Although the internet of today may appear free and decentralized to the average person however, reality is quite different from it. Take a closer look and you will clearly see that today’s digital world is, in reality it’s a complex network of proprietary ecosystems that are managed by giants of technology like Google and Amazon and many other companies. These companies, as well as offering search results and two-day delivery and two-day delivery, provide the technological infrastructure that powers a large portion of the internet we have today.
Businesses or individuals looking to develop websites or web services are currently required to utilize an outdated, proprietary stack which according DFINITY’s Dominic Williams, includes cloud services like Amazon’s AWS service and other layers , such as web servers, databases, and much more. The access for these platforms is managed by a centralized tech, and the support and equipment are provided by a single organisation. In this system, it’s not difficult to imagine that as organizations continue to develop on the platforms they are bound to the system built by cloud service providers and then fall to their own whims.
Internet Computer wants to disrupt this and instead provide an uncentralized internet platform users can develop on anytime without the need to leverage any of the massive-tech infrastructures that the giant cloud service providers offer. What is this decentralized Internet platform? Speak “hello” at the Internet Computer.
Internet Computer allows users to develop entirely on the Internet as an alternative to the outdated proprietary stack that was previously described. Instead of being run on central servers hosted by cloud service providers and cloud providers, the Internet Computer technology stack is a completely new one. Internet Computer technology stack runs on separate data centers throughout the world in a decentralized manner connected through a new internet protocol known as “ICP” (Internet Computer Protocol).
With no traditional cloud service providers The Internet Computer allows a user to build a complete system completely via the internet. From web-based websites to enterprise systems the possibilities are endless. Almost anything possible can be built using an Internet Computer.
To develop new systems or services for Internet Computers, or to create new services on the Internet Computer, a user can begin by using any of the programming languages that could translate into WebAssembly’s canister (e.g. Rust and Motoko which is the language for programming developed by the DFINITY team). When it is ready be used, users connect the canister to an Internet Computer utilizing the ICP protocol. After that, the system/service is ready to be used online.
Internet Computer makes this new version of internet possible by redesign of the software that it appears to be. This version software is known as “canisters.” At the highest level canisters are interoperable computing devices that represent an advancement of smart contracts. They offer a variety of features that are currently provided by various parts of the old technology stack. Due to the way that canisters are designed users no longer require database servers as well as web servers, DNS services as well as firewalls, for instance since all of the functions and services are handled by the canister itself and it operates within a safe and secure environment. Canisters can also be interoperable with different programming languages and systems, which makes them extremely adaptable and useful across different platforms and applications.
Concerning interoperability. Let’s say that someone is scheduled to fly at LAX at the end of the day. With the help of an Internet Computer, the person could make their online calendar integrate with a ride-sharing company (e.g. Uber) and, in turn, plan for an Uber to be there three hours prior to the time of the flight to collect the passenger at their office or home. Even better, if the flight scheduling systems of the airline were developed upon the Internet Computer as well, any changes in flights caused by delays might aid in updating the user’s calendar, resulting in an earlier pickup time from Uber to correspond with the timing of the flight delayed to LAX.