#248 June 6th, 2022 [web3 with a16z]

Like every week before it, this email is delivered safely to your inbox, ready for you to read.

This is all thanks to the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and either the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) or the Post Office Protocol (POP) that powers the sending and receiving of electronic messaging.

Let's break it all down:

1. I composed this message and addressed it to you.

2. My computer contacted the mail server and sent this message.

3. That mail server stored this message in a queue and forwarded it to the next mail server.

4. The next mail servers in line did the same thing; all until this message reached your mail server where it was stored in a queue to be forwarded to your computer.

5. Your computer retrieved this message and displayed it to you. Right now. At this very moment.

Hard to argue that the Internet is one of the greatest inventions of modern humanity.

But, SMTP was created 40 years ago with POP & IMAP shortly after in 1984 & 1986 respectively.

I'm not here to bore you with the intricacies of early web protocols, but I do want to emphasize this point: we've all been abiding by a set of rules codified in technology developed over a generation ago.

Look, I get it. web3 and crypto enthusiasts are as unrelenting as CrossFit aficionados with a referral bonus. While it's perfectly natural to have an aversion to anything new or unfamiliar, we stand to benefit from learning about things happening all around us, even if we're hearing about it for the millionth time.

So, understanding that we are likely to see a new set of protocols emerge to challenge the status quo, it's not a terrible idea to brush up on what the next generation of the internet could look like.

Lucky for us, Sonal Chokshi is here to curate an incredible roster of experts with a wide array of opinions on web3 with a16z. Like with any other a16z show, you'll be saturated with data, insights, and information but with web3 with a16z you'll be prompted to understand and go deeper on blockchains, crypto, and web3. Take in everything from hallway conversations to interviews to oral essays and come away learning more about the Internet as it's come to evolve, where it's headed and what we'll all be ushered towards in its future.

Easiest of all, Chokshi draws useful parallels between the Internet as you know it today and the rapidly-evolving world of web3.

Have a listen and let us know what you think.

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