A prominent economist and technology critic believes we could one day see Google lose its grasp as a global search giant.
In his book ‘Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy,’ George Gilder contends that internet users will amplify calls for ownership over their own data, leading to greater interest in technologies such as the blockchain.
This reckoning, he claims, could threaten Google’s treasure trove of user data, as users prefer a more decentralized system to handle their data and information.
A prominent technology critic believes we could one day see Google lose its grasp as a global search giant. George Gilder contends that internet users will amplify calls for ownership over their own data, leading to greater interest in technologies such as the blockchain
In turn, he imagines it will lead to a flourish of entrepreneurship on the internet, not unlike the world wide web’s early days.
For example, news outlets could sell content to users in ‘micropayments,’ which he believes could eliminate the need to rely on advertising, Gilder explained.
‘That makes it possible for you to escape the centralization of a walled garden that collects all the money,’ Gilder told WND.
George Gilder (pictured) imagines the blockchain will lead to a flourish of entrepreneurship on the internet, not unlike the world wide web’s early days
‘…The blockchain allows you to assign property rights to various facets of any content, including works of art.’
Additionally, he said the blockchain provides an extra layer of security, as each transaction is encrypted.
The blockchain is a digital, public ledger that serves as a record of all types of transactions.
It records transactions, or blocks, in the order in which they were made.
Instead of one person having knowledge of the record’s order, everyone has access to the system and is able to verify the order. That said, not every blockchain is public and decentralized.
Each transaction is encrypted with a ‘hash’ that converts each entry into a random jumble of letters and numbers using an algorithm.
While the blockchain has been adopted by companies, cryptocurrency proponents and even governments, its critics argue that the technology’s potential and capabilities have been inflated by many both inside and outside the tech world.
Still, Gilder believes a decentralized blockchain could one day upend Google’s hold over user data, which currently operates in a centralized nature.
‘The Google dream is a supermind in the sky that knows everything,’ Gilder told WND.
‘My dream is to distribute information as human minds are distributed.’