Why are there a bunch of random people just hanging out in seemingly the middle of nowhere lol

I’ve heard of some blockchain based systems referred to as decentralized cloud before (including stuff like Sia and Storj, which I guess is what OP wants). I haven’t looked into them that much, but IIUC they push most (all?) controls and so on to the edge. I’m not sure I’d use them though since the networks aren’t super large.