A new way to organize the internet
Why owning your shit online changes everything.
I’ve recently acquired a modest little internet inventory.
Which may be a more palatable way to think about it for all the boomers, NFT skeptics and holdouts out there who haven’t changed their PfP into a cartoon character.
I actually think the PfPs (profile pictures) thing will pass. However, the fact that we now have truly scarce objects on the internet is definitely here to stay. And the importance of this shift goes way beyond the cute little manifestations of it we see now.
Yes, the most immediate effects will be on art, collectibles and games. But I think the emergence of programmable, interoperable digital objects will eventually change how EVERYTHING online is organized.
Yes, many digital objects will be purely for fun and vanity, like a rare avatar or a piece of art you can display within different online worlds. But imagine the day when digital objects are as versatile and protean as physical objects.
The incentive structure now exists for people to create a new paradigm of internet objects, most of which we can’t even imagine yet.
It makes my brain hurt to even try. It’s like if your dad (or grandpa) played Pong in ’72 and then tried to predict Halo.
Maybe slightly easier for us, only because we have a mental model for exponential technological growth that pops did not have. At any rate, I think PfPs are the NFT equivalent of Pong.
As digital objects become more advanced, they will move with their owners across the internet, unlocking doors on different software platforms. They may be combined, mutated and bread like animals. They may cross back and forth between physical and digital realms.
We can’t yet know how this will evolve. The first and second order effects will be massive. New companies and business models will rise. Others will be destroyed.
I’m not saying I think every company needs to start creating, buying or selling digital collectibles. What is clear to me is that new consumer software products MUST now recognize that users hold digital inventories.
As more and more people accumulate, take pride in and identify with their digital stuff, they will no longer spend time in spaces that force them to “start over.” It simply won’t fly.
On the other hand, platforms that embrace the logical combination of scarcity and interoperability that NFTs bring to the internet will be uniquely positioned to crush it.
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Thanks for reading until the end! I work in crypto and think about it non-stop. You can find me on twitter @dappbeast
