Web 3.0: from cynicism to evangelism

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I am continuing my quest to understand this third major transition in the technology / games markets in my career (first: the Internet; second: free-to-play; now: the blockchain). I feared that I didn’t or couldn’t understand.

Spending time at the Develop conference helped me a lot. I had feared I was no longer smart. I’ve realised I never was. You get smarter by spending time talking to smart, well-informed or just “in-the-market” people at conferences, meetings and events. I feel smarter after Develop.

David Amor of Playmint explained the journey of understanding the new paradigm as a form of the Kubler-Ross model of grief.

“First there is cynicism; next, confusion; then comprehension; and finally evangelism.”

David Amor, CEO, Playmint.

I am past cynicism. There is something here. I am 90% sure it is not what the promoters thing, but we don’t yet have a clear theory that explains its value (like “ridiculously-easy group forming” as Clay Shirky dubbed one of the major changes that the Internet would bring, for good or for ill; or my own Curve for how businesses all operate on a continuum from free to super-expensive these days.)

I am squarely in confusion. My next post will set out 4 different themes that I see at work here, and conflated by the promoters, hucksters and shysters, to the detriment of us all. If I can understand those, and figure out how they intersect, I am on the path to comprehension.

I find it unlikely that I will reach the stage of evangelism. This transition is not like the ones before. But who knows, maybe you can’t see the final step until you have made the first few. Much like Kubler-Ross argues that you can’t reach acceptance until you have been through denial, bargaining and anger.

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