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I just gave some examples. Tech is early, and the businesses around this new environment still have to be built. It's kind of a chicken-and-egg problem. It's v

I just gave some examples. Tech is early, and the businesses around this new environment still have to be built. It's kind of a chicken-and-egg problem. It's very early, as I stated in another answer on the same comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=philippz#34479955 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=philippz#34479955

anonymouskimmer 4y ago
It may be early, but it's also actively competing with other systems. Those other systems aren't going to just stay stagnant until blockchain is ready.
- philippz 4y ago
  Which other systems? Databases?
LegionMammal978 4y ago
But what sets append-only databases apart from blockchains for any of these examples? Why can't I symmetrically say, "It's very early for append-only DBs, and new businesses around them still have to be built"?
- philippz 4y ago
  But what sets append-only databases apart from pen and paper?
  - LegionMammal978 4y ago
    Easy. Unlike pen and paper, the operator of an append-only database can publicly distribute it in real-time so that interested parties can read it and audit it for consistency. I don't see what the distributed consensus required by a blockchain adds on top of that, unless you're saying that all these applications require a zero-trust source of truth.
    - philippz 4y ago
      > unless you're saying that all these applications require a zero-trust source of truth. Not all of them, of course. It's not a wonder child that aims to solve all of humanity's problems. It'll bring humanity closer, though and make it more efficient in many ways. People always try to look so narrow at it. There are plenty of use cases and attributes (permissionlessness, immutability, zero-trust sources, etc.), and of course, not always all of these count all the time or are even desired. But it allows us to have and apply those as needed in an interoperable way.
      - LegionMammal978 4y ago
        But why do you think that its permissionless and zero-trust properties allow blockchain technology in particular to "bring humanity closer and make it more efficient in many ways", better than other technologies can? In other words, why are these properties so important that a blockchain is to an append-only DB as an append-only DB is to pen and paper, by your own analogy?

anonymouskimmer 4y ago

It may be early, but it's also actively competing with other systems. Those other systems aren't going to just stay stagnant until blockchain is ready.

philippz 4y ago
Which other systems? Databases?

LegionMammal978 4y ago

But what sets append-only databases apart from blockchains for any of these examples? Why can't I symmetrically say, "It's very early for append-only DBs, and new businesses around them still have to be built"?

philippz 4y ago
But what sets append-only databases apart from pen and paper?
- LegionMammal978 4y ago
  Easy. Unlike pen and paper, the operator of an append-only database can publicly distribute it in real-time so that interested parties can read it and audit it for consistency. I don't see what the distributed consensus required by a blockchain adds on top of that, unless you're saying that all these applications require a zero-trust source of truth.
  - philippz 4y ago
    > unless you're saying that all these applications require a zero-trust source of truth. Not all of them, of course. It's not a wonder child that aims to solve all of humanity's problems. It'll bring humanity closer, though and make it more efficient in many ways. People always try to look so narrow at it. There are plenty of use cases and attributes (permissionlessness, immutability, zero-trust sources, etc.), and of course, not always all of these count all the time or are even desired. But it allows us to have and apply those as needed in an interoperable way.
    - LegionMammal978 4y ago
      But why do you think that its permissionless and zero-trust properties allow blockchain technology in particular to "bring humanity closer and make it more efficient in many ways", better than other technologies can? In other words, why are these properties so important that a blockchain is to an append-only DB as an append-only DB is to pen and paper, by your own analogy?