HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

Sure, and it is that generally harmful impulse that probably inspired the creation of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwsuXHA7RA

As a counter example to your implication that blockchain enthusiasts are fanatics, I offer my opinion that centralized tech is the right choice in many cases. For context, I'm the organizer of the Silicon Valley Ethereum meetup[1] and am hopeful that blockchains and related distributed technology will have a big impact on society. Many compare the rise of blockchain tech to the rise of the Internet; I think blockchain tech is in the protocol development stage (1970s, maybe 80s), and that it will take 5 to 25 years for the tech to evolve to the point that average person will use it (90s and 2000's).

For context, in the cryptocurrency world, often the word maximalist is used to refer to hardcore tech evangelicals; so there are bitcoin maximalists and blockchain maximalists. Even though I am naturally a skeptic and not a maximalist, I don't want to discourage them. Yes, they're crazy[2]; a part of that craziness is a hope for a better future that I find refreshing.

[1] http://www.meetup.com/EthereumSiliconValley/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwsuXHA7RA

⬐ maxerickson

Are there really any successes beyond Bitcoin?

(which I would call a qualified success, I think it is handy for a small group of people more than it is really having any impact on society)

⬐ erikpukinskis

How do you measure impact on society?

⬐ maxerickson

If you are just holding up a small claim of success to make your grand claim seem less silly the specifics of it don't matter a lot.

⬐ erikpukinskis

Ok! I thought you wanted to talk about it.

⬐ maxerickson

I do, but I'm interested in hearing about anything anybody thinks made an impact, not in arguing about what the rules are for making impact.

⬐ erikpukinskis

I think if one person was able to send money to another country without paying much of a fee, then it had an impact.

⬐ None

None

⬐ heliumcraft

IMO It's premature to look for successes at this stage (try 5 years from now), there is a lot that needs to be done in the space (namely in terms of scalability) before it can be ready for general use. Only recently the decentralized storage projects are coming into some sort of Beta (Ethereum's Swarm, Storj, Maidsafe, IPFS, etc..), distributed computing projects such as golem are just getting started, and more work is still in progress to make blockchains more practical, sharding, speed, etc..

⬐ wpietri

Turning to your comparison to the rise of the Internet, I think you're misunderstanding why the internet took so long to go mainstream. In the 70s and 80s, almost nobody had the hardware, and when they did, leased lines were outrageously expensive. But anybody who did get connected found immediate utility via email, file transfer, chat, message boards, and games. The software was immediately useful to average people. And that immediate utility was what drove Internet adoption.

I'm glad that you enjoy maximalists, and whatever they do it's certainly no skin off my nose. But you might consider that hype can harm technology adoption. Reasonable people argue that Google Glass's giant smoking crater set AR back. And the hype and crash of the Segway did no favors for the more immediate uses of that technology, like Kamen's wheelchairs.

I'd also point out that however much Jobs sung the praises of the crazy ones in ads, he rarely let hype run ahead of consumer utility for his products. Crazy things stayed in the lab, and were polished until they actually worked for real people. As Jobs said, real artists ship. Personally, I'd love to see more of that ethos from the blockchain world.

⬐ wpietri

That was not my implication. The point is that evangelical fundamentalists occur in may contexts, and that whenever it does, those people should be ignored. Christianity is one of those contexts, and I was explicit that there are other, more reasonable kinds of Christian.

⬐ nkkar

I see this timeline comparison very often and it seems to me very hand wavy. Sure, it's a nice narrative, but I don't see any real reasons why this 'pattern' from 70s to 00s should repeat itself. We're talking 30 odd years here. That we got here because of a series of logical steps is already quite a statement without extending it to the future! (I borrow Nassim's Black Swan perspective here) In hindsight it's easy to say that this happened because of that, and so on, and I'm not sure this automagically extends to blockchain related things. If we're set on talking about 5 to 25yrs, could you share your vision sans historical comparison? Otherwise, or additionally, could you share your opinion on what the more immediate potential wins of bitcoin/ethereum et al are?

⬐ chrispeel

Here's a guess at a timeline

* 1-4 years from now: we have a robust scalable blockchain from someone, maybe Ethereum. This is essential for anything big to follow.

* 2-5 years from now: we get a robust identity and reputation system. Or likely multiple reputation and identity systems

* 3-6 years from now: blockchain tech moves beyond startup and incubator stage with a few widely used apps. Maybe intl money transfer, a decentralized social network, or decentralized AirBnB.

* 10-25 years from now: the things that are referred to in the OP article above by Joseph Lubin occur.

You asked about 'immediate wins'; for Ethereum it is mind-share among developers. At present Ethereum is the place to learn smart contracts and to experiment with code.

Apple is the -first operating system in the world- that can control what you can and cannot install on the physical hardware device you own. You literally have no choice but to jailbreak your own phone, which in itself has questionable legal grounds. People doing the jailbreaking are being hunted down like criminals. Being measured is how we got here, now it's time to speak out.

"The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." -Apple http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwsuXHA7RA

⬐ gibybo

Apple isn't an OS, so I assume you're talking about iOS. iOS is pretty far from the first OS to control what you can install on it. In fact it was one of the first phone OS's that let you install anything at all.

⬐ megaman821

...unless you count a decade of Palm and Windows Mobile letting you install apps.

⬐ gibybo

I know, which is why I said one of the first rather than the first. Prior to iOS though, the vast majority of phones did not allow you to install apps. Palm and Windows Mobile had a very thin slice of the market.

Steve Jobs reading the Crazy Ones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwsuXHA7RA

⬐ cicloid

Every time I see this commercial it inspires me to go forward. I would love to see Apple embrace the campaign again

⬐ paulitex

They should air this one, with Steve narrating it.

⬐ aaronbrethorst

I really hope they do. It would be a very appropriate coda.

⬐ tilt

Original: "Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?"