Some of us are of an age where we remember a life before iPhones and iPods. A world where file-sharing systems were popular. Napster was the best known of these and eventually had to fall in line with the commercial world because of numerous lawsuits. The technology behind it never really went away though. Even now, file-sharing is built into Microsoft's Windows operating system and is turned on by default, enabling you to get windows updates quicker (and reducing their costs in the process; and since every PC I buy comes pre-loaded with windows I make sure to turn this off on principal).
There are a lot of these double standards when you start to take notice. Gaming websites with terms and conditions which prohibit you from using bots for financial gain, even though they are backed by financial systems which use trading bots; for financial gain. So it's nice when something comes along and attempts to restore balance by giving power back to the guy on the street.
Now let me introduce you to Theta. If you're not already familiar with the service, it's like YouTube and Brave browser combined into one. Essentially, anyone can go to theta.tv, create an account and then get paid in their TFuel currency to watch videos. While the amount of Tfuel you get for this is quite low, you can perform this activity using Brave browser, so now your attention is being double rewarded. This is purely the consumption side of Theta; and there is more. Remember that file-sharing service? Theta also uses your upload bandwidth to share the video content you watch with other viewers and this is where it gets interesting. Also, once you register an account, you become eligible for the daily rewards which include things like free NFT's. You can access these from your avatar on the right hand side of the site. Right below the 'create a channel' option. You can also make predictions on the outcome of streamed games etc. to earn more rewards.
Not only does Theta have some interesting and powerful backers (due to the fact it's success will save their companies millions), but it also serves a purpose for the small guy. It's possible to create video content and then share it in a peer-to-peer way, bypassing the need for a big centralised service with dodgy algorithms and the word Tube in its name. The big risk for Theta is that users will use this facility to distribute copyrighted content, eventually resulting in a Napster-like service shut-down. On the other hand, any YouTuber who has received an account strike for not knowing their rules inside out might do well to start putting their initial edits out on Theta. They will have more freedom, help build the platform and be a part of a system which rewards viewers for watching.
This idea may well be inline with the 'Great Reset' - that idea proposed in Davos by the WEF. As we move towards a civilisation where most things are made by robots, there has to be a way for people to earn enough to cover the necessities; otherwise people are going to insist on taxing the output of those robots, or maybe they will create an anti-robot anonymous-type group which goes around smashing all the autonomous devices which have replaced humans (ATM's, traffic cameras, CCTV, Amazon's walk-in and take stores, self-driving cars etc.). Conspiracy theorists might suggest that population reduction is now part of the plan to fix climate-change and reduce the population to the level required to still function however this would require trust between the leaders of nations who frequently oppose each other. Would any nation really destroy it's own potential defending army? Anyway I'm going off topic and I prefer to delegate my opinion on how many people our planet can support to those who have researched the topic
Coming back to Theta, the idea of a non-mainstream video service was a key element of the 'Running Man' film; a way to get the truth out there by showing unedited footage. We have seen that Theta can reward viewers for watching (so viewers are likely to turn up en-mass at some point), and we can see that content makers are incentivised by more freedom, but what about the lost revenue from all those annoying adverts? I suspect this will be where those which are favoured by the algorithm will start talking more and more about any shortcomings they find with Theta (obviously more to do with financial losses). It's not all doom and gloom though. First off, content producers are more likely to have modern, powerful computers used to edit and encode their content. With less editing required, they could use this equipment to run Theta Nodes. Essentually, that surplus editing time can be used to spread the love (in the form of other peoples videos). Doing this will also earn the nodes operator an amount of TFuel.
Having run the edge node software for about a week now, you can see that it's not a highly prosperous activity netting 0.8 TFuel for seven days operating 9am-9pm but remember this service is not yet anywhere near as well known as YouTube. It's possible viewers will hand over the TFuel they earn to content producers if they themselves have no interest in the crypto token. It's also very important to point out that TFuel and Theta tokens are completely different things. Theta tokens link to the governance of the system while TFuel is the everyday token most people will earn or gift (and presumably buy, sell and barter). You do have to wonder why governance could not be embedded in TFuel as those acquiring it are likely to be those with a following on the old Tube. I personally wonder why a second token was even needed at all. After all, anyone who mistakes the two can check how much Theta their node has earned and then get a nasty shock when it twigs that they have not earned 0.2 Theta (currently at $12.29), but 0.2 TFuel (currently at $0.3344).
Still, Theta is another system you can throw on an older computer and use to turn it into a crypto-heater while simultaneously showing support for a worthwhile video sharing service. With the node software, you can choose (YES, you get to CHOOSE) whether or not to take part in the Edge-cache (sharing your upload bandwidth) or the compute module (using your idle CPU time to encode other peoples videos or take part in the protein-folding system which is currently working on Covid medicines). If your PC suffers, you could also choose to disable both of these and just use the stream viewer - although for that you just go to theta.tv; no node required).
A Word of Caution
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Ok so this all sounds like a wonderful system; what's the catch? Well it's new and appears to be a closed system for now. It appears to be easy to invest into but difficult to cash out. According to the official faq, you can use TFuel to '...donate, spend in the shop or subscribe to your favourite channels'. The fact it's listed on CoinMarketCap suggests people are trading TFuel through exchanges outside the 'official' system.
Theta are launching their new main-net in 77 days time so expect to hear more about them over the next couple of months.
Usual disclaimers
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I'm not a doctor, legal professional or financial advisor. This article reflects my own opinions and should not be taken as financial, legal or medical advice. Do your own research and never invest anything you cannot afford to lose (including your time).
