My layman explanation of Kusama/Polkadot and why they are so innovative

I've noticed on this sub very few people are discussing Kusama & Polkadot, so I thought I'd take a stab at explaining in layman terms how they work and their significance.

Before getting started, I'd like to clear up that Kusama is the canary network to Polkadot. Unlike what many people in this sub believe, Kusama is not a test-network for Polkadot -- the test network is called Rococo. Kusama is a fully functional and live network with real value where all new-tech is run prior to being released on the main Polkadot network. Kusama is fast-paced, innovative, and experimental while Polkadot is slower, less chaotic, and more reliable.

So what technology does Polkadot provide? Right now in crypto if one blockchain wants to communicate with another, it has to using bridges. Bridges are slow, expensive, and not practical for scalability. Polkadot provides a fast, inexpensive, and standardized way for blockchains to communicate with each other.

Why is this important? What is the significance of this? In the Polkadot ecosystem many blockchains can deploy and each specialize in certain technologies (e.g. DEX, file storage, privacy, fast transactions, smart contracts, etc...), and then leverage each others features. By leveraging different features of different blockchains, developers can effectively create decentralized applications that are otherwise not possible. The chains sorta provide an SDK for devs to build off, and create practical applications from (websites, streaming services, social media, cloud storage, etc...). For instance, a DEX chain can leverage the privacy chain to allow for confidential swapping. Or a dev can leverage from a smart contract platform and a file storage platform to create a music streaming dapp. Polkadot will be the connective tissue for the future decentralized web.

I am surprised this isn't talked about more in this subreddit. Just think about the scalabiltiy. The tech from current chains(ADA, Tezos, ETH, NANO, etc...) can each exist in the Polkadot ecosystem and leverage each others features. Cardano's smart contract platform will be just one of the many smart contract options for devs to use in polkadot, and whatever the next big hit crypto tech the future holds can easily be deployed into the ecosystem for devs to leverage.

At the moment Kusama already has deployed 5 chains and demonstrated cross-network functionality. The 5 chains on Kusama right now are Karura(DEX), Moonriver(Ethereum Smart Contracts), Shiden(Web Assembly + Layer 2 Smart Contracts), Khala(Privacy), and Bifrost(Finance). These chains are operating and in the midst of deploying their applications. In a month or so these chains will be fully functional and things will start to get really exciting!

I hope this post helped you understand Polkadot/Kusama, feel free to correct me if I was wrong about anything

TLDR: Kusama is a faster/innovative version of Polkadot where tech is deployed prior to release on Polkadot. Polkadot provides an efficient means for blockchains to communicate and leverage each others features thus laying the foundation of the future decentralized web.