Blockchain basics & how it could change everything

One topic I recently dove into in my continuing tech education is blockchain.

It was a little rough getting off the ground. Like many, I had a vague idea what Bitcoin is, that it's supposed to be anonymous & secure, but didn't really understand how or why that worked. I watched a couple videos on it that glossed over the basics & left me with more questions than answers.

I recently found two resources that helped a ton with the basics, and helped me to understand why people call blockchain the biggest thing since the invention of the Internet.

If you listen to software development podcasts, you should listen to SE-Radio. They cover a broad range of technologies & stay topical. They had an episode (1 hour) last month on blockchain, where developer Kishore Bhatia talks with Kieren James-Lubin at BlockApps. In addition to the basics--what's a block? what is mining?--it really clarified where "blockchain" and Bitcoin stop & Ethereum starts, & why we should care about the blockchain implementation Ethereum.

TED Talks has a few good blockchain talks. I found this one by Don Tapscott (20 minutes) very helpful. Everything I've seen on blockchain drops at least a couple suggestions that get me excited about how revolutionary this could be; this TED Talk spent maybe half the video on that & it was jaw-dropping. You can also search for "ted talks blockchain" & find some TEDx Talks on YouTube, though I haven't watched these yet.

I believe all software developers, if not everyone, owes it to themselves to spend at least a few minutes to understand this technology & see how it could change the world, before it does.

2 Comments

  • Reply

    If you've ever had to transfer money between banks, you know it takes nearly a week to do it. If you are lucky it will happen in a few days. All the while behind the scenes the are making profits with your money from the interest it generates. Very questionable practice. With crypto it is instant and really feels like the way it should be. It's like the internet in the 90s when you could really tell its promise. The fast transfer was all I needed to see to get onboard. :P

    Also good to see MSFT providing a lot of support as well. Of course. :)

  • Reply

    Did you watch Don Tapscott's video? He highlights that exact scenario, but puts it in a far larger context than just, "I'm annoyed that my bank makes me wait forever." The way he explained it made that one of the moments that dropped my jaw.

    Thanks for the comment!

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