Over the last week, Blockstream has released a series of Lightning Apps (LApps) built by independent developer Nadav Ivgi using Lightning Charge. They offer Lightning Network solutions for a number of important commerce problems, supporting vendors, creators, and programmers alike. Our final LApp for the week, the Lightning Jukebox, presents a lighter look at the Lightning Network.
The Lightning Jukebox is a video jukebox that enables users to request songs (or videos) for a micropayment. It does so by linking YouTube videos to a Lightning Charge powered payment system. The result is a simple proof-of-concept that demonstrates how an anachronistic device, like a jukebox, can be reimagined using cutting edge technology.
The Lightning Jukebox is a great example of how to write Lightning Charge LApps. It contains just 128 lines of code, which demonstrates how to integrate with the Lightning Charge micropayment processing system. The Lightning Jukebox also shows how services can be monetized on the Lightning Network, a lesson that may be of interest to users of the paypercall and ifpaytt LApps.
For ecommerce stores, WordPress blogs … and even video jukeboxes, the Lightning Network is the micropayment system of the future.
We invite you to give the Lightning Jukebox a try. Use it to experiment with combining c-lightning and Lightning Charge on testnet to collect micropayments for content or services, in preparation for the c-lightning beta release; or test drive it to get a feel for how to use Lightning Charge. All that you need to get started is a testnet node, a Lightning Chargeserver, and the Lightning Jukebox LApp.