Thanks for the write-up, and don't worry about the length (the longer the better). This is long-form content I'd love to see more of on SN (I should be the change I want to see and write stuff myself).

With the other Starlink Direct to Cell post on SN today I feel a little bit uncomfortable that all of this foundational infrastructure (physical AND digital interconnectors) are so centralised. As you mentioned, individuals can run their own energy infrastructure, but I haven't really heard of people running their own internet (waiting for @davidw's post on the future internet).

My two cents on your writing (meant as constructive criticism). You hooked me with the history of the transatlantic cable, and gave a great overview of interconnectors, but then lost me with (what seemed to me) a confusing detour into public miners and oil prices. Interesting detours, to be sure -- but as someone with no prior experience, i would appreciate some signboarding to explain how those things are relevant to your central thesis (which you laid out nicely in your conclusion). Cheers

I am the "new user" mentioned in the bio post. Thanks a lot for bringing this up @Michelson_Morley.

@DarthCoin 's profile has many well-researched posts. He is undoubtedly a valuable resource for this community, and I am learning a lot from him. I try to focus on the content of someone's message, rather than the delivery. But I will admit that I felt annoyed and put off when I saw that as the first reply to my bio, and I wonder how many would have left there and then.

One last point. The 'nyms we choose have meaning. They signify what we value and what we aspire to be. Michelson and Morley were physicists who in their quest for the truth disproved the luminiferous aether and advanced mankind's understanding of physics. My own 'nym is Chinese for "to seek, to inquire, to interrogate". By adopting these nyms we profess our desire to seek the truth, and to have the courage to stand behind it.

xnwn

I'm very willing to change my mind -- that's why I'm here, after all.

No, that's an inaccurate depiction of my motivations or my views. I'm a technologist by nature and by training and I think of these other L1s as having a fundamentally different purpose from BTC. BTC is the preeminent store of value but ETH, SOL etc. are a "store of state": a way to have global shared uncensorable state. That's valuable in and of itself (censorship resistant state, decentralised value provision), independent of whatever the price of the altcoin is. You'd hold these altcoins not as a store of value, but as a utility token to pay to perform transactions on-chain.

The vast majority of people are interested in shitcoins because "number go up", but that hasn't really been my motivation; in any case I have owned BTC for almost a decade now :)