(Photo: Public Domain, via Atlas Obscura)
I think I get the basic concepts of what blockchain is and the technology behind it:
A ledger (database of transactions) that is distributed (a bunch of us in different locations have it), immutable (once some data is added it can't be removed), and encrypted (secure).
- Given that it's a ledger, you can look back at what has happened before.
- Given that it's distributed, no one person/company controls it.
- Given that it's immutable, you can't go back and change past records.
- Given that it's encrypted, no one can steal the stuff stored unless they have the keys to that specific data.
Despite all those things, it still seems like it's just a database with some simple problems:
- People stink at data entry: Do techies really think that everyone is going to constantly track everything they do, and make sure that someone can go back and see exactly when something happened?
- Theoretical security isn't the same as actual security: the transactions are supposedly private, but the entering of that data and reading it back certainly wouldn't be for many users. People will still use bad passwords.
- It's expensive: a full public ledger would be huge, even if it's distributed, it has to be stored somewhere and hard drives ain't free. Not to mention, the energy usage is massive.
- Technology changes, and what works now won't always work: What happens if the system used to enter the data is incompatible with the system used to read it back?
Why are so many people talking about it as a cure-all? What am I missing? Please help me out in the comments below.
Latest comments (3)
Bruce Scheier writes about blockchain and finds it wanting
Its not just block-chain as of now, its AI as well.
Both are tools designed to do one job well (like a specialised hex screw). But they seem to be duck tapped to a hammer, and being used as a hammer....
😓 which makes it pointless in the context of general purpose hammering, or worse a hazard (what if the duct tape falls out)
One note: energy usage isn't a blockchain problem, it's a proof-of-work problem. Cryptocurrencies (not blockchains) need to enforce resource scarcity somehow, and the first one people worked out involved wasting a lot of power.
That aside, it smells like snake oil because almost every time you hear about it it is snake oil. There are absolutely legitimate use cases for a distributed, immutable ledger, but 99% of the time somebody says "blockchain" it's to impress people who don't understand what a blockchain is.