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Having a web3 startup is just as inane as having a mongodb startup. Those technologies don‘t make anything possible that wasn‘t possible before. In any case: W

Having a web3 startup is just as inane as having a mongodb startup. Those technologies don‘t make anything possible that wasn‘t possible before. In any case: We are talking about this buzzwords for ~8 years now. Is there a list of useful web3 offerings by now? Any heavy hitters, killer applications? Anything besides wacky money making schemes like virtual sneakers?

tyingq 4y ago
The only practical thing I can think of is things where businesses have to cooperate on something and pay a third party some amount of money to be the trusted ledger. Like, for example, partnerships to exchange customer loyalty points. But even that has perils, as you could set an exchange rate but somebody has to administer/manage that. And once you're back to a managed ledger, you might as well use contractual terms for trust and a database since a blockchain isn't adding much value.
mightybyte 4y ago
> Having a web3 startup is just as inane as having a mongodb startup. Those technologies don‘t make anything possible that wasn‘t possible before. This is not true. The blockchain was/is a genuine technicalogical advance. It makes things possible that weren't before. From Wikipedia: "The implementation of the blockchain within bitcoin made it the first digital currency to solve the double-spending problem without the need of a trusted authority or central server." Now it's certainly true that, just like MongoDB before it, overzealous people are trying to capitalize on the fad and insert "blockchain" into places where it doesn't make any sense. But there's a very important distinction between that and your statement.
- acdha 4y ago
  That's like saying that it's a technical advance if I make an engine powered by burning dollar bills. Yes, technically it's a thing which did not previously exist before but people do not have the problem of solving double-spending without trusting third-parties. People have problems like paying rent or selling things online — and it's quite conspicuous that when you ask Bitcoin users what they use it for other than speculation, you almost never hear an answer where you couldn't swap PayPal into the same sentence interchangeably. Now, at some point it could be cheaper but that's hardly the revolutionary advance promised in the marketing literature.
dr-detroit 4y ago

tyingq 4y ago

The only practical thing I can think of is things where businesses have to cooperate on something and pay a third party some amount of money to be the trusted ledger. Like, for example, partnerships to exchange customer loyalty points. But even that has perils, as you could set an exchange rate but somebody has to administer/manage that. And once you're back to a managed ledger, you might as well use contractual terms for trust and a database since a blockchain isn't adding much value.

mightybyte 4y ago

> Having a web3 startup is just as inane as having a mongodb startup. Those technologies don‘t make anything possible that wasn‘t possible before. This is not true. The blockchain was/is a genuine technicalogical advance. It makes things possible that weren't before. From Wikipedia: "The implementation of the blockchain within bitcoin made it the first digital currency to solve the double-spending problem without the need of a trusted authority or central server." Now it's certainly true that, just like MongoDB before it, overzealous people are trying to capitalize on the fad and insert "blockchain" into places where it doesn't make any sense. But there's a very important distinction between that and your statement.

acdha 4y ago
That's like saying that it's a technical advance if I make an engine powered by burning dollar bills. Yes, technically it's a thing which did not previously exist before but people do not have the problem of solving double-spending without trusting third-parties. People have problems like paying rent or selling things online — and it's quite conspicuous that when you ask Bitcoin users what they use it for other than speculation, you almost never hear an answer where you couldn't swap PayPal into the same sentence interchangeably. Now, at some point it could be cheaper but that's hardly the revolutionary advance promised in the marketing literature.

dr-detroit 4y ago