Blockchain Report in the Harvard Business Review. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
I found this article in my newsfeed and found it interesting, not because of the capacities which it shows the blockchain technology to have, but for the pointing out of its deficiencies and for the potential abuses it offers.
The full article is here: Harvard Business Review
The two authors are interesting guys:
Michael J. Casey is the author of The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and the Blockchain Are Challenging the Global Economic Order. He’s a senior advisor at the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative and a partner with Agentic Group.
Pindar Wong is the chairman of VeriFi Ltd, a discreet Internet financial infrastructure consultancy and founder of OBOR.IO, which pioneered the ‘Belt and Road Blockchain’. He is a Bitcoin protocol enthusiast and chairs ScalingBitcoin.org.
I have highlighted a few of the paragraphs which caught my eye.
Please note the word 'selective'
In a nutshell, this is a global system for mediating trust and selective transparency. Its advocates say it will take the internet’s empowering potential to its next level.
The use of blockchain technology gets a little closer to the spectre of Big Brother:
"But this technology’s potential traceability and automation benefits don’t just pertain to things; it could also keep human beings in check. Staff and supervisors from different vendors can be granted special, cryptographic permissions, which, when placed into a blockchain environment, would appear as unique, traceable identifiers — preferably encrypted, to protect the employee’s personal information."
A precision parts maker, Moog Inc., has set up a specialised service called Veripart. The aim of this service is well explained by one of its Directors, James Regenor:
“How can the maintenance crew on a U.S. aircraft carrier have absolute confidence that the software file they downloaded to 3D print a new part for a fighter jet hasn’t been hacked by a foreign adversary?” This underscores one of the most compelling arguments for blockchain technology: Without its solution to the trust problem, the sophisticated, decentralized, internet of things–driven economy that many are projecting might well be impossible.
There are the lurking figures of the corporate world too. They will, predictably, find paths for less than candid practices:
But, inevitably, private, closed ledgers run by a consortium of companies will also arise, as their members seek to protect market share and profits.
There are some aspects of commerce which the blockchain simply cannot overcome. Such instances involve interpretation; nowhere can interpretation be more stark than in the field of Law.
A complex array of regulations, maritime law, and commercial codes governs rights of ownership and possession along the world’s shipping routes and their multiple jurisdictions. Marrying that old-world body of law, and the human-led institutions that manage it, with the digitally defined, dematerialized, automated and denationalized nature of blockchains and smart contracts will be difficult.
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Compelling arguments are what crypto-currency needs! Rock on and thanks for the post! #namaste
Buying power would be a compelling argument - the new AdsCoins are an interesting development - there would seem to be a future problem with the huge value swings against fixed and variable fiat related costs - clearly if costs are AdsCoin related there is an in-built hedge of sorts.
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nice find!
Thank you. It is a very interesting article from a lay view point. It has a handy blockchain explanation as well.
Great post! I hope to see more great content from elsewhere concentrated here on Steemit in the future.
I have been looking into Fabric and the Hyperledger project lately and I wonder about the little people. Sure, IBM, shipping magnates, Walmart and all the big dogs will make vast fortunes off blockchain technology. It's guaranteed. But I don't see the same opportunities for the little guy. What's he going to do with a 4000 node blockchain? I would like to see more opportunities like Steemit for the average man.
That's what I loved about Steemit - the opportunity for the small time writer or artist. The implementation of the Internet provided great opportunity for the small fry. It leveled the playing field. If I only gained the vast knowledge the Internet provides, it would be a blessing of unimaginable scope. Nonetheless, I hope to see more benefits to the common man from blockchain technology than just higher profitability for the big dogs.
Thank you for your reply. There are some great opportunities. I have written several pieces about what we should be looking to do within certain industries. Steemit is just a home from where we should be going out to work!
My concern due to my observations (I am older than most here) - is that many of the techys are serving the blockchain rather than using the blockchain to serve.
I agree! There are many people who view blockchain as a panacea for the world's problems. I'm sure you have run into many of them along the way. Blockchain provides novel solutions to certain engineering problems and should be used only if there is not a more efficient solution.
Where are these pieces? I and others I know would read these.
Apologies for the slow reply! I have been tied up in an in depth discussion about HF17 which is 5 days away and will lead to a catastrophic whale binge! There are a few industries which stick their hands up in terms of blockchain development. Here are a few about which I have written. I am developing a team of people to carry these out. I am not remotely technical - I am a business manager. Follow up if you feel you can and want to get involved.
Posts - the last two are really about the way in which we should be able to experience steemit - I have a barrel load more of these applications:
Music
Steem economy - games, plus
Steemit Console
Niche
Thanks for your 4 posts, I read them all. What caught my attention first was:
I have thought of similar ideas. The console being an augmented reality headset, for example, that displays smartmoney prices and it could feature a STEEM up-to-the-minute price display. One could customize the features. Perhaps, you would want a stream of new Steemit posts, air temperature with thermostat controls, kid monitor, phone or whatever. I'm saving my pennies to get into this. The technology is here, but a little pricey for me and then there is the time factor.
