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NFTs are seriously hot right now, but we’re falling into a familiar trap

An eccentric new trend has swept the web over the last couple of weeks and it's all about traceable digital collectibles, also known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

These tokens are unique representations of either digital properties - such as art, music, video, trading cards etc. - or physical items, stored primarily on the Ethereum blockchain.

What makes them different from any other digital collectible (say, a Fornite skin) is that each NFT has a distinct signature that allows for ownership to be traced and verified with total confidence.

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NFTs have been around for years, but used only by a small tech-savvy minority. As a result of the Bitcoin bull run, however, these digital collectibles have begun to capture the attention of the public and gain traction with artists, who see them as an innovative way to monetize their works.

By minting a limited supply of NFTs, creators can simulate a scarcity that is driving prices through the roof. Within the last month, for example, synth-pop artist Grimes has generated $6 million in NFT sales, while musician 3LAU sold an album of NFTs for $11 million.

As per data from DappRadar, transaction volume across NFT marketplaces stands at $500 million for the last 30 days, compared to just $200 million for the entirety of 2020.

While hype has brought visibility and custom to the space, which long-term NFT fanatics will celebrate, there are also dangers attached to the current level of hysteria.

According to Oliver Carding, founder of CryptoKaiju, a company that sells NFT-backed vinyl toys, the cyclical nature of crypto trends means a bust will almost certainly follow the boom. And the parties that will suffer are not the celebrities minting the NFTs, but the people buying them up.

“The crypto space has always been about empowering the underdog by removing the middleman, not about making Lindsay Lohan richer,” he told TechRadar Pro. “I’m not necessarily saying this is a bubble, because NFTs have been growing organically, but I think we’ll see the space follow a crypto boom cycle.”

What makes NFTs special?

NFTs differ from other digital collectibles in that they act as an irrefutable proof of ownership and are not controlled by any single entity (i.e. they cannot be destroyed by switching off a server somewhere). They differ from other cryptocurrency assets, meanwhile, in that they are neither interchangeable nor divisible.

If an asset is fungible, it can be freely exchanged with another identical version without any loss of value and can also typically be divided into smaller parts. For example, if two people were to swap a unit of Bitcoin with each other, no meaningful change has occurred, and each coin can also be broken down into smaller units called Satoshis.

Non-fungible tokens, on the other hand, demonstrate ownership of a unique property and therefore have a unique value, and nor can they be sold off in parts.

Many believe the first ever NFTs were attached to an Ethereum-based game called CryptoKitties, launched in late 2017. The goal of the game is to collect, trade and breed digital cats, each of which is tied to a unique token.

CryptoKitties NFT — A cat from Ethereum-based game CryptoKitties. (Image credit: CryptoKitties)

While the concept of NFTs was technically applied by other projects first (e.g . CryptoPunks), CryptoKitties is credited with putting NFTs on the map, proving so popular at launch that it choked up the Ethereum network.

“CryptoKitties really woke people up to the idea of collecting and trading digital assets. In terms of the first project to take NFTs outside the realms of niche, it’s 100% CryptoKitties,” explained Carding. “But while the NFT community has grown slowly since, it’s only in the last few months it has really taken off.”

In the case of CryptoKaiju, which Carding started in 2018 as a hobby project, each NFT is attached to a real-world collectible. Here, the NFT is used to verify the authenticity of the physical vinyl toy (stamped with a tamper proof tag), preserving its potential value in secondary markets.

CryptoKaiju NFTs can also be used in a similar way to Nintendo amiibos, transporting the vinyl toy character into compatible Ethereum-based games.

What's all the fuss about?

While the concept of an NFT is relatively simple to understand, the harder question to answer is precisely why people are buying them, given the content attached to NFTs can be found elsewhere online.

The common riposte is that this same question could be asked of physical art, images of which are also available on the web, but the obvious difference is that viewing art in-person is an entirely different experience than looking at a .jpg file online.

According to Carding, however, the reason NFTs are proving so popular has little to do with the idea of purchasing something that the owner exclusively gets to enjoy. Instead, people are drawn to NFTs because they operate at the intersection of two distinct desires: to own and to collect.

“People want to buy really scarce items from artists they like. This stuff isn’t being pumped out in the tens of thousands, it’s still quite small-scale,” Carding told us. “Owning something by your favorite artists is attractive to people; they see it as a way to connect.”

