The Internet's new home
And Niantic's 'real' metaverse
Expansion into the metaverse is on everyone’s lips, environmentalists resist ‘green’ infrastructure and is Xi Jinping truly a competent leader for China?
Building a better reality
From Platformer, by Casey Newton
Niantic Labs, founders of Pokémon Go, is perfectly set up to move into the metaverse.
The company, however, does not want to build virtual spaces of escapism, or a “dystopian nightmare”, instead, a realistic augmented reality supporting ‘real’ spaces, experiences and connection.
This week, Niantic invited developers to join their vision by sharing Lightship, an augmented reality development kit (ARDK), which can help them build exciting new virtual experiences.
The metaverse space is still mostly unsolved and as such, invites genuine competition.
The Internet’s new home
From Not Boring, by Packy McCormick (collab with Mario Gabriele)
Discord is a magical place for some of the world’s most important communities, with an identity that still seems still fluid and not yet fully evolved.
Discord focused on product and community over ads and revenue, boasting 19 million active weekly and 150 million active monthly users, with a 126% CAGR over 2016-2020.
It’s next move could be web3, with potential shifts to a Discord crypto wallet or DAOs, but this move won’t be for everyone and would require some changes to its functionality.
Discord has the opportunity to be the go-to social infrastructure within the metaverse.
Being a successful autocrat ain’t easy
From Noahpinion, by Noah Smith
With his abolition of term limits, Xi Jinping is now essentially China’s ‘president for life’, but is he competent?
China has become one the world’s most powerful countries under his leadership, yet this does not automatically make him a man of greatness (a lot of his success was inherited).
Signs of weakness are visible: slowing growth, international backlash against China and missteps regarding the pandemic.
He has, instead, been highly effective in creating a personality cult around himself.
Averting climate change
From Axios Future, by Bryan Walsh
Last week the U.S. announced it will embark on an extensive research program to reduce carbon removal costs to under $100 / ton by 2023.
Arriving at net-zero emissions by 2050 with current technology means possibly tripling electricity transmission systems and using 10% of continental land.
Local resistance: These developments are facing backlash from environmentalists who want to avoid more destruction of nature.
Decentralization
From The Diff, by Byrne Hobart
The promise of a decentralized system is that anyone can build it, but no one owns it.
Downside #1: “anyone” means anyone, and the ones who are attracted to decentralized systems are often the ones banned from other systems.
Downside #2: Lack of ownership causes problems when it comes to taking responsibility for mistakes.
Caveat: "[A]ny decentralized order requires a centralized substrate, and the more decentralized the approach is the more important it is that you can count on the underlying system" (applies to crypto, the Internet and a world of free trade).
Extra Reading
Nike’s move into the metaverse (the mesha tribe)
Plainspoken truth, but with love and respect (Perspectives, Deb Liu)
Zuckerberg in space & betting on events (The Curiosity Chronicle, Sahil Bloom)
China and COP26 (Axios World)
Hopin: building a multibillion-dollar company in 18 months (Exponential View, Azeem Azhar)
Deep dive into Rivian (Not Boring, Packy McCormick)