Noob questions about crypto, very excited!

[BlackstarCollective]

Hi all,

I was wondering whether or not a decentralized environment such as Ethereum, and all projects built on top, will be very expensive to use? I see the point of decentralization, but since anything you do on the network costs fees, won't this be a huge barrier compared to what the mainstream is used to today? (Ie everything should be free or close to)

For instance, if I want to use StorJ or Golem or anything like that, won't I need to pay fees in both their native currencies as well as in Ether?

So if we were to have a decentralized social network, would all users have to "pay" to use it ?

[ebliever]

Hi all,

I was wondering whether or not a decentralized environment such as Ethereum, and all projects built on top, will be very expensive to use? I see the point of decentralization, but since anything you do on the network costs fees, won't this be a huge barrier compared to what the mainstream is used to today? (Ie everything should be free or close to)

For instance, if I want to use StorJ or Golem or anything like that, won't I need to pay fees in both their native currencies as well as in Ether?

So if we were to have a decentralized social network, would all users have to "pay" to use it ?

My understanding is limited, but I think projects like Storj and Golem just involve payments in their native token, not double-paying with two tokens. I can't imagine why they'd complicate that, at any rate.

Such services will cost something (or be  dependent on revenue streams like from advertising), but with Crypto the possibility for micro-payments is much more plausible than with traditional fiat systems. So services can be offered for fractions of a penny using automated smart contracts that would be hopelessly inefficient if done using fiat transaction mechanisms.

Things like the crypto social networks now arising have payment channels built in, but it remains to be seen what all will be free and what will involve payments. I expect most "basic" services will be free to pull users in, with only "premium" functions really involving costs. And there will be opportunities to receive payments as easily as you spend them, making them close to cost-neutral for the average user.

[piloder]

I don't have any idea on golem or storj but talking about building dapps on ethereum, it will cost you some ethereum as well as you have to pay fees on every activity within your dapps. Right now fee on ethereum is only around 2 cent per transaction which is comparatively reasonable.

[hello_good_sir]

If you want to build such a big, worldwide financial network, you need to accept the fact of taking different kinds of costs.
The same thing is about decentralized network, it has to operate somehow. If nobody will earn anything on supporting it, then what is the point of doing such a thing?

Without mining rewards, bitcoin and blockchain are pretty much totally different thing. We need to have a bounty for people willing to confirm our transactions, or they will simply stop doing that activity.

[687_2]

So if we were to have a decentralized social network, would all users have to "pay" to use it ?

Yes, you'd be paying for the electricity your machine uses, hardware depreciation, etc. I am guessing you're talking about something like this:
http://twister.net.co/

[Reid]

Is anything free in this world? Even just for questions you would need to pay.
In crypto currency the service should be paid also though it is getting too much now. That is the real bad part.
Just imagine how many of us are doing transaction per day and they are all eating that up. They are like PacMan now without the ghosts on the game.
In this world every movement is getting paid and the crocodile dont want to close their mouths. 

[BlackstarCollective]

If you want to build such a big, worldwide financial network, you need to accept the fact of taking different kinds of costs.
The same thing is about decentralized network, it has to operate somehow. If nobody will earn anything on supporting it, then what is the point of doing such a thing?

Without mining rewards, bitcoin and blockchain are pretty much totally different thing. We need to have a bounty for people willing to confirm our transactions, or they will simply stop doing that activity.

I understand *why* the network needs fees.

What I am worried about is, how will someone like my mum use a decentralized Facebook that charges you when she can use a free one? I think people have gotten very used to not paying for anything on the internet, that's gonna be a hurdle to get over right?

[naidray]

If you want to build such a big, worldwide financial network, you need to accept the fact of taking different kinds of costs.
The same thing is about decentralized network, it has to operate somehow. If nobody will earn anything on supporting it, then what is the point of doing such a thing?

Without mining rewards, bitcoin and blockchain are pretty much totally different thing. We need to have a bounty for people willing to confirm our transactions, or they will simply stop doing that activity.

The problem is not about paying people to confirm our transactions, we were doing that for a long time and we didn’t even notice it, but as the bitcoin became popular and the blockchain network not big enough for the transaction that are happening every second, transaction became slower and they have taken advantage of the situation and started speeding transaction based on the fees, and people had no choice because the fast transfer is the thing that made them use bitcoin in the first place, and by the time bitcoin reaches a higher user base they will start taking more and more.