Beeple NFT — An NFT artwork from graphic designer Beeple, currently under the hammer at auction house Christie's. (Image credit: Beeple / Christie's)

While the image or video attached to the NFT might not be scarce, the NFT itself definitely is, and so the effect for the owner is the same.

For veteran collectors, the ability to store valuable collectibles on a blockchain as opposed to in the garage is an undeniable benefit and so is the opportunity to bypass logistical hassles of trading real-world items.

To illustrate his point, Carding gestured to Pokemon trading cards, which also recently enjoyed a surge in popularity. To sell a set of physical trading cards, he told us, the owner has to get them graded, list them on eBay and incur selling fees, as well as communicate with the buyer.

“With digital collectibles, this whole process is pretty seamless,” he said. “You don’t have to store them a particular way [in order for them to retain value] and you don’t have to keep them in your house.”

The problem with NFTs

As the noise and excitement shows, NFTs have the potential to solve genuine problems for creators struggling to monetize their work, and so too for committed collectors. However, there are also plenty of reasons to be wary.

“There is some absolutely brilliant stuff [in the NFT space] and I’m so pleased to see mainstream adoption, but there is an element of it being a little like the ICO boom of a few years back,” Carding warned.

During this boom, investors pumped billions of dollars into new crypto projects in the hope the associated coins (akin to shares) would appreciate in value. Many of these projects were rotten, however, and a large number of people lost much if not all of their investment.

In the same vein, Carding suggests, those spending thousands of dollars (or more) on NFTs in the hope of making a handsome return may find the value of the tokens falls through the floor when public attention turns elsewhere.

As with the ICO boom, there are also plenty of poor-quality NFTs on the market. Many high-profile figures have rushed to mint tokens as a way to generate easy money, but much of the associated artwork is either slapdash or produced by another artist entirely.

NFT owners also have to trust that the creator won’t generate another run of tokens for near-identical artwork, thereby devaluing the NFT they originally purchased.

“It’s a bit exploitative,” said Carding. “You look through these marketplaces and you see younger artists struggling to monetize their work, and you can buy ten of their pieces for the cost of a very average piece by a celebrity. I think that’s toxic; it’s a case of jumping the shark.”

In some instances, fraudsters have also created a run of NFTs in someone else’s name. When it emerges that the artist isn’t who they claim to be, the value of the NFT falls to nothing. And the problem is made worse by the anonymous nature of crypto transactions, which afford the buyer almost no recourse, unless they gain compensation from the marketplace.

Finally, there’s the environmental factor. By virtue of the way the Ethereum blockchain currently operates (using a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism), minting NFTs uses a huge amount of energy, equivalent to multiple weeks’ worth of an average individual’s usage.

And as pointed out by artist Everest Pipkin, although a greater number of mining operations are turning to renewable energy sources, there remains the carbon cost attached to building renewable infrastructure in the first place.

Ethereum 2.0 — Ethereum, the home of NFTs (Image credit: Ethereum Foundation / Liam Cobb)

A balancing act

While it’s difficult to understand why someone might spend so much on a digital asset that can be easily replicated, NFTs appear to offer a solution to a genuine problem for creators and could yet become a permanent fixture in the world of digital art.

They have also created a use case for blockchain that appeals to a demographic beyond just technologists, economists and investors.

“The old quote is that blockchain will only really succeed until people don’t realize they are using it,” Carding noted. “And this is exactly what the best NFT marketplaces have achieved; it’s seamless.”

As is common in the crypto ecosystem, however, there is a darker underbelly to the world of NFTs. The market will mature in time, but the potential for abuse and volatility of prices will likely see people burned in the process.

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Date

09 Mar 2021

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I spent 24 hours with Apple iPad Air (2022) and I liked it
I’ve been testing and using every Apple iPad since the very first one launched a dozen years ago. At the time, I started my examination with a 24-hour live blog . Now with a new Apple iPad Air, I thought it would be fun to revisit that concept. The first 24-to-36 hours with any gadget can tell you a lot about it.

Join me on this journey as I dig into Apple’s fifth-generation iPad Air, a tablet that looks exactly like the last iPad Air, but has a few key differences, including a 12MP ultra-wide camera and the powerful, fast, and energy-efficient M1 Apple silicon processor. This is my iPad Air diary…
- Read our in-depth iPad Air (2020) review
Monday, March 14, 11:00am

Apple’s newest iPad Air arrives three days late, and I'm annoyed. Not at Apple, but at a shipping world that appears to be conspiring against me.

