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Hey good questions! Because you can create new experiences for users. Bitcoin can be thought of as a shared database for apps to interact. Assets and code can b

Hey good questions! Because you can create new experiences for users. Bitcoin can be thought of as a shared database for apps to interact. Assets and code can be reused and built on top of each other, leading to stronger network effects. Game are one obvious use case, but people are coming up with others. Imagine bringing items from one game to another, or creating worlds that build on top of each other. Something like Ready Player One.

f6v 6y ago
I’ve heard this one many times, but I just don’t get it. Are there good examples where apps built on any kind of blockchain had massive success BECAUSE they are using blockchain?
- yunesj 6y ago
  Maybe proof of existence (document certification), decentralized DNS, provably fair gambling, and prediction markets?
  - f6v 6y ago
    I mean, I've heard this before and even entertained an idea of building couple apps on blockchain myself. But are there any real-world apps which were 1. adopted by a large number of users 2. adopted by users specifically because of blockchain? I just never seen anything like that and Ethereum has been around long enough.
  - smt88 6y ago
    > Maybe proof of existence (document certification) This is interesting, but I'd still want to know a specific. Most document authentication works fine with a centralized source of truth. It could be a postal service (the postmark proves a document was mailed at a certain time), Docusign, Google Drive, or just plain email. > decentralized DNS DNS is already decentralized. You can choose whom you trust, or you can build your own DNS database and just trust yourself. Perhaps you meant "decentralized domain registries" (like the way Verisign manages official .com registrations). That's more interesting, but it would also be terrifying. A bug or 51% attack could kill your entire company if you trusted that registry. I suspect you would also get some sophisticated attempts at buying up millions or billions of the domain names in order to sell them later at a profit, which essentially centralizes all those names. > provably fair gambling Why would you need a blockchain for this? Couldn't you cryptographically sign each round of bets without a blockchain? > prediction markets No idea what the application is here, but curious for your explanation.
    - ur-whale 6y ago
      DNS is most certainly not decentralized. As proof, I offer the number of domains that have been seized by random <insert 3 letter agency here> censoring authorities over the course of the internet's existence.
      - smt88 6y ago
        That's only because the ecosystem cooperated, because it's all run by govt-adjacent entities. You and your DNS provider are free to ignore those seizures if you want. You could have a whole network of people who ignores those kinds of things. Maybe someone could call it the Dark Web, and it could be 20+ years old.
loceng 6y ago
You just described the internet, no? Just without the network effects associated with being financially incentivized to use Bitcoin et al once someone buys into the system - which is why it's often associated with Pyramid/MLM schemes, no? Epic Games with Unreal Engine/Fortnite seems to be on the verge of creating a Ready Player One ecosystem, and there will be no need for them to utilize Bitcoin - however an immutable blockchain database could be ideal, there could also be a legal framework they create and then democratically elected government laws in place to further that stance (enforce it with centralized authority if necessary).
- SnowProblem 6y ago
  What the Internet lacks is consensus, or a source of truth. It's especially true for assets that evolve over time. There's no place to say "I did X" with my item in a way every other app agrees happened, without relying on a central party, and this is really what Bitcoin solves. Even for static content, servers go down and URLs can't be relied upon, which hinders interopability.
  - loceng 6y ago
    The internet is a neutral platform, you get to decide and determine what sources - providers - you trust or don't trust. You're saying you trust Bitcoin as a source of truth - there certainly are other "sources of truth" but you're not listing them or haven't looked, likely in part because you're financially motivated and vested into Bitcoin? Your example of "servers go down" - this problem has been solved long ago with redundancy on the internet, so isn't that a moot argument point?
    - SnowProblem 6y ago
      In order to have stuff that can be passed around, whether digitally or physically, people have to agree on who owns what, in what state, and where it is. In the real world, government and physics basically do this for us. In the digital world, private companies and their apps are usually the ones setting the rules and hosting the services, and as you said, you can trust them or not. But blockchains offer another option - to have logic and assets that exist independently. Yes, we have to agree that Bitcoin or whatever is that thing, but network effects should pull apps together, just like today we are on one Internet and not many intranets. I don't really like theorizing about it though. This just has to be demonstrated, and people have to want to use these apps. Curious to know what you think of Run!

