Evolution of computing
From mainframe (centralized) to blockchain (decentralized)
I attended a session over the weekend by Asiff Hirji, President, Figure on the evolution of blockchain and how it is decentralising finance (DeFi). I have summarised the key learnings through an infographic that depicts the evolution of computing at large and how the hand-off between centralized and decentralized computing has been a mainstay.
The era of personal computing was the first version of decentralized/distributed computing. This was followed by the rise of cloud computing that once again centralized the computing power. Parallelly, the democratisation of access to technology led to a wave of innovation — disrupting a lot of industries.
As a consequence, data became central to these efforts, in turn leading to a debate around the role of data ownership and privacy. The GDPR regulation put in place by the EU is an attempt to tilt the balance in favour of the user, once again.
This is also instrumental in leading to the rise of blockchain adoption which tackles the critical aspect of data ownership by distributing trust. The thing which intrigues and excites me the most is the role it’s playing in decentralising finance.
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Until next time!
~ Sajid
