Posted on 01/10/2018 4:30:19 PM PST by bananaman22
Blockchain is more than just a buzzword. It truly has the potential to turn entire industries on their heads.
In many ways, the energy sector has been slow to adopt this new tech, but things are finally beginning to change.
As ‘Big Energy’ begins to catch up, many market leaders and investors are looking towards blockchain for a more transparent and efficient energy future. Just one of these capabilities would be to enable the energy industry to adopt a peer-to-peer trading model, completely revolutionizing the way energy is bought and sold.
(Excerpt) Read more at oilprice.com ...
Me, being part Luddite, have to ask. Is block chain the same as the “cloud” on steroids?
I'll let you know, ... if I ever find a description of blockchain that isn't complete gibberish.
Hope this can help
https://www.finextra.com/blogposting/12378/how-i-explained-blockchain-to-my-grandmother
They are two different things, based upon two different concepts. Clouds are based upon centralization, block chains are decentralized. Clouds are for large storage and systems, block chains are for the accurate management of events and transactions.
No.
Cloud translates to “someone else’s server”. Blockchain translates to “3rd party verified and non-reputable (cant deny) ledger.
“ENRON”
Ask any of these block chain people to explain it in a simple paragraph.
It’s all nonsense. It’s like Total Quality Management.
It’s all nonsense. It’s like Total Quality Management.
The average person probably doesn't have to know a lot about it. However, in terms of game changers, if fully adopted, it probably ranks up there with the invention of the phone or computer.
Those who recognize and get in early have the opportunity for wild profits. There are tremendous risks, mitigated as time goes on and the field stabilizes.
Ignore or mock it at your peril. This is a valuable and useful tool.
Sorry, no help at all.
First, in what way is this system superior to the completely effortless way I now spend money, receive money, make transactions, and keep financial records?
Second, blockchain advocates often claim it will be much cheaper than banks and credit cards. My first thought - who is storing and verifying all this data for free, and why should I trust them?
Sorry, no help at all.
Same here. Still 100% gibberish.
This explanation makes it sound like blockchain not only depends on every human being having astronomical computing power, but astronomically increasing astronomical computing power. I'm also wondering how well this works in an environment where identity theft is rampant and cybersecurity is in such a state of decrepitude that even most CPUs in common use are compromised. Blockchain (whatever it is) is only of interest if it solves the problem of nonexistent cybersecurity—as opposed to depending on cybersecurity that we don't have.
I once read a physics book, intended for the general public, that tried to explain string theory. Blockchain seems to be in the same category.
I have been involved with computers since I wrote my first program in 1965. And because of that, I pay for everything with cash, have no credit card, and keep a physical bank passbook in which every transaction is recorded in indelible ink.
When you trust a computer, you are trusting everyone. who might have access to that computer, past, present, or future. In my book, that makes you rather foolish.
Yes, you can describe it as an unregulated, cloud-based currency.
LOL... did you call in your post with a rotary phone?
Auditing software? Can you eat it? Does it have nutritional value? Can it produce energy? Wheres the beef? 5th level abstraction of transactional process? Oh...its done by computer...it must be real useful. So one big EMP and we go back to caveman days?
Blockchain is an entirely different concept - it's an Internet-based, open-source, [usually encrypted] flat DATABASE (called "ledger") which is distributed / replicated among many computers on the Internet for the purpose of keeping records, such as financial or other transactions between parties on the same blockchain network.
Because it's "flat" and relatively inefficient to access (traverse the records to verify the parties and data to "clear" the transaction) it grows very fast in size and generally provides no benefit relative to regular databases currently in use for such purposes, like various versions of SQL or newer like MongoDB or MariaDB and non-structured DB systems like Hadoop.
For financial purposes transactions over blockchain could be costly compared to regular debit transactions (with no credit risk) and much slower compared to such as Visa and Mastercard, but it might have limited uses when database is going to have a finite runtime and size, though it still difficult to imagine that it would give any advantage over regular database with transactions that could be encrypted for security if needed. In other words, blockchains have an inherent scalability and processing speed problem which is getting worse as the database / ledger gets bigger with use.
A few articles explaining advantages and many disadvantages of blockchain, mainly by discussing case use of Bitcoin which is built on it (though not limited to Bitcoin, as some new blockchain systems are trying to improve on certain aspects of Bitcoin blockchain, such as security and speed) :
Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain - CNBC, by Kai Stinchcombe, 2017 December 26
What Is Bitcoin Good For? - BL, by Megan McCardle, 2017 December 22
Bitcoin Is an Implausible Currency - BL, by Megan McCardle, 2017 December 27
There are a lot of excitement around blockchain, especially in financial industry, mostly due to encryption and potentially faster debit "clearance" mechanism, and a lot of experimental small-scale trials among several banks, delivering "proof-of-concept" (i.e., it can work) but it's a long way, if ever, from actually deploying it on a wide-scale commercial trusted system which is generally pretty well served by existing systems, even including anonymity of transactions.
Thank you for the education.
Thanks for your very helpful reply.
I’ll read your links tomorrow when I have more time.
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