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I understood his point to be that the history of successful innovative techs is that they were built in from the ground up by people utilising something because

I understood his point to be that the history of successful innovative techs is that they were built in from the ground up by people utilising something because it was better at a job. E.g. linux for servers, the internet (and it's ongoing growth as an app platform), and so on. Blockchains, on the other hand, have become yet another marketer buzzword like Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Local, Social, and so on. Not to say that these things don't solve problems, but they're picked up as an over-hyped buzzword and forced into many many applications that they just don't belong in. Blockchains are helpful in peer-to-peer consensus, that's basically it. They won't work for real-world contracts (no-one is ever going to turn their house or car deed into a cryptographic token, or honour such a token) or a few other cheesy applications they seem to be getting forced into. It's just marketers who don't understand technology selling words they don't understand to other marketers who don't understand technology.

cocktailpeanuts 9y ago
What was Internet good for when it first came out? Like I said it was nothing more than a novelty fringe culture at best for a long time before it reached critical mass. It's not like I'm working on some bitcoin business or anything but I am offended that you think Bitcoin is the same type of hype as "AI, IoT, etc.". Trust me I'm the biggest hater of the AI hype in 2016-2017 (driven by VCs and BigCos for their own interest). The reason I know these are hypes is because most technical people who actually have been working in these fields know exactly what's possible and what's not, but the non-technical VCs and marketers are driving the "market" (that doesn't exist) thinking that something groundbreaking has suddenly happened. The fact is: nothing groundbreaking has happened. The technology is getting better for sure, but compared to bitcoin these are nothing new. Bitcoin is actually something new and a novel piece of technology, which is different from all the other marketing hypewords you compared it with. At this point I think the chances are 50/50 that it will succeed, but really nobody knows what will happen. Anyone claiming to know the future is being arrogant.
- beaconstudios 9y ago
  I think you misunderstand my point - I'm not talking about bitcoin hype. I'm actually incredibly impressed by the innovation that bitcoin represents. I don't think it's found its niche yet (aside from the obvious black market applications and pointless financial speculation), but it's a real innovation. I'm talking about "X on the blockchain" type startups, e.g. some of the companies on this list: https://medium.com/the-intrepid-review/the-top-10-blockchain-startups-to-watch-in-2016-the-leaders-who-are-changing-the-game-6195606b0d70 https://medium.com/the-intrepid-review/the-top-10-blockchain.... Many of these things are perfectly possible without using blockchains (and some are just egregious users of other buzzwords) but are more likely to get VC investment because they use over-hyped technologies arbitrarily.
- deleted 9y ago
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cocktailpeanuts 9y ago

What was Internet good for when it first came out? Like I said it was nothing more than a novelty fringe culture at best for a long time before it reached critical mass. It's not like I'm working on some bitcoin business or anything but I am offended that you think Bitcoin is the same type of hype as "AI, IoT, etc.". Trust me I'm the biggest hater of the AI hype in 2016-2017 (driven by VCs and BigCos for their own interest). The reason I know these are hypes is because most technical people who actually have been working in these fields know exactly what's possible and what's not, but the non-technical VCs and marketers are driving the "market" (that doesn't exist) thinking that something groundbreaking has suddenly happened. The fact is: nothing groundbreaking has happened. The technology is getting better for sure, but compared to bitcoin these are nothing new. Bitcoin is actually something new and a novel piece of technology, which is different from all the other marketing hypewords you compared it with. At this point I think the chances are 50/50 that it will succeed, but really nobody knows what will happen. Anyone claiming to know the future is being arrogant.

beaconstudios 9y ago
I think you misunderstand my point - I'm not talking about bitcoin hype. I'm actually incredibly impressed by the innovation that bitcoin represents. I don't think it's found its niche yet (aside from the obvious black market applications and pointless financial speculation), but it's a real innovation. I'm talking about "X on the blockchain" type startups, e.g. some of the companies on this list: https://medium.com/the-intrepid-review/the-top-10-blockchain-startups-to-watch-in-2016-the-leaders-who-are-changing-the-game-6195606b0d70 https://medium.com/the-intrepid-review/the-top-10-blockchain.... Many of these things are perfectly possible without using blockchains (and some are just egregious users of other buzzwords) but are more likely to get VC investment because they use over-hyped technologies arbitrarily.
deleted 9y ago
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