Yes, he's talking about them at the level of abstraction that is 'things that persist data' You wouldn't compare a file to a database to make a point, would yo

Yes, he's talking about them at the level of abstraction that is 'things that persist data' You wouldn't compare a file to a database to make a point, would you? If the comparison fitted the abstraction level the conversation was at, absolutely. For most purposes that have ever been implemented on a blockchain, a database of some kind would just be a far superior persistance backend. The mistake is thinking that interesting underlying technology gives something de facto justification for existing in 'user' space when it does not.