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0 pointssayurichick9y ago0 comments

really? I read that post as "writing a ToDo app using the blockchain as your datastore versus a traditional database is bad". Well yeah, there are different tools for each job. If everything is a nail and you're only used to a hammer, then of course trying to use this new tool as a hammer will sound silly.

I obviously can't predict the future use cases, but an example off the top of my head might be something like a country issuing social security numbers at birth using the blockchain. Suddenly that "expensive" operation can be seen as extremely cheap given the utility. Go ahead and attack the example, but like I said, just something off the top of my head.

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jdmichal9y ago

As others have mentioned [0], blockchains pay a lot for working in a trustless environment. The real issue is that there's not actually a lot of trustless environments that need such a solution. And there's better solutions in trusting environments.

To take your example, a country issuing identification numbers does not have a trust issue. The people generally trust the government to correctly issue and record an ID number.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13420629

max_9y ago

In my country, no one trusts the government

phpnode9y ago

Why is that particular use case solved better with blockchain than e.g. incrementing a counter in an actual database?

sayurichickOP9y ago

again, the use case I made up is not important. And to argue the use case would be missing the point.

However, for argument's sake. People can counterfeit drivers licenses, or passports. Good luck trying to counterfeit something on the blockchain.

Edit: to expand on this, think of a poor country who doesn't have their technology up to par as a 1st world country. To build the infrastructure to even have that government database is costly versus using an already existing infrastructure to do most of the heavy lifting.

vectorpush9y ago

> again, the use case I made up is not important. And to argue the use case would be missing the point.

This is precisely the point. Blockchains are met with negativity because enthusiasts keep trying to evangelize their merits without having anything to show for it. If blockchains have uses besides cryptocurrencies, point to a practical example or build something and Show HN, but the incessant proselytizing of blockchain vaporware is tiring and makes non-enthusiasts roll their eyes whenever the topic comes up.

> However, for argument's sake. People can counterfeit drivers licenses, or passports. Good luck trying to counterfeit something on the blockchain.

This is another example of how blockchain enthusiasts commonly misunderstand how their technology interacts with the real world. Creating a counterfeit driver's license or passport has nothing to do with computer systems. Today's counterfeiters don't hack into a mutable database and modify identification records, they simply create a physical passport or ID that looks authentic enough to fool a human being who doesn't exist on a blockchain.

The blockchain phenomenon is akin to when a star-eyed developer writes a 10 page blog post about their FPS-RPG-RTS-MMO hybrid with a physics and chemistry simulation system that offers unlimited possibilities! Except the project usually fails after debuting a few misleading demos, and if the project ever escapes the alpha phase, the reality is hugely underwhelming and not at all resembling anything close to what was advertised. That is the blockchain in a nutshell.

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