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> This is fairly niche, perhaps 1% of all interorganizational database applications, but there are certainly cases where it is the right solution. So I persona
by Alex3917 8y ago
> This is fairly niche, perhaps 1% of all interorganizational database applications, but there are certainly cases where it is the right solution.
So I personally think DLT is going to be one of those multi-quadrillion dollar technologies that come around every few hundred years. The real benefit of DLT is that it enables new types of human relationships. So thinking about it in terms of what percentage of your existing databases should be replaced by it isn't going to give an especially impressive result, because by definition your existing databases are going to model your existing relationships.
Think about what percentage of the stuff in your house you would own without the invention of double entry accounting. Unless you happen to have some veggies from the farmer's market or a sweater one of your relatives knit you, the answer is probably 0.00%. It simply isn't possible to manufacture things like the iPhone without double entry accounting, because without double entry it would be impossible to form the sorts of human relationships needed to produce such a complex product. And if we asked someone to take a look at all the stuff in their house a couple hundred years from now, I'm guessing that a similar 0.00 percentage of the stuff they own will have not have been created as the result of DLT.
The fact is that once DLT becomes ubiquitous it will no longer be cost competitive to manufacture and distribute products using only the sorts of relationships and techniques enabled by double entry accounting. And if anyone even tries it's going to be like bringing a knife to a gunfight.
- Jakawao 8y agoI can’t tell if you are being sarcastic or not, so I assume this is a serious comment. Can you share some examples of use cases where DLT is going to be transformative?
- Alex3917 8y agoI mean a good example of the need for DLT is the fact that no one in the country can buy romaine lettuce right now. Does it really make any sense whatsoever that no one in the country can eat lettuce for the next couple months just because one farm got contaminated with E. coli?
- asynchrony 8y agoPutting lies into a blockchain doesn't make them true. Lettuce can still kill you in a post-blockchain society.
- seibelj 8y agoNo, but it isn’t about lying as a matter of business, that would easily be detected and caught in most cases, and a large amount of work to continually lie effectively. If you have employees and machines writing lots of data it’s infeasible to tamper with it in real-time. The tampering comes after the fact when a legal issue arises. The immutable nature of the ledger makes it an improvement over the past by preventing later tampering.
- asynchrony 8y agoSo why not use a central database and allow all stakeholders to replicate and keep their own logs of edits. It would be far more efficient. It would lack a certain buzzword though.
- seibelj 8y agoA blockchain is a database optimized for that use case. Your desire to avoid the word blockchain is because you don’t like the connotations.
- asynchrony 8y agoA blockchain isn't optimal for anything. If it was there should be some evidence of it improving something in the real world, no? Something other than a cult of buzzwords and speculation.
- seibelj 8y agoIt is optimal for situations where you don’t want to trust a central institution. An asset worth $70bil from zero in a decade (Bitcoin) should be considered a successful experiment even if it disappeared tomorrow. Pure computer science, math, and game theory created it, and it’s quite impressive.