Web2.5: Combining Web2 UX With Web3 Primitives

Learning from the past to build the new future of the web

The Evolution of the Internet as We Know It…

As the web evolves, we don't just discard the old structures -- we integrate what's effective into the next generation and refine what doesn’t work.

Web1 was like inventing a newspaper that could be delivered anywhere, instantly. A huge 0 to 1 moment, but it looked nothing like the vibrant patchwork of kingdoms that sprung up in web2, when readers transformed into creators, curators, and customers.

Web3 and crypto are rooted in a protest against traditional systems, as evidenced by Bitcoin's inception a year after the global financial crash, and a growing skepticism towards centralized control over information (i.e., high-profile account bans, Cambridge Analytica, etc.). This era ignited a desire to transcend the limitations of web2.

Web3's philosophy of "read/write/own" emphasizes user ownership and data autonomy. Who ultimately owns your X handle, Gmail address, or Medium articles? Web3 offers irrevocable ownership and verifiable provenance, but it also presents challenges, especially for mainstream adoption.

Scholar Josh Rosenthal aptly labels Web3 as the modern post-Gutenberg renaissance, highlighting its transformative power in challenging traditional structures and making information more accessible and open to all.

However, if we learned one thing from web2 it's that centralization can be a competitive advantage. Unmediated, web3 shifts the burden to the end user and doesn't offer applications much room to handle convenient features on their behalf.

Its nuances and intricacies - wallets, keys, gas, RPCs, block explorers - are all barriers to mainstream adoption.

Defining Web2.5

As we architect a new chapter of the web, we integrate proven systems from previous eras. Web2 brought us seamless user experiences, intuitive onboarding, and high-speed applications.

In contrast, Web3 introduced concepts like universal identities, unified sources of truth, and clear provenance and ownership.

Web2.5 isn't just a halfway point between these two extremes. It aims to synergize the user-centricity of web2 with the transparency and foundational principles of web3. Web2.5 should combine these features in a new way that isn't just a middle ground with the worst of both worlds.

Web2.5 merges web2's UX with web3's transparency, sensible primitives, and open standards. This "best tools for the job" model makes trivial sacrifices in centralization for non-trivial leaps in user autonomy and interoperability.

Consider a scenario where an application operates on the storage-based consensus paradigm. While it utilizes a public smart contract for computations in a private environment, it ensures the state is permanently recorded on the blockchain.

With both inputs and outputs being transparent, yet the computation being centralized, it poses a question: If the integrity of inputs and outputs is verifiable, does it matter that the computation is off-chain? This exemplifies how web2.5 balances the strengths of both web3 and web2, ensuring scalability without compromising power.

Building Web2.5

When assessing your tech stack, it's essential to pinpoint which components thrive on Web3's features and which face limitations. Web2, grounded in formal standards like HTTP, REST, DNS, TCP, and IMAP, often sees its boundaries pushed.

The rapid evolution of consumer-centric apps and the emergence of isolated ecosystems compel developers to sidestep these standards in pursuit of innovation. Often, maintaining secrecy becomes a centralized company's competitive edge.

As a result, web2 tends to resemble a collection of isolated cathedrals rather than an expansive sprawling bazaar.

Conversely, web3 offers a paradigm shift. Its foundation on shared, permanent ledgers ensures inherent interoperability, eliminating concerns about deprecated operator APIs. The EOA identity model further exemplifies this shift, making third-party sign-in systems redundant, thanks to the universality of the wallet connect approach.

While Web3's robust primitives have immense potential, it's crucial to deploy them judiciously to avoid overwhelming users.

Striking the right balance is key ⚖️.

The Middleware Paradox

Web3 is in its early stages. Many intricate projects targeting mainstream adoption lean heavily on a combination of smart contracts, centralized APIs, and custom middleware. While web2 technology can refine web3's complexities, there's a looming question: Does this compromise the overarching goal of decentralization?

Decentralization spans a wide range, and our perspective posits that the blend of verifiable computation and open-source software can balance out centralization, even when channeled through centralized avenues.

Yet, a very prevalent threat and concern is the rise of centralized middleware, which could potentially undermine the overall vision of decentralization.

In the web2.5 landscape, a typical approach involves managing on-chain activities through a centralized ‘black box’ layer. In this model, the smart contracts are rendered symbolic if they can't be used permissionlessly.

This challenge underscores Decent Land Labs' motivation to develop MEM.

Our aim? To champion the Web2.5 era while navigating around the pitfalls of centralized middleware, introducing a new wave of serverless functions ready for Web3.

Molecular Execution Machine

Unpacking MEM’s Potential

MEM empowers web3 developers to build and deploy lightning-fast dApps without the burden of creating middleware from the ground up or grappling with the costs of expensive cloud infrastructure.

MEM smart contracts live forever on Arweave, preserving both their state and transaction history. Leveraging SmartWeave's efficient lazy evaluation, computations are executed in a highly scalable off-chain setting, sidestepping the common constraints and bottlenecks often encountered on chains like Ethereum.

Anchored by this architectural foundation, MEM provides:

• Multi-Lingual Support. Write MEM contracts in JS, Rust, C++, Solidity, and more. There's no need to deviate from the languages your team is already proficient in.

• Trustless, Serverless Computation: MEM combines AWS Lambda's scalability with blockchain transparency, ensuring decentralization without compromising UX.

• Universal Interoperability: Easily incorporate identity and data, whether from another blockchain or a Web2 source.

• Chain-Agnosticism: Integrate MEM seamlessly with any existing stack on any chain or build a future-proof app that isn't anchored to a single ecosystem.

• Permanent Storage: Your application data will never be lost and will always be accessible, thanks to storage on Arweave.

• 🚫 Barrier to Entry: MEM applications can be designed to be both gasless and walletless, eliminating tedious setup processes for end users.

• Intuitive Interface: MEM's streamlined programming interface is adaptable across browsers and server context natively, eliminating the need for specialized tooling. Use it just like an API.

  
  

Regardless of whether a project utilizes a hybrid stack with both on-chain and off-chain elements, or is initiating a Web2.5 build from the ground up, MEM can revolutionize the development landscape by offering a seamless integration of Web2 user-centricity with Web3's transparent principles.

It can function as a serverless layer or, as demonstrated by platforms like ANS, namespace.gg, permacast.app, and Ark Protocol, serve as an entire comprehensive backend solution.

Sign up for the beta and start building here. 👈

Additional resources

• Documentation
• Twitter
• Discord

Stay tuned and SUBSCRIBE to Decent Land Labs on HackerNoon for the latest updates.