4 ms·

> So, how does blockchain help? Because the data is entered into the blockchain by automated systems and can be verified with cryptographic keys. You seem to

by 2cb 5y ago

> So, how does blockchain help? Because the data is entered into the blockchain by automated systems and can be verified with cryptographic keys. You seem to have invented a strawman system in which a blockchain replaces a spreadsheet and a human can type whatever they like into it. This is not the suggested use case for blockchains at all, not in enterprise and not anywhere else. The allure is blockchains is in automated smart contracts that don't rely on human honesty and aren't as prone to human error. (I say as prone because, obviously, as with any code, humans still have to write the smart contracts. Security audits are extremely important here especially for enterprise critical applications. But the end result is a publicly accountable ledger and that includes the smart contracts themselves too. So your hypothetical would be impossible unless you hired a black hat. Even in the worst case scenario of a malicious smart contract, however, you'd have permanent public logs of exactly what was done, how, and when, and when its code written by an employee of yours, that makes it quite easy to work out who.)

dmitriid 5y ago
> This is not the suggested use case for blockchains at all, not in enterprise and not anywhere else. The allure is blockchains is in automated smart contracts that don't rely on human honesty and aren't as prone to human error. This is a bunch of words that have no relation to reality. What is the connection between a smart contract and an actual physical good that is being transported? How does a "smart contract" verify any of the following: - that the goods are what they are (eco bananas, not green slime) - that the goods are in the quantity described (1 ton of gold bricks, not 1 kilo) - that the actual provenance of the goods as stated (that country of origin labelling required in the EU is accurate and reflects the actual country of origin) - that the goods have actually been transported as required (refrigerated, heated, on time, within a time range etc.) At every single point in this process you will either have people entering data manually or dozens, if not hundreds, of different systems scanning and entering data.
- qayxc 5y ago
  Smart contracts are perhaps the most oversold part of the whole block chain concept. What works for digital products (service contracts, financial transactions, data delivery) cannot always be mapped to the physical world. There are some interesting concepts that deal with trust and verifiability of data entry, scanning, and sensors, though. They just don't have anything to do with smart contracts or block chain per se, though they borrow some high-level ideas from it. But this an area where block chain in general has no place and other mechanisms (simple rule-based plausibility checking, automated anomaly-detection, etc.) are much more helpful. The physical world requires different approaches.

by 2cb 5y ago

dmitriid 5y ago

> This is not the suggested use case for blockchains at all, not in enterprise and not anywhere else. The allure is blockchains is in automated smart contracts that don't rely on human honesty and aren't as prone to human error. This is a bunch of words that have no relation to reality. What is the connection between a smart contract and an actual physical good that is being transported? How does a "smart contract" verify any of the following: - that the goods are what they are (eco bananas, not green slime) - that the goods are in the quantity described (1 ton of gold bricks, not 1 kilo) - that the actual provenance of the goods as stated (that country of origin labelling required in the EU is accurate and reflects the actual country of origin) - that the goods have actually been transported as required (refrigerated, heated, on time, within a time range etc.) At every single point in this process you will either have people entering data manually or dozens, if not hundreds, of different systems scanning and entering data.

qayxc 5y ago
Smart contracts are perhaps the most oversold part of the whole block chain concept. What works for digital products (service contracts, financial transactions, data delivery) cannot always be mapped to the physical world. There are some interesting concepts that deal with trust and verifiability of data entry, scanning, and sensors, though. They just don't have anything to do with smart contracts or block chain per se, though they borrow some high-level ideas from it. But this an area where block chain in general has no place and other mechanisms (simple rule-based plausibility checking, automated anomaly-detection, etc.) are much more helpful. The physical world requires different approaches.