The package is heavy because Apple sent me a smart cover, a Magic Keyboard and cover, and a new Apple Pencil 2, as well as, obviously, the new iPad Air 2022.

I set aside the two cover options and the Pencil and grab the familiar iPad Air box. It looks exactly like the box from the now two-year-old iPad Air 2020 (fourth generation).

Since I’m in the middle of three back-to-back meetings, I set the package aside for a while. For the next hour or so, I keep stealing glances at it, wondering when I’ll have enough time to unbox and touch it.

1:00pm

I finally pull off the cellophane and open Apple’s recycled-material box. Inside is the new iPad Air (it’s blue!), a sizable charging brick, and the USB-C-to-USB-C cable. I’m especially interested in this because the iPad apparently supports – with the right app (Capture One) – communication between a DSLR and the iPad (the iPad ends up as a viewfinder with direct camera control).

Holding the brand-new Apple iPad Air 2022 (Image credit: Future Lance Ulanoff)
1:25pm

There’s some good light outside, so I head to my backyard to grab a few 'pristine' pictures of the iPad.

1:30pm

Time to set up the iPad. As a rule, I never allow these test systems to restore from a backup. This saves me time, and ensures that when I do run benchmarks, the results aren’t influenced by anything I might have running in the background.

I circled the benchmarks. Note that Compute score on the left. It's double what the A14 Bionic produced on the last iPad Air (Image credit: Future)
5:30pm

I get sidelined by other pressing projects and meetings, and a quick-yet-delicious salmon dinner, but I'm finally able to return to the iPad Air.

After doing the bare minimum – putting the tablet on my Wi-Fi network, getting my Apple account in there and not worrying about secondary email accounts, registering two fingers on the Power/Sleep/Touch ID button, and enabling the Verizon network to light up the 5G capabilities – I download Geekbench 5.

I’m anxious to see just how much more power the M1 packs into Apple's popular iPad Air. However, before I even run the benchmarks, I encounter a surprise: Apple has doubled the amount of RAM.

The last iPad Air had just 4GB of RAM backing its A14 Bionic CPU. The M1, though, gets 8GB. That alone should help to boost the benchmark scores.

While launching the CPU benchmarks on the new iPad Air, I rerun them on the 2020 edition.

The results are not surprising. Apple’s M1-based iPad Air handily beats the A14 Bionic in the 2020 iPad Air. The numbers aren't insanely different, but M1 is the clear winner.

Next, I run the Compute benchmarks, which look at graphics performance. The results are shocking. The new iPad Air M1 SoC returns Metal numbers that are approximately double the results I get on the iPad Air running the A14 Bionic.

Obviously, Benchmark scores are just numbers, and what I really need to see is how the tablet performs at a variety of everyday tasks.

6:30pm

It’s getting late, but I still want some quality time with the new slate. I unbox the iPad Smart Cover and wrap it around the iPad Air.

I download my favorite drawing app, Procreate. I’m not much of an artist, but drawing does relax me, and it’s a good test of how well the technology and components can fade into the background. There’s nothing worse for an artist than feeling like they’re drawing on a piece of hardware.

6:50pm

Before I start, though, I unpack the new Apple Pencil, and pair it with the iPad Air simply by placing it on the magnetic charge spot on one long edge of the tablet. It’s immediately recognized and paired with the tablet, and I’m ready to draw.

Drawing in Procreate on the Apple iPad Air 5. (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
7:00pm

I want to draw a face. So, after launching Procreate, I grab Safari from the dock and drag it, so it opens as a window next to Procreate. Then I use the Pencil to scribble 'face' in the search box. My scrawl is instantly converted into a searchable term, and I soon have a wide variety of mugs to choose from.

I like to keep my source image open in one screen while I draw inside Procreate right next to it.

8:00pm

I’ve been drawing for an hour and the image is starting to come together. Procreate works just as well on the M1 as it did on the A14 Bionic. It’s smooth, responsive, and fun to use. Apple’s digital ink and millisecond response is just awesome.

The more I use the iPad Air (and all versions of it, really) and the Apple Pencil, the more the hardware sort of slips away, fading into the background so I can focus on creating what I like to call 'art.'

