>Grandmothers and everyone else already use edge routers/modems that can be centrally managed and updated.The cable modems and DVRs run by cable companies are simpler devices that criminals will not target with malware to run cryptocurrency mining, or install fake CA certificates to MITM grandmothers' web browser and online bank transactions. These devices are restricted and constrained.
The type of hardware that decentralized proponents think of would have enough power and sophistication to displace Facebook and Youtube with p2p intelligence. It would be a more complicated server appliance (maybe a Linux base image) that has sophisticated software (Sandstorm.io, distributed apps on Blockstack, etc). The appliance would be more complex than the Samsung TVs of this thread that require owners to run virus scans. This type of advanced appliance is by design -- unrestricted and unconstrained -- to enable itself to evolve with new software capabilities.
>If centrally managed, they can be decoupled from the telco, i.e. competition among "edge server management services" instead of a land-bound monopoly.
Your scenario has 2 extra levels of "economic friction" and those extra costs act as barriers to decentralization:
(1) The hardware for the server appliance is a cost most normal non-techies would not want to pay for.
(2) The ongoing support payments is another cost that normal people would not want to pay for. (ie. sibling's comment of paying $20/month or $240/year is unrealistic.)
Also, the idea of non-techie consumers comparing "edge server management services" is itself a cognitive barrier to decentralization. Today, if we think of grandmothers' laptops as "hardware to be managed by somebody else" -- such as Geek Squad, we see that many don't have the technical knowledge to avoid being scammed.[0] To put the vision of "decentralization hardware" in perspective, it's basically asking millions of non-techies who are susceptible to Geek Squad scams -- to expose their laptop configuration and root access to the world.
>Techies can optionally enable local management.
And this configuration option to enable flexibility is yet another attack vector to trick non-techies into making their devices more vulnerable.
>It's not necessary for edge devices to "win" against centralization, only that they exist and are sustainably funded.
It's true they don't have to "win" but I was talking about the decentralized proponents' "dream scenario" of decentralized being good enough to make centralized services like Facebook/Youtube irrelevant. This can't happen if only a niche group of enthusiastic homeowners run server appliances.
[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/5n6het/why_you_...