From 87ac73ad292e28cda4f5d3ead76f23d5934a1234 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Marcin Chrzanowski Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2021 21:29:39 +0100 Subject: Add NFT+VR post --- src/blog/the-nft-vr-cash-grab.html | 104 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 104 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/blog/the-nft-vr-cash-grab.html diff --git a/src/blog/the-nft-vr-cash-grab.html b/src/blog/the-nft-vr-cash-grab.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..84b1497 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/blog/the-nft-vr-cash-grab.html @@ -0,0 +1,104 @@ +title: The NFT+VR Cash Grab +date: December 29, 2021 20:32 +--- +

+I used to play Team Fortress 2, a 3D hat simulator also known for having a +decent team based first person shooter included as a mini game. The game, and +gameplay time on official servers, was offered for free, but Valve still made a +ton of money by selling cosmetic items to players. I don't play games these +days, but from what I hear, there are many other modern games like League of +Legends or Fortnite whose business models center around selling player skins. +

+ +

+Making money off of video game skins is a very shrewd idea: you pay for a few +hours of a graphic designer's time, and from then on can sell limitless copies +of the item, each sale being instantaneous, requiring no shipping, no storage, +no store front. If you're able to pull it off, it's better than print-on-demand +or drop shipping. +

+ +

+But so far this sort of model has been mostly limited to gaming. This is a very +specific demographic, mostly male, skews towards younger people, and even among +them, only the gamers most emotionally invested in the game will be willing to +spend money on cosmetic items. +

+ +

+Now, if Fortnite skin sales can support a large development studio that then +ends up with enough money for some of the craziest marketing stunts, imagine the +profits if you could widen the demographic from "gamer" to "your average +internet user". +

+ +

+This is exactly the opportunity that Zuck and others are investing billions of +dollars into under the memes of VR and NFTs. By directing your average internet +user into a virtual reality as a primary means of interacting with social +circles, work, and digital media, and doing so in an anthropomorphized avatar (a +word that became increasingly creepy with each repetition of it from Zuck's +mouth during the Meta announcement), Meta and others focused on VR will create +emotional attachment to a gamified reality where products can be produced even +more cheaply than previously possible with humid sweatshops and child labor. +

+ +

+VR didn't succeed at first because it was just a gimmick that made some people +puke, but there wasn't enough profit to be made for companies to keep investing +into research and development around it. With the perfect storm of "NFT" +becoming the hottest Silicon Valley buzzword and more people switching to a +work-from-home lifestyle, some of the tech opportunists, including Zuck, must +have finally put 2 and 2 together, finally seeing a reason to begin pumping cash +into VR again. +

+ +

+The medium is the message. It is far less important what VR will be used for (it +will still be just social media, online shopping, communications, gaming, and +other entertainment, like current technologies), far more important how it can +be used to affect people and their behaviors. +

+ +

+Furthermore, do not get your hopes up thinking that by embracing NFTs, Facebook +or any other big tech silo is going to move towards decentralization. "NFT" just +stands for "non-fungible token", there's nothing about decentralization in the +name. Do you really think Zuck will use decentralized, trustless, uncensorable +protocols like Ethereum, or will it be safer (from his profits' perspective) to +put everything on Libra/Diem, or even more likely, just chuck it all in a +database? Oh, Zuck promised you interoperability with other "metaverse" +protocols? Yeah, that's just going to be an API hosted in Meta's data centers. +

+ +

+TF2 hats are NFTs. Fortnite skins are NFTs. To illustrate the point, this post +is now an NFT, running on the m-chrzan.xyz ledger. +

+ +

+I'm air dropping it to Tom Fasano. The bottom of this post will work as a public +block explorer of the ledger. If the current owner of the NFT wants to transfer +it, he or she should email me and provide me with acceptable contact details +(ideally email+PGP key or an XMPP address) of the new owner. +

+ +

+For those curious about technical details of the m-chrzan.xyz ledger, here is +the whitepaper: + +

+ The m-chrzan.xyz ledger is based on novel PoM (Proof of Martin) technology. + The ledger is guaranteed to be secure and live as long as 100% of the Martins + running it act honestly and maintain uptime. +
+

+ +

The m-chrzan.xyz Ledger:

+ +

+History of ownership of the m-chrzan.xyz/blog/the-nft-vr-cash-grab.html NFT: + +

    +
  1. Tom Fasano (minted on December 29, 2021)
    2. +
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