Nostr Web Client

I am still coming to term with #nostr having a radically different architecture that requires a radically different thinking mode on how you build apps.

The latest radical insight is that the network becomes the database. Any database record you generate can be a #nostr event that is signed, relayed, but most importantly encrypted by you (NIP44).

This approach breaks the back on commercial platform capture and lock-in.

To date, commercial platforms have always had the play of providing free services to get you into their closed databases with database records about you. Then over time, those records (not controlled by you) lead to, in the words of Cory Doctorow, “enshittification” of everything about the service and the relationship with you. Also, massive breaches are just an event waiting to happen.

With #nostr, the traditional model is flipped on its head. Instead of feeding a commercial service to generate database records about you, you can generate and sign events that can be stored on any relay, or in the network as a whole.

So just like your nostr npub is no longer beholden to a commercial provider, your nostr events (database records) need no longer to be beholden as well.

I am not discounting the existing commercial platforms. I’m just saying there is now a whole other approach. New commercial models will be discovered eventually, but right now the imperative is to experiment with this radically new approach.

Special thanks to nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft who got me thinking this way.

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Discussion

Seth 1y ago

This is it! Well said 👍

Melvin Carvalho 1y ago

Except nostr is not a storage system. Its a way of relaying notes, and other stuff, from one user to another. Relays will nuke your data.

τέχνη 1y ago

They won’t nuke your data. They’ll keep it forever and monetize it (if they’re smart).

That’s why we should be paying only for encrypted notes. Our unencrypted notes are inherently valuable to relays.

mike 1y ago

You own the keys, the NOSTR decentralised relay network transmits the data.

You can store your own data on your own public or private relay.

Niel Liesmons 1y ago

This is why monthly subscriptions, free trials, etc... won't work anymore.

You don't have your locked-in subscribers anymore to pay for it.

(And you also don't have your locked content/software anymore)

Tim Bouma 1y ago

I have no idea what the viable commercial models might be. Then again, nobody had a clue on how the internet would eventually play out (still playing out).

Niel Liesmons 1y ago

Me neither, but I'm not looking at Big Tech monopolies for inspiration.

With Freedom Tech, you'll either be selling something scarce and set a price for that or you'll be creating things that can be copied and rely on zaps.

For the scarce stuff I'd look at what works best for scarce stuff in markets where you've got plenty of competition. Things like restaurants etc...

They don't have monthly subscriptions, they just have a cash price list. Pay for what you eat.

They want to be able to switch prices (and offerings) fast.

That said, they do often

- bundle things under one price (menu of the day, multiple hotel nights + breakfasts paid in advance, ...).

- Give discounts after a certain amount of bought stuff

That seems to indicate to me that pre-bought tokens will be a valid strategy, with eCash as a perfect tool for the job.

For the easy to copy stuff, you're only option is #V4V zaps. There I'd look where #V4V is currently working (streaming, ...). Plus, try to find something related to what you create that actually is scarce and with selling (Community, Merch, In person events, ...).

Rand 1y ago

it's changing/t-y all

Greg 1y ago

How do you guarantee that data persists? In a corporate model of social media i.e. YouTube, the revenue generated is enough to operate and maintain huge data centers with employees who work on data compression, database models, etc. Videos with little attention posted 15 years ago are still online because of this fact.

Nostr is operated and maintained by the contributors who provide relays, which store an arbitrary set of data so that users can fetch posts from their followed accounts. Though, where is a post from 15 years ago (nostr isn’t that old, but let’s imagine) stored? I’d see this as a huge flaw in a framework intended for freedom of speech, since a user might not be held accountable for a post that was lost with time. This would not happen with a platform like X. I am in support of nostr, but how are these problems being addressed?

If a solution were established for this issue, that would indirectly solve an issue of content recommendation. Algorithms can’t be established without a basis of the users prior history. If a user owned their historical data, then they would also be in a position of power to choose which algorithm they want to use for content recommendation, since clients on nostr are interoperable and data persists across platforms. This, in my opinion, would immediately put nostr clients ahead of any other media platform.

Tim Bouma 1y ago

Don't know. My inkling is that there will be an enterprise use case where counterparties need to interoperable and have common authoritative data but don't necessarily trust each other. To mitigate this risk they will set up their own relays.

GG 1y ago

Take control of your digital data #NOSTR

nostr:note1cwz3a0u5h24sup754ywnusqr70wur8etgvmzm4943whzk7ayk9pqz3wqwu

b21e7983... 1y ago

It is database + cloud .. Plus if you are a solo developers , here you have ten thousand die hard nostriches who would zap you riches :-)

.. okay ..you would still stay poor ; but we assure you testing every part of your app ... at the very least you have a bunch of users to boast about :-)