According to Brendan Cooper, a core employee at Andromeda, the widespread distribution and adoption of the Web3 operating system (OS) will likely result in the emergence of new business models, much like what happened with the Web2 OS. The Web3 operating system will also likely simplify “how developers and users interact with the resources provided by a blockchain.”
Web3 development cycle slow and risky
However, unlike Web2, which was dominated by a few technology giants, the Web3 operating system uses a different architecture. This architecture, Cooper argued, helps reduce operating costs for Web3 entities while “preserve the security guarantees of the public blockchain infrastructure.”
Despite offering these and other benefits, Web3’s development cycle has been super slow, risky and limited, according to Andromeda’s core contributor. In written responses to Bitcoin.com News, Cooper highlighted the challenges and significant amount of time required to develop Web3 applications with “very modest functionality.” Development is also hampered by users who fear being “stuck in an outdated blockchain because it is on a dead-end branch of the technology’s evolutionary tree.”
However, Cooper rejected the idea that a Web3 operating system could further burden already struggling blockchains. On the contrary, he stated that the deployment of this operating system “eases the burden on blockchains to meet all technical requirements by enabling the multi-chain future.”
Below are Cooper’s responses to the questions sent.
Bitcoin.com News (BCN): Can you start by shedding light on how the pace of technology development and innovation has changed before and after the implementation of a Web2 operating system (OS) such as Windows, or Android and iOS for smartphones?
Brendan Cooper (BC): The wide spread and adoption of an operating system has foreshadowed explosive growth in every major advancement in computing, starting with mainframes, PCs, mobile and now Web3. Operating systems inevitably lead to civilization-level change, adoption, and new business models. The history of operating systems repeats itself. Everyone over 40 has seen it with their own eyes.
Before operating systems hit the market, application development was limited to a few people who could afford to invest the thousands of hours it takes to build something. Construction is going slowly. This in turn limits the number of solutions that can be brought to market. And it limits the number of platforms an application can be used on.
Once an operating system becomes widely available, it radically increases the design space for applications and the speed at which it comes to market. An intuitive user interface drives global adoption and unleashes massive network effects. This network effect and application interoperability create enormous incentives for developers to build – and very real opportunity costs for building elsewhere.
BCN: What is a Web3 operating system? Can you also explain the development cycle of Web3 and whether it is ready for a dedicated operating system?
BC: A Web3 operating system leverages the power of the public blockchain infrastructure to make it simpler, better, and faster for users, creators, and developers. A Web3 operating system, like all operating systems, provides a user space that simplifies the way developers and users interact with the resources provided by a computer, mobile phone, or in this case a single blockchain or multiple blockchains.
Web 2 allowed a few tech giants to dominate for decades. A Web3 operating system avoids this with a different architecture – one implemented as a system of open source smart contracts on blockchains. This results in portable digital assets that are not locked into a company’s database and licenses. It means lower operating costs and fully variable costs. It means maintaining the security guarantees provided by the public blockchain infrastructure.
The development cycle for Web3 today can be characterized as slow, risky, and limited. Few can do it. It takes months to build applications with very modest functionality. Expanding functionality entails risks. Many amazing new blockchains have emerged, but they have limited interoperability. Everyone is afraid of being stuck in an outdated blockchain because it is in a dead-end branch of the technology’s evolutionary tree.
BCN: What is the Andromeda operating system and what tools, utilities, and experiences does it provide for developers and makers, especially in the context of cross-chain and multi-chain applications?
BC: In some ways, iOS is similar to Microsoft Windows. It has a familiar and intuitive user interface, just like that of your mobile, PC or Mac. It has apps, a file system for your digital assets, and an App Store. In other ways it is radically different.
aOS accelerates the multi-chain future with rapid business model innovation. A low-code/no-code builder allows anyone to build advanced single-chain and cross-chain applications by dragging and dropping applications from various purpose-built blockchains. This is a significant leap forward for Web3 as application functionality is no longer limited to a single blockchain or subchain. It leads to network effects where individual blockchains and developers gain access to more users and capabilities across many chains.
BCN: Would a Web3 operating system place an additional burden on blockchains, many of which already struggle with security and privacy challenges?
BC: Security with a Web3 OS is better because of the new and improved application architecture. Applications are built using pre-checked libraries of modular and composable smart contracts that are vastly reusable. A significant improvement compared to the one-off monolithic patterns used today.
A Web3 operating system eases the burden on blockchains to meet all technical requirements by enabling the multi-chain future. For example, privacy chains, such as Secret. Network, ensure privacy so that other blockchains don’t have to. With a Web3 operating system, anyone can integrate a purpose-built privacy blockchain into their applications. There’s no reason to be stuck without privacy (or other options) when you can seamlessly access other blockchains. The future will bring better privacy options as everyone has access to zero-knowledge proofs, homomorphic encrypted storage, and computational proofs.
BCN: Trust is the cornerstone of an interconnected ecosystem like Web3. How can a Web3 operating system integrate trust into our business and financial transactions?
BC: Trust is the basis of human prosperity through trade. The promise of Web3 is to reimagine and redesign the public computing infrastructure to guarantee the rights of sovereign individuals and organizations to conduct commerce in ways that are demonstrably legitimate – without intermediaries or restrictive licensing. Bitcoin showed us the way with cryptocurrency. A Web3 operating system will do the same for Web3 applications.
BCN: In the age of multiple chains, universal compatibility has become increasingly important. Considering that Andromeda’s aOS uses the Cosmos SDK, what unique benefits does the Cosmos ecosystem offer for building an on-chain and multi-chain operating system that is not available on other popular blockchains?
BC: Cosmos was founded and developed as the Internet of Blockchains. Launched after Ethereum, it is a third-generation technology that has unleashed a tidal wave of purpose-built blockchains with unique and powerful capabilities. That vision of the “multi-chain future” required digital asset portability, and Andromeda uses its widely recognized standards to maintain digital asset portability for cross-chain and ecosystem compatibility.
In the race for better technology, quickly creating and shipping reliable software has been the winning formula for decades. The amount of innovation across the ecosystem and the speed of application development with AOS are a clear advantage. And aOS is well positioned for the future by leveraging emerging modular blockchain designs.
BCN: When people in this industry talk about enterprise adoption of Web3, they focus primarily on Web3’s enterprise readiness. Let’s look at the other side of the coin. Can you briefly discuss enterprise readiness for Web3?
BC: We are at the dawn of a technological revolution comparable in size and scope to Web 2. Business is faced with the innovator’s dilemma. Those who orient themselves towards the future and develop their own institutional knowledge and relationship with Web3 have the best chance of survival.
Like the introduction of the Internet and Web2, Web3 promises to be highly disruptive to existing business models, patterns and relationships worldwide, across all sectors and at all economic scales. When brick-and-mortar businesses first looked at the World Wide Web in the early 1990s, it seemed insignificant, small, and strategically irrelevant. Even worse, early e-commerce efforts resulted in stolen credit cards, shipping fraud, and all kinds of scams. Many industries ignored it. Governments tried to ban it.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs responded by building better tools, better platforms, and better user experiences. The tools got better, the risks decreased, the markets stabilized and innovators started making everything simpler, better and faster. Within a few years, Web 2 created an existential revolution for traditional business and business models. The ensuing chaos saw the rise of global tech titans and the emergence of tech-savvy companies. Those who could wield the technology disrupted their industries and changed business forever. The rest stayed behind.
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