Blockchain Doesn't Solve Everything

"Blockchain" is a hot buzzword in the business world, and some companies are trying to cash in on the hype. However, a new report by the National Institute of Standards suggests that blockchain can't necessarily solve all the problems people are throwing it at. Relative to traditional storage systems and databases, blockchain systems have a significant amount of overhead. Existing implementations aren't nearly as immutable as most would suggest, and the decentralization doesn't fully protect data from malicious actors. ITNews published an good flowchart for blockchain use cases, which shows just how specific those use cases really are.

There is a tendency to overhype and overuse most nascent technology. Many projects will attempt to incorporate the technology, even if it is unnecessary. This stems from the technology being relatively new and not well understood, the technology being surrounded by misconceptions, and the fear of missing out. Blockchain technology has not been immune.

But what if you blockchain the blockchain? Thank fix er right up to solve everything.

It was a nice cash grab, but it's pretty useless.

Its the same thing as cloud computing, except 5 years earlier in the throw-shit-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks process.

EODetroit said:

Its the same thing as cloud computing, except 5 years earlier in the throw-shit-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks process.

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There are few, if any, situations where a blockchain makes more sense than a traditional database.

Even the Walmart/IBM partnership to use a 'blockchain' in cold chain management (to create a 'holistic ecosystem' for food tracking!) is still completely dependent on a traditional database. Their 'hyperledger' is literally a centralized database. I guess it generates some nice buzzwords for marketing IBM products. CEO's love them some buzzwords.

I can access all my blockchain-connected IoT devices anywhere by using a simple cloud app on my iOS tablet.

thenapalm said:

I can access all my blockchain-connected IoT devices anywhere by using a simple cloud app on my iOS tablet.

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Can I use a dynamic phablet booting iOS with military grade encryption to create synergistic relationships for my blockchain entangled tech?

Just subscribe to my blockchained cloud blockchain powered by blockchain technology service.
Meh, IT always had buzzwords that were aimed at selling snakeoil to idiots.

Web2.0, SAP, cloud, blockchain...

Interesting that with blockchain you don't remove data. Reminds me a bit of how the universe / physics works. That you have a starting point, then iterate from there.

It's good for storing representational hashes. That's it.

If that doesn't solve your problem, you've been swindled.

Seems to be a solution in the need of a problem to solve, but I akin that to a lot of "emerging" technologies that young people grab a hold of and wave around yelling "its the bestest yet! and you old people need to get out of its way!".

I have witnessed many applications, turned to crap, due to the drive to use emerging technologies where it was not applicable.

BSmith said:

Seems to be a solution in the need of a problem to solve, but I akin that to a lot of "emerging" technologies that young people grab a hold of and wave around yelling "its the bestest yet! and you old people need to get out of its way!".

I have witnessed many applications, turned to crap, due to the drive to use emerging technologies where it was not applicable.

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and a lot of it is.. change.. for the sake of change.

The dial on my washing machine turns to the right... they would want to change it to turn to the left and proclaim OH MY GAWD.. its so new and much better

no.. you just changed the way i turn the knob.. not what it does.

Anyone here remember XML? It burst onto the scene with so much hype, promise and believers it felt like a religion. It was just a markup language. Semi-technical people would talk about XML in meetings and I'd have to ask, "Do you know what XML is? It's just a markup language. It doesn't do anything." They would get angry and start talking about code re-use and the web and XML and blah-blah-blah, and you could tell they didn't know anything about the 'technology' they were talking about.

And frankly, in many cases, XML is just a bunch of excess crap to be transmitted through the web and interpreted by your computer. And so we have XSLT, XML DOM, XML Schema, XML DTD, and XML Ajax so we can use XML to create web pages that we were already making anyway...

XML is useful. It's important to know. And used properly, and explained properly, it should be a 30-minute lecture in a 100-level programming class. But it's just a markup language, it doesn't have a magical ability to solve dataset problems or wash babies.

Hype is about the only thing left that we fabricate here in America. Well that and meth.

Get ready for block chain toilet paper with e-dispenser.

Well at least AI is TOTALLY real, I mean it is completely artificial and self aware, right? And nobody uses that for marketing, so not to piss off the machines.

No... I was going to use my Green Blockchain AI Nano-Carbon App™ to disrupt the housing lending market...