I have talked with pembo a little bit about possibly making Phuks into a decentralised p2p type site. Similar things already exist. Aether is one that has been around for a while now, I remember trying to connect to it during the Reddit blackout and I couldn't connect, probably because they were having the same mass influx problems as Voat. I recently came across another called Zeronet, which is a little different due to it being a kind of network of sites within the same client, so it isn't just an aggregator, it has other parts too. It doesn't have that much content at the moment though.
I have also been reading about other kinds of decentralised networks like pirate boxes, and something called the Briar Project, which is a mobile meshnet kind of thing that is (apparently) used by journalists and activists during internet blackouts/for secure communication. I don't fully understand how it works, but it essentially creates a huge LAN between phones, and it also uses bluetooth in some way.
My question is this: Will some form of this technology eventually replace ISPs?
If you were to take a densely populated developed area like London, for example, would it be viable to create a LAN for the entire city? It seems to me like it could work with current technology. There are mobile devices metres away from each other, without even taking computers into account. If it was possible to do this, what would it take to get people to make it happen? It seems like not having to pay an ISP would be a major incentive, but there is also the privacy aspect too. Over the next few years, laws relating to the internet are probably going to become more and more invasive. This has basically already happened in the UK.
Could the internet of things actually serve a purpose in a project like this?
There are cameras, fridges, toasters and all sorts of ridiculous things that are connected to the internet now. If a lot of appliances had the capacity to join/support a network like this and the range was improved, would it be possible to have a decentralised world wide LAN? Is it even a good idea, considering the security risks that it could produce?
It seems to me like it could be part of a natural progression that is happening. We ditched wired connections for wifi, and now there is potential for something else.
Good answer.
This is what I meant, I mixed up my jargon.
I didn't think about this. That is a problem I don't have an answer to. Maybe the answer will relate to new ways of transferring data. We are still in the infancy of this technology, and if shit like this is possible, we can't even imagine what might be the standard in 20-30 years.