Bytes (alpha version): Debrief
Bytes — Alpha Version Debrief
Further to the teaser we published in our telegram group, here is a full debrief of our progress developing Bytes, with a small demo, a compilation of lessons learnt and a prediction of what is to come next.
Intro: What is Bytes?
Bytes offers a platform for last mile, distributed, Internet access trading. Last mile means we are not substituting ourselves to regular ISPs, and distributed means the trade is not intermediated. The absence of intermediation for the processing and the structuring of the transaction is made possible by the Blockchain.
Having a platform for last mile, distributed, Internet access trading enables to:
- Do away with roaming by enabling locals to sell their excess Internet access to travellers (we will make sure this is compliant) — when was the last time you used up your 100GB monthly limit?
- Enable machines (or “Things” in the IoT parlance) to transact with one another. Indeed, connecting billions of machines to the Internet is nearly impossible for today’s centralised offerings. A distributed, programmable payment stack is needed.
Demo and Product Walkthrough
UX — Simplicity and Abstraction
The philosophy guiding our UX design is SIMPLICITY and ABSTRACTION.
https://medium.com/media/dd7cea46058f2afcf5b72865b6ae218d/href
The main screen is super simple and consists of only two buttons. Upon touching connect, the “buy mode”is activated and the app looks for sellers in the vicinity, all by itself. Analoguously, tapping sell will allow nearby buyers to connect with you.
In the background, the buyer pays the seller with cryptos (IOTA). Remark this is entirely abstracted away.
Architecture — True P2P
The stack is completely P2P. By this we mean that the interaction between the two devices is not mediated by a third pary (not even us). To this extent, we are more similar to BitTorrent than to Uber for instance.
This fully distributed stack is enabled by the Tangle/Blockchain, which processes and structures transactions autonomously.
A distributed architecture has advantages: it is censorship resistant, and operationally leaner. The downside is that no one is here to make sure that:
- the buyer does not run away before having paid
- the seller does not stop giving Internet access after having been paid. To address these scenarii, we enforce real time payment (i.e., the buyer pays for each Mega Byte of Internet).
This demand that:
- the app keeps track of how much Internet bandwidth is being used on each side of the transaction (since you can’t trust the counterparty)
- the many small transactions resulting from real time payment do not generate too much fees
We implemented both an Ethereum and an IOTA transaction stack. The good thing with IOTA is that there are no transaction fees. As such, Bytes can be used even for very short interactions / infinitessimal amounts (as we expect to often be the case in the field of IoT).
Mobile App and IoT App: What is Next?
We iterate quickly. Expect a Beta version to come soon. Moving ahead, we will divide two streams of work more clearly: on the one hand a gorgeous mobile app incorporating a crypto wallet, on the other hand a requirements-driven IoT Stack.
