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There are two sleights of hand here that make this analogy sound reasonable when it actually isn't. (1) "Buying" a Rolex (or knockoff) vs NFTs - buying a physi

There are two sleights of hand here that make this analogy sound reasonable when it actually isn't. (1) "Buying" a Rolex (or knockoff) vs NFTs - buying a physical (or digital) good gives you privileged access to it. The same is not true of an NFT, which just adds your name next to a pointer in a (decentralized) database. Nothing changes in regard to access to the underlying good unless people decide to build mechanisms on top of the chosen blockchain to artificially enforce access privileges, but you don't need a blockchain for that (cf. skins in CS-GO or stock images one pays for to purchase and download). (2) "Indistinguishable" - with physical goods, that's a perceptual property and when you're talking about knockoffs of luxury goods, it really just means "hard to tell the difference (unless you examine it closely)". With digital media, the way it's been set up with NFTs, indistinguishable means completely identical. There are ways to actually sell protected digital media - e.g. you show a low-res version on a website and only send a full-res version once a purchase is made. But that's also been happening since the internet became a thing and doesn't need blockchains or NFTs either.

carpo 5y ago
Buying a house is the same. It just adds your name onto a title document that is stored in some custom government database. Imagine if there was a global way to register property title and ownership. Imagine if multiple countries used it. How do you think that could change the property market - or any other market that is currently geo-locked or database locked or company locked? We're talking about a decentralized, trustless and immutable proof of ownership for any good. I really don't understand why people focus so much on the images, gaming etc part of it. This tech is just starting with images - it's finding it's feet, perhaps frivolously, but it will end up changing the world when it's used for other things. It's a little shocking actually to see the lack of imagination on HN about a technology that could revolutionize multiple industries.
- heyitsguay 5y ago
  Great idea. I just registered your house on my favorite blockchain. You can leave any furniture you don't want on your way out. If you feel this is an error, please don't resort to any centralized statist mechanisms to resolve this dispute. The issue isn't a lack of imagination on the part of skeptics who actually understand the underlying technical mechanisms behind blockchains. It's a lack of understanding by proponents about how the physical world works and how it can and can't be made to relate to digital comstructs.
  - carpo 5y ago
    Thanks for enlightening me with your knowledge of the blockchain. but please explain how would you "register" it? Why with my "favourite" blockchain? Why can't a centralised state use it, but get the benefits of decentralisation and proof of ownership? Your arguments and lightly veiled ad-hominem attack are actually the point of my initial comment. Imagine that Country A decides to use Blockchain A (which has been around for decades and has proven itself secure) to store its property titles and allow the purchase of property digitally, with full transferal of title and ownership. The government writes a smart contract on that blockchain that facilitates payment, title searches, hooks into other government databases or blockchains for easement information, liens etc. They then, obviously, migrate their existing title information onto the blockchain and distribute the NFT's to the current owners. How do you "register" your fake one? If you can't see how this could change an old and plodding industry like real estate which is surrounded by mountains of paper-shuffling, then yes, you're being unimaginative.

carpo 5y ago

Buying a house is the same. It just adds your name onto a title document that is stored in some custom government database. Imagine if there was a global way to register property title and ownership. Imagine if multiple countries used it. How do you think that could change the property market - or any other market that is currently geo-locked or database locked or company locked? We're talking about a decentralized, trustless and immutable proof of ownership for any good. I really don't understand why people focus so much on the images, gaming etc part of it. This tech is just starting with images - it's finding it's feet, perhaps frivolously, but it will end up changing the world when it's used for other things. It's a little shocking actually to see the lack of imagination on HN about a technology that could revolutionize multiple industries.

heyitsguay 5y ago
Great idea. I just registered your house on my favorite blockchain. You can leave any furniture you don't want on your way out. If you feel this is an error, please don't resort to any centralized statist mechanisms to resolve this dispute. The issue isn't a lack of imagination on the part of skeptics who actually understand the underlying technical mechanisms behind blockchains. It's a lack of understanding by proponents about how the physical world works and how it can and can't be made to relate to digital comstructs.
- carpo 5y ago
  Thanks for enlightening me with your knowledge of the blockchain. but please explain how would you "register" it? Why with my "favourite" blockchain? Why can't a centralised state use it, but get the benefits of decentralisation and proof of ownership? Your arguments and lightly veiled ad-hominem attack are actually the point of my initial comment. Imagine that Country A decides to use Blockchain A (which has been around for decades and has proven itself secure) to store its property titles and allow the purchase of property digitally, with full transferal of title and ownership. The government writes a smart contract on that blockchain that facilitates payment, title searches, hooks into other government databases or blockchains for easement information, liens etc. They then, obviously, migrate their existing title information onto the blockchain and distribute the NFT's to the current owners. How do you "register" your fake one? If you can't see how this could change an old and plodding industry like real estate which is surrounded by mountains of paper-shuffling, then yes, you're being unimaginative.