According to Brendan Cooper, a key contributor to Andromeda, the widespread distribution and adoption of the Web3 operating system (OS) will likely lead to the emergence of new business models, just as happened with the Web2 operating system. The Web3 operating system is also likely to simplify “how developers and users interact with the assets provided by a blockchain.”
Slow and risky Web3 development cycle
However, unlike Web2, which has been dominated by a few tech giants, Web3 OS uses a different architecture. This architecture, Cooper said, helps reduce operational costs of Web3 entities by “maintaining the security guarantees provided by public blockchain infrastructure.”
Despite offering these and other benefits, Web3’s development cycle was extremely slow, risky and limited, according to Andromeda’s lead 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 “trapped in a legacy blockchain because it is on a dead-end branch of the technology’s evolutionary tree.”
Cooper, however, dismissed the idea that a Web3 operating system could further burden already struggling blockchains. Instead, he said that implementing this operating system alleviates “the burden of blockchain to solve all the engineering requirements making the multi-chain future possible.”
Below are Cooper’s responses to submitted questions.
Bitcoin.com (BCN) News: Can you start by shedding some light on how the pace of technological development and innovation has changed before and after the implementation of a Web2 operating system (OS) like Windows or Android and iOS for smartphones?
Brendan Cooper (BC): The widespread distribution and adoption of an operating system has been the precursor to explosive growth of every major advancement in computing, starting with mainframes, PCs, mobile devices, and now Web3. Operating systems inevitably lead to civilization-scale changes, adoption, and new business models. The history of operating systems repeats itself. Anyone over 40 has seen it with their own eyes.
Before operating systems hit the market, application development is limited to a few people who can afford to invest the thousands of hours it takes to build anything. Construction is slow. 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 is widely available, it radically expands application design space and speed to market. An intuitive user interface leads to global adoption and unleashes massive network effects. This network effect and application interoperability creates huge incentives for developers to build – and very real opportunity costs to build elsewhere.
BCN: What is a Web3 operating system? Could you also explain the development cycle of Web3 and whether it is ready for a dedicated operating system?
B. C: A Web3 operating system harnesses the power of public blockchain infrastructure so that it is simpler, better, and faster for users, creators, and developers. A Web3 operating system, like all operating systems, provides a User Space that simplifies how developers and users interact with resources provided by a computer, a mobile phone, or in this case, a single blockchain or multiple blockchains.
Web 2 has allowed a few tech giants to dominate for decades. A Web3 operating system avoids this problem with a different architecture, implemented as an open source smart contract system on blockchain. This results in portable digital assets that are not trapped in some companies’ database and licenses. This means lower operating costs and fully variable costs. It means maintaining the security guarantees provided by the public blockchain infrastructure.
The Web3 development cycle today can be described as slow, risky and limited. Few can do it. It takes months to create applications with very modest functionality. Extending functionality is fraught with risk. Many amazing new blockchains have emerged, but they have limited interoperability. Everyone fears getting trapped in a legacy blockchain because it is on a dead-end branch of the technology’s evolutionary tree.
BCN: What is Andromeda OS and what tools, utilities and experiences does it offer developers and creators, especially in the context of cross-chain and multi-chain applications?
B. C: In a way OS is like Microsoft Windows. It has a user interface as familiar and intuitive as that of your mobile phone, 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 compose sophisticated single-chain and multi-chain applications by dragging and dropping applications from several purpose-built blockchains. This is a major step forward for Web3 because the application’s functionality is no longer limited to a single blockchain or subchain. It leads to network effects where single blockchains and developers can access multiple users and functionality across many chains.
BCN: Would a Web3 operating system place an additional burden on blockchains, many of which are already grappling with security and privacy challenges?
B. C: Security with a Web3 operating system is better thanks to the new and improved application architecture. Applications are built using pre-checked libraries of modular and composable smart contracts that are widely reusable. A major improvement over the one-off monolithic models implemented today.
A Web3 operating system alleviates the burden of blockchains to solve all engineering requirements making the multi-chain future possible. For example, privacy chains, like Secret. Network, solve privacy so other blockchains don’t have to. With a Web3 operating system, anyone can incorporate a purpose-built privacy blockchain into their applications. There’s no reason to be stuck without privacy (or other features) when you can seamlessly access other blockchains. The future brings better privacy options as anyone can access zero-knowledge drag-and-drop proofs, homomorphic encrypted storage, and computational proofs.
BCN: Trust is the cornerstone of an interconnected ecosystem like Web3. How, if at all, does a Web3 operating system integrate trust into our business and financial transactions?
B. C: Trust is the foundation of human prosperity through trade. The promise of Web3 is to reimagine and redesign public computational infrastructure to ensure the right of sovereign individuals and organizations to engage in 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 multi-chain era, universal compatibility has become increasingly important. Given that Andromeda’s aOS uses the Cosmos SDK, what unique advantages does the Cosmos ecosystem offer for building an on-chain and multi-chain operating system that is not available on other popular blockchains?
B. C: Cosmos was founded and designed as the Internet of blockchains. Launched after Ethereum, it is a third-generation technology that has unleashed a wave of purpose-built blockchains with unique and powerful capabilities. That “multi-chain future” vision required digital asset portability, and Andromeda uses its widely recognized standards to preserve digital asset portability for cross-chain and cross-ecosystem compatibility.
In the race for better technology, quickly producing and shipping reliable software has been the winning formula for decades. The amount of innovation throughout the ecosystem and the speed of application development with aOS is a clear advantage. And aOS is well positioned for the future by leveraging emerging modular blockchain projects.
BCN: In this industry, when we talk about Web3 adoption by businesses, we tend to focus primarily on getting Web3 ready for businesses. Let’s look at the other side of the coin. Can you talk briefly about preparing businesses for Web3?
B. C: We are at the beginning of a technological revolution similar in size and scope to Web 2. Businesses are faced with the innovator’s dilemma. Those who are future-oriented and develop their 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, models and relationships around the world in all industries and at all economic scales. When brick-and-mortar businesses of the early 1990s first looked at the World Wide Web, it appeared unimportant, small, and strategically irrelevant. Even worse, early attempts at e-commerce led to credit card theft, shipping fraud, and scams of all kinds. Many industries ignored it. Governments have tried to outlaw it.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs have responded by building better tools, better platforms, and better user experiences. Tools improved, risks decreased, markets stabilized, and innovators started making everything simpler, better, and faster. In just a few short years, Web 2 has created an existential revolution for business and traditional 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 revolutionized their industries and changed business forever. The rest was left behind.
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