Briefly touching on that chart once again, Item A is the way the internet is now. All of the requests are made from individual users into a central server. You request to Google to search for that new restaurant that opened down the street from your house. The request goes to Google. Google sends back that information to you.
Items B and Item C on the above graph describe ’s technology; it is decentralized and distributed. As wrote in Magazine about the decentralized nature of : “ has no central control: no central repository of information, no central management, and, crucially, no central point of failure.”
However, decentralized and distributed are not to be used interchangeably. Decentralized means that no single one party is in control, and distributed means that transactions are stored across a distributed system of nodes, or electronic devices, that the transaction information or granular pieces of transactional information onto a .
You might not know much about the technology behind famously known as , but even if you don’t know much about it, you should know that some people hail as this cure-all technology, like wisdom oil from a peddler at a traveling show.
Not so fast, . Over the past few years, “investors” have become more keen on realizing that not all companies need a . Kodak, you might have taken it a step too far, but hey old-timer, at least you’re still stepping.
For those that don’t know what I’m talking about, the former giant photograph company Kodak that opened its doors for the first time in 1888, had released a slew of updates that were oriented. The one project, Kashminer, failed miserably. The other project is more sensible as it focuses on based image rights management platform. Public audiences questioned Kodaks choice to use making it a poster child for the “Do you even really need , bro?” movement.
However, still, investors are less keen on what a actually is, and many companies use it as a buzzword or implement it to play catch up with competitors.
My Confession
Before going any further, I must confess that I still learn something new about every single day. I’ve only been working in full-time for a year and a half. In the beginning, I understood in a different way than I do today. And what I expect will probably happen is that I’ll look back on this article in 2 years from now and have myself another laugh.
Here are the two biggest misconceptions I had about .
Misconception #1: All blockchains are decentralized.
Misconception # 2: All blockchains are public.
Truth: Decentralization and privatization of can be thought of almost like an XY Axis whereas the X-axis would be a spectrum of centralization to decentralization, and the y-axis would be a spectrum of private to public. I realize this graph falls short in not describing if a is distributed or the consensus mechanism.
Is this graph a piece of total rubbish? Let me know what you think in the response section below.
At first, I thought all blockchains were decentralized. While that is true for some blockchains, like enterprise blockchains, other blockchains are centralized in nature. For example, an enterprise-level that contains a settlement and clearing mechanism for a large loan from a bank might be private. Only the two parties involved would have permission to view the transactions. That would be a private, centralized . Unless you did it on a network like Celsius and bypassed the centralized third party, that being the bank in this case, and did a peer-to-peer loan. Celsius network is an example of a decentralized, public platform.
Private Versus Public Blockchains
Access to transactions is a keystone difference between permissioned and permissionless ledgers. If you were a $10-billion per quarter accountancy firm that is securely storing information between yourself and a client, then you would want to keep that information private and use a permissioned chain. Then, only you and the parties you give permission to could unlock the specified transaction information.
On the other hand, is an example of a permissionless . Anyone can make a and use the network, and anyone can download the software to verify transactions and mine . Again, ’s is public and decentralized.
So yes, all blockchains are not decentralized. And not all blockchains are public. That silly graph I made might help you understand different types of blockchains a little more. It might not. Again, the chart falls short because it doesn’t address with distribution. However, with distribution the number of nodes will vary if you are talking about enterprise blockchains versus utility blockchains. distribution is not as relevant as privatization and decentralization, so I left it out. Again, the chart also neglects the consensus mechanism, or the technology that incentivizes actors to participate in a trustless system that ensures every party involved gets what they want and plays by the rules.
The misconceptions I had were ones that I’ve seen others have before. Most people think that is synonymous with , but that isn’t true. That misconception might be what makes people such as myself fall under these misconceptions about when first learning about it.
What were some of your early misconceptions about or any technology?
Admittedly, these misconceptions weren’t as bad as the one I had in the late 90s upon logging onto AOL for the first time. I thought that I could start a chat immediately with Michael Jordan. Of course, social media platforms gave rise to this ability, maybe not with the GOAT, but with other players who use the platforms for all sorts of antics. But those platforms will slowly be replaced by their evolutionary predecessors. All great things come to an end.
Published at Fri, 22 Mar 2019 03:55:48 +0000