f6v 6y ago

I’ve heard this one many times, but I just don’t get it. Are there good examples where apps built on any kind of blockchain had massive success BECAUSE they are using blockchain?

yunesj 6y ago
Maybe proof of existence (document certification), decentralized DNS, provably fair gambling, and prediction markets?
- f6v 6y ago
  I mean, I've heard this before and even entertained an idea of building couple apps on blockchain myself. But are there any real-world apps which were 1. adopted by a large number of users 2. adopted by users specifically because of blockchain? I just never seen anything like that and Ethereum has been around long enough.
- smt88 6y ago
  > Maybe proof of existence (document certification) This is interesting, but I'd still want to know a specific. Most document authentication works fine with a centralized source of truth. It could be a postal service (the postmark proves a document was mailed at a certain time), Docusign, Google Drive, or just plain email. > decentralized DNS DNS is already decentralized. You can choose whom you trust, or you can build your own DNS database and just trust yourself. Perhaps you meant "decentralized domain registries" (like the way Verisign manages official .com registrations). That's more interesting, but it would also be terrifying. A bug or 51% attack could kill your entire company if you trusted that registry. I suspect you would also get some sophisticated attempts at buying up millions or billions of the domain names in order to sell them later at a profit, which essentially centralizes all those names. > provably fair gambling Why would you need a blockchain for this? Couldn't you cryptographically sign each round of bets without a blockchain? > prediction markets No idea what the application is here, but curious for your explanation.
  - ur-whale 6y ago
    DNS is most certainly not decentralized. As proof, I offer the number of domains that have been seized by random <insert 3 letter agency here> censoring authorities over the course of the internet's existence.
    - smt88 6y ago
      That's only because the ecosystem cooperated, because it's all run by govt-adjacent entities. You and your DNS provider are free to ignore those seizures if you want. You could have a whole network of people who ignores those kinds of things. Maybe someone could call it the Dark Web, and it could be 20+ years old.

loceng 6y ago

You just described the internet, no? Just without the network effects associated with being financially incentivized to use Bitcoin et al once someone buys into the system - which is why it's often associated with Pyramid/MLM schemes, no? Epic Games with Unreal Engine/Fortnite seems to be on the verge of creating a Ready Player One ecosystem, and there will be no need for them to utilize Bitcoin - however an immutable blockchain database could be ideal, there could also be a legal framework they create and then democratically elected government laws in place to further that stance (enforce it with centralized authority if necessary).

SnowProblem 6y ago
What the Internet lacks is consensus, or a source of truth. It's especially true for assets that evolve over time. There's no place to say "I did X" with my item in a way every other app agrees happened, without relying on a central party, and this is really what Bitcoin solves. Even for static content, servers go down and URLs can't be relied upon, which hinders interopability.
- loceng 6y ago
  The internet is a neutral platform, you get to decide and determine what sources - providers - you trust or don't trust. You're saying you trust Bitcoin as a source of truth - there certainly are other "sources of truth" but you're not listing them or haven't looked, likely in part because you're financially motivated and vested into Bitcoin? Your example of "servers go down" - this problem has been solved long ago with redundancy on the internet, so isn't that a moot argument point?
  - SnowProblem 6y ago
    In order to have stuff that can be passed around, whether digitally or physically, people have to agree on who owns what, in what state, and where it is. In the real world, government and physics basically do this for us. In the digital world, private companies and their apps are usually the ones setting the rules and hosting the services, and as you said, you can trust them or not. But blockchains offer another option - to have logic and assets that exist independently. Yes, we have to agree that Bitcoin or whatever is that thing, but network effects should pull apps together, just like today we are on one Internet and not many intranets. I don't really like theorizing about it though. This just has to be demonstrated, and people have to want to use these apps. Curious to know what you think of Run!