Time lapse of Apple iPad Air drawing (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
9:00pm

This drawing is about as good as it’s going to get (at least for my limited skills). Procreate lets you output a timelapse video of your work, so I've reproduced that in the GIF above.

9:30pm

The iPad Air arrived roughly 90% charged, but I don’t want to do any battery rundown tests without a full tank. I plug the tablet’s USB-C adapter into a wall outlet, and the other end of the cable into the iPad’s USB-C port, and leave it overnight.

Apple iPad Air 2022 in Magic Keyboard (Image credit: Future)
Tuesday, March 15, 7:00am

I’m bringing the now 100%-charged iPad Air to the office, but not before I give it a change of clothes. I unbox the Magic Keyboard cover and slap it on the iPad Air. It’s heavier than the Smart cover, but also way more functional, with an almost full-sized keyboard, trackpad, dedicated charging port, and the ability to float the tablet over the keyboard. And it’s adjustable. The cover is also $299 / £299 / AU$499, which is very pricey, but it could be money well spent if you plan on using the iPad as a productivity device.

8:33am

Seems like a good time to try a battery run-down test. Instead of connecting the iPad Air to my corporate Wi-Fi, I leave it running on the thready Verizon 5G signal I’m getting in the office. I also crank up the screen brightness to 100% and turn off display sleep.

9:00am

Procreate is still open, so I return to my artwork and make a couple of tiny adjustments. Then I output a 30-second timelapse of the drawing. I also open email and Maps.

10:00am

I’m stuck in meetings and the iPad Air sits at my desk, missing me.

10:30am

Wow – battery life has plummeted to 63%. I don’t see it getting through the day.

11:00am

I start looking at Photo library images and videos. The 10.9-inch Liquid Retina Display’s 2360 x 1640 resolution makes everything look sharp and colorful.

12:10pm

There’s a lot I still want to do with the iPad, but I’m now fixated on the rapid power drain. It's freefalling, losing almost 20% in 30 minutes.

12:24pm

Even though power is low and I’m on terrible 5G, I decide to try downloading a game: PUBG. It’s a fool's errand, because it’s a big file and the connectivity is awful. I’m getting – wait for it – 4.6Mbps down and 11.9Mbps up. That’s comically bad.

12:42pm

That download has accelerated my power drain, and now the iPad Air is down to 10% and requests that I put it into low-power mode. I deny the request.

12:52pm

Ten minutes later and I'm at 7% power. Aside from the ultra-slow PUBG download, I’m not doing anything. I decide to open Safari to see if that accelerates things even more. I Google myself – as people do – and watch the power slip to 6%. By the way, did you know I’m an 'American commentator,' at least according to Wikipedia?

I load a few more browser pages, including some heavy ones, as the iPad warns me that we’re down to 5%, and can it please go into low-power mode now? Request denied.

I load more web pages and, to make things interesting, I open another instance of Safari. Side-by-side browsing should quickly eat up what’s left of my battery life.

Apple iPad Air 2022 battery rundown. (Image credit: Future)
12:57pm

I hit 4%. So, I open a third browser window, thanks iPadOS 15. I open Notes and start typing.

The iPad holds at 4% – it seems like an act of defiance.

1:00pm

We're at 3%, and the little battery symbol is in the red. Suddenly all my windows minimize on their own. I think the iPad is preparing to shut down.

I wonder if I’ll see the battery level hit 1%, or if the iPad Air screen will go blank before then.

I reopen the browser windows to see how I can push things a bit further.

1:02pm

Down to 2% and the end is nigh. I can’t wait to see 1%. Why? I couldn’t tell you.

I press the issue, and launch the recently updated iMovie, which still doesn’t support vertical video(!). And that does it.

1:05pm

As I’m trying to launch a new iMovie project the iPad Air screen goes black. I’ve officially run out of power. This means I got a little over 4.5 hours. That’s not great, but, in the iPad Air 5's defense, I made its 5G cellular radio work overtime with bad connectivity and big tasks, I turned screen brightness to 100%, and I never let it sleep.

1:08pm

Naturally, I left the charging adapter at home, so I plug the iPad Air into an available 25W adapter.

Playing PUBG on Apple iPad Air (Image credit: Future)
1:28pm

With the battery test done and power back up to 12%, the iPad is back on and ready to play. I decide to switch to Wi-Fi to get more time, and download speeds that can handle some of my favorite and bigger games.