The next thing that caught my attention was your posting style and a similarity that I perceived to this recent post of mine: https://steemit.com/technology/@transhuman/what-is-the-most-important-information-to-store-in-your-dna
I am curious how the post strikes you, pro or con. If you have the time, It's about a 4 minute read...
How about paying people to listen to your music? There is a website that is a step in that direction that I visit:
https://www.musicxray.com/
I registered as a fan and they pay me $.10 every time I listen to an artist's song and vote on it. You might find it interesting because you are such a music fan. Dan Larimer was able to come up with the Steemit system for rewarding writing content. All we need is a good system for rewarding musical content.
What styles or genres of music do you listen to or what are your musical preferences? I'm a musician and would be interested in your response.
I have been following the blockchain/music thing and would like to be a part of that paradigm shift. So I also ask your question:
Thanks for your interest. I like where this is going and would be interested in seeing more applications...
Very engaging @transhuman, thank you! On the console idea, we should have this today. The steemit platform is not REALLY a platform - it is the core component, yes, but there are then about 7 or 8 key sites for metrics and the functionality such as VOIP and Direct messaging are spread across these - what this shows is that the platform is technology driven. Why is it not user-centric? The answer is that the technologists are praising technology rather than getting technology to serve human beings.
I liked your post very much, especially as I find my long-term memory is still excellent but my short-term memory is noticeably weaker as I am an old git!
I was interested that you focussed solely on data storage in terms of memory. One of the things which I find is more useful is the RAM side of memory. Data storage is cheap. The capacity of well managed thought processes is way more valuable. I am constantly astounded at how education nowadays teaches people how to pass exams rather than how to think. That said, access to data in remote locations is interesting. Long form radio waves as used by submarines would hold some value, I would have thought.
Music - everything - I listen to a lot of Old school punk, Mixcloud, and classical. Music is an old friend upon whom I can rely!
The concept of music on steemit will take several steps. I think we could have 8 channels running now. The first efforts were a failure - why? Shit music!
If you are serious about being able to deliver on stuff, you are welcome. I am very circumspect about inviting people into the circle though because ... I am far too liberal with information and invariably people grab it, try to rip me off and make a mess of it.
I am not saying that you will. My reply here I hope shows that I like your approach and enthusiasm. I can show you the short and medium term plans and you can join in but ... why? I want to be able to say yes!!!
Regarding:
As an idea man myself, I can empathize because that is a familiar feeling I have experienced myself, and then not being given credit for the idea after they run off with it. 😖
Now, at the age of 68, I see things from a different perspective. I don't have the time and money to fight for patents and do what is required to produce all the products I can dream up, let alone kick back and enjoy the fruits of my efforts. At this stage of the game, I am very content to put great ideas out there just to see them flourish.
I see the cell as a turing machine with the DNA containing the code (ROM) that makes the proteins which are the physical mechanisms that constitute the cell; ribisomes, membrane, signaling pathways etc. Without getting overly technical, yes, RAM is important and synthetic biology is making progress in the area of logic gates in cells. I wanted to limit the scope of the article and focus on what to carry around in the brain. To sum up, your response anticipates the next step in synthetic biology; the cells-as-microprocessor stage.
What is an example of a challenge or problem you are facing, say in the music area where you need some creative problem solving? It doesn't have to be in the music area, but maybe only blockchain related. Let's see if we can come up with a solution. I'd like to explore this avenue further...
This post is out of sequence due to exceeding nesting limits.
Regarding:
As an idea man myself, I can empathize because that is a familiar feeling I have experienced myself, and then not being given credit for the idea after they run off with it. 😖
Now, at the age of 68, I see things from a different perspective. I don't have the time and money to fight for patents and do what is required to produce all the products I can dream up, let alone kick back and enjoy the fruits of my efforts. At this stage of the game, I am very content to put great ideas out there just to see them flourish.
I see the cell as a turing machine with the DNA containing the code (ROM) that makes the proteins which are the physical mechanisms that constitute the cell; ribisomes, membrane, signaling pathways etc. Without getting overly technical, yes, RAM is important and synthetic biology is making progress in the area of logic gates in cells. I wanted to limit the scope of the article and focus on what to carry around in the brain. To sum up, your response anticipates the next step in synthetic biology; the cells-as-microprocessor stage.
What is an example of a challenge or problem you are facing, say in the music area where you need some creative problem solving? It doesn't have to be in the music area, but maybe only blockchain related. Let's see if we can come up with a solution. I'd like to explore this avenue further...
Well, I think you should come and have a look - I am 54, so we can compare short-term memories!
Are you on Facebook? If I can find you there, once we are officially friends, I can invite you to my little project group, comprising about 7 people right now. It is about a week old - so very fresh. It is my repository of ideas for steemit. There are various projects in various states of development.
Once I get you there, I can show you around the documents you will want to see and then you can see where you would like to play!!
Sounds exciting...
I'll bet mine is shorter than yours.
I'm on FB, but it is just an accidental account I have in case I need a FB account. I have done most of my stuff on Google+ and Twitter, but we can meet on FB. My page is here.
It's 2AM here, so I think I'll get some sleep. I'll catch up with you tomorrow. What time zone do you call home?
I look forward to learning about your project group...