.

The reality is that smart contracts based on blockchain are very effective in cultivating trust. The reason for this is that you don’t have to trust the other party whose internal processes may be a mystery to you, but you must trust the contract, which is a fully auditable software that can automate your business interactions. It executes itself under appropriate conditions, ensuring that no matter what actions your partners take, your interests will remain the same.

It is unlikely that we will see all business activities transferred to the blockchain in the short term, but Big Tech has unique advantages and can become a leader in this field with its continuous expertise and experience. By investing in this field, technology giants can establish a new business paradigm for all other industries, eliminate trust, and lay the foundation for future cooperation. This becomes more important at critical moments, such as the emergence of a new iteration of the Internet. This technology has changed our daily and professional methods in too many ways, even countless.

Of course, things may not necessarily be so dramatic. Perhaps Metaverse will boil down to a batch of VR/AR solutions, destined to become a niche market that is very suitable for qualified people. However, judging from the sheer number of multiverse projects, something more important than this is underway, and blockchain technology can ensure that, in the long run, our adventure to the metaverse will be more equal than it has shaped.

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The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are only those of the author and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.