No trouble getting on the Wi-Fi and PUBG is sliding in faster. While I wait, I download and install Asphalt 9 Legends (it's my favorite game). Before I can begin, though, I notice that PUBG is fully installed. Thank you 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6.

1:50pm

I’ve lowered the brightness and allowed the screen to auto-lock after 15 minutes.

2:07pm

It’s easy to get distracted in Apple’s iPad OS 15 new home screen, which keeps surfacing old photos from my Photos archive. I see one of my wife and impulsively send it to her over Messages. Now, what was I doing?

Playing Asphalt 9: Legends on Apple iPad Air 5 (Image credit: Future)
2:15pm

I decide to play Asphalt 9 in the office, but to avoid annoying my open-floor-plan co-workers, I first connect my AirPods Pros to the iPad Air. It takes a few tries, but I finally get them connected.

As always, Asphalt 9 is a joy to play. The graphics look great and stutter-free. I’m never sure that such games truly press the CPU and GPU, but if the M1 wasn’t up to the task the action surely wouldn’t look this good.

PUBG loads fast and the detail looks great. Sadly, I don't have the time to complete this round – which I know I could’ve won.

2:52pm

Procreate now supports painting and drawing on 3D objects. Sadly, I have no 3D object files. I instead play with some of the Elements paintbrushes (like fire) that should also push the GPU a bit.

Apple iPad Air 2022 12 MP ultrawide camera view (Image credit: Future)
3:05pm

I open the camera 12MP Wide rear camera. It seems to do a decent job. In a low-light shot, it accurately captures the color of blue, green, and red M&Ms, but drains the yellow tone from my oakwood desk.

I flip the view to the new 12MP ultrawide camera. It starts in normal mode, but if I use the two arrows on the left side of the screen I can see the full ultra-wide view. It’s a fairly distorted fisheye view, but the point here is that on Facetime calls, Apple’s Center Stage technology can pan around the frame to keep the speaker in view.

(Image credit: Future)
3:16pm

I decide to install LastPass so that I can add a couple more password-protected apps and services, and use Touch ID to unlock them. Yes, I’m mainly talking about Netflix. I still love Touch ID, maybe not as much as FaceID, but it certainly is as effective.

3:30pm

I have a WebEx call, which turns into the perfect opportunity to test Center Stage. Try as I might, I could not exit the camera frame. It’s a good feature, and one that I’ve used on other Apple devices, and even seen on competitors like Facebook/Meta Portal. I'm glad it works so smoothly here.

Apple iPad Air 2022 drawing in 3D in Procreate (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
4:00pm

The excitement level is now at a 10. With the help of TechRadar's Global Editor-in-Chief Gareth Beavis (who has filed his full review of the iPad Air), I’ve found and downloaded Procreate’s 3D model pack, and am now manipulating realistic-looking models and painting directly on the virtual surfaces. I started with a roller skate, painting the white leather red. It’s so easy and, honestly, fun.

Next, I paint a perfectly rendered 3D motorcycle helmet yellow and a skateboard. This is basically foolproof.

4:44pm

Yes, I spent time choosing the right colors for the helmet (I settled on pink and yellow) and yes, I got a little lost playing with 3D objects. This is a fun and powerful tool that creatives will love, not just because of what’s possible, but because it works so smoothly. The M1 is turning this complex task into child’s play.

Apple iPad Air 2022 12MP wide Times Square photo (Image credit: Future)
5:30pm

Racing across town to catch my train, I pause in Times Square to take a few pictures with – yes – the iPad Air. I know that I look a little silly holding up a 10.9-inch tablet (and still in the Magic Keyboard) but doesn't everyone using an iPad to take pictures look a little ridiculous?

The natural-light, wide-angle pictures are nice.

5:45pm

The long day is done, and I’ve brought the Apple iPad Air along for the commute. With my AirPods Pro nestled snuggly in my ears, I open Netflix and wait for the 5G signal that should appear right after we leave a tunnel.

The connection is poor, at first, and my Supergirl episode is a pixelated mess. Soon, however, the 5G strengthens, and I even hit a pocket or two of Verizon 5G Ultrawideband. The Netflix video looks good, though this screen can struggle a bit in direct sunlight. I remember that I lowered the brightness earlier, so I raise it back up to nearly 100%. That’s better.

Overall, a good day with the Apple iPad Air 2022. It’s a powerful, versatile, fun-to-use tablet, and a decent all-day companion, too.
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