Distributed wireless infrastructure is very real and a pretty clear use case of web3. Helium Network sells wireless routers, and distributes rewards to routers that provide coverage to the network. Tokens are used to purchase network bandwidth. They have nearly 400K hotspots worldwide. It's also not using the energy-intensive Proof of Work consensus algorithm that you're referring to.
I agree that statement around market power is wrong. What I'm hopeful about, is that Web3 increases the amount of the stack that is open to anyone to build on top of. That will hopefully increase competition and decrease rent-seeking by whichever dominant players emerge.
You're right that the UX layer could be centralized. However, the data that the UX is built on would not be centralized. In the Uber example, it's as if the ride-hailing backend were available to anyone.
The centralized UX could censor transactions like you say, but the barrier to entry is low for another UX, built on the same decentralized data, to emerge and challenge the centralized UX. That's because the data is available to everyone.
I don't agree. I think excellent UXs have a super high barrier of entry. Look at apps such as Google Docs, TikTok, etc.
A company could build an UX without even thinking about being decentralized and users will care about the UX but not about "decentralization politics". If an excellent decentralized UX is built, you just copy the interesting parts and add you proprietary ones, sell you brand and success!
Google Docs - not just a UX, built on the Google ecosystem with its existing network of users and massive amounts of data
TikTok - not just a UX, but a massive social network, again with lots of data.
In a decentralized world, there will be a decentralized social network like TikTok. The UX would interact with that social network; it wouldn't create the social network itself. To give another example, it's as if Facebook's social network was open to anyone to build a UX on top of and interact with. Much lower barrier to entry.
Rugpulls and other hacks are a risk, but will become less of a risk over time as the tech gets more stable, and third party insurance solutions like Nexus Mutual become more widespread.
The better customer experience in the lending example is higher yields on savings and checking accounts.
