Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet

"Because software is so flexible, encapsulated code has another benefit: it can easily be reused. Encapsulated code is like Lego bricks. The bricks can be combined into sets of bricks that create much larger and more impressive structures. Encapsulation is especially helpful when large groups of people are developing software, as is the case for most modern software. One developer can create a few Lego bricks—basic pieces of programs that can, for example, store, retrieve, or manipulate data, or access various services, like email or payments. Other developers can then take those components and reuse them, without either party having to understand the details of what the other is doing. The bricks just snap into place."

"I see the history of the internet as unfolding in three acts. Each act is marked by a predominating network architecture. In the first act, called the “read era,” circa 1990 to 2005, early internet protocol networks democratized information. Anyone could type a few words into a web browser and read about almost any topic through websites. In the second act, the “read-write era,” roughly 2006 to 2020, corporate networks democratized publishing. Anyone could write and publish to mass audiences through posts on social networks and other services. Now a new type of architecture is enabling the internet’s third act."

"Corporate networks drastically lowered the barrier to entry for people to reach broad audiences in ways that were less specialized and labor-intensive than website making and much more effective than using email alone. In this way, corporate networks improved upon protocol networks. The web’s second era helped achieve the dream of the technologists in the early 2000s to upgrade the internet from “read-only” to “read-write.”"

"The internet was skeuomorphic in the 1990s. At the time, it mostly consisted of digital adaptations of pre-internet things: websites imitating brochures and catalogs, email as an extension of letter writing, and shopping reminiscent of mail-order commerce. People called this the read era because, although people could send emails, submit data, and buy things, information typically flowed one way: from website to user."

"This is especially dangerous when you consider that the killer app of the internet is networks. Most of what people do online involves networks: The web and email are networks. Social apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter are networks. Payment apps like PayPal and Venmo are networks. Marketplaces like Airbnb and Uber are networks. Almost every useful online service is a network."

"The read era of the internet was defined by the website, which encapsulated information. The read-write era was defined by the post, which encapsulated publishing, making it easy for anyone, not just web developers, to reach broad audiences. The internet’s latest phase—the read-write-own era—is defined by a new simplifying concept: tokens, which encapsulate ownership."

"The difference is that real innovation takes time to generate financial returns. That’s why most venture capital funds (ours included) are structured as ten-year funds, with purposefully long hold periods. Producing valuable new technologies can take up to a decade and sometimes longer. Computer culture is long term. Casino culture is not. So,"