I just a recent Dom’s video mentioning to store a photo on IC (2.3MB) costs about $0.016/year.
Given IG has 1 billion photos uploaded daily. How does it make sense to build mass market products on IC when storage costs might run into hundreds of millions/year compared to a few million on traditional web2 cloud storage providers.
What’s the solution for this? How do we enable cheaper storage in line with S3 in order to compete for mass market products.
Yes, it’s possible to build an Instagram clone on the Internet Computer (IC). The IC provides a platform for hosting decentralized applications (dapps) with features like smart contracts and can store data in a decentralized way.
Just my opinion from struggling with this: I think the standard way this will be handled for decentralization maxis is with canister outbound https requests that manage some off-chain hybrid storage/compute account (e.g., IPFS/Akash).
So in your Instagram clone, a user signup could link their wallet to Filecoin (without them knowing it), and have them store their own images there while your app stores the hash/link. That, or make an experience rich enough to justify the high cost of hosting on-chain.
Hello there,
That’s an interesting approach. Using canister outbound HTTP requests to manage off-chain storage/compute accounts like IPFS/Akash could indeed be a good way to handle decentralization.
Linking user wallets to Filecoin for image storage, while storing only the hash/link on-chain, seems like a clever way to distribute storage costs. Creating a rich user experience could definitely help justify the higher on-chain hosting costs.
Have you had a chance to try this approach or seen it implemented elsewhere?
I think it’s too early to discuss billions of photos being stored on the IC. The IC price compares well to other blockchains, not traditional cloud storage providers. Looking ahead, I envision various types of canisters with different cycles consumption policies: storage canisters, computation canisters, AI canisters, and any other type you might need. Also, do people really need a decentralised Instagram? I highly doubt it—at least for now.
Point taken, we don’t need a decentralized IG. This is just a thought experiment to know the current limits of IC.
Dom has stated multiple times you can make DeSo on ICP.