In this article series about “Why your business needs to be on the blockchain” I have written about the five core elements of the blockchain, which make it a “trusted entity” but now I would like to discus why that’s going to be important.
As we look back through time we see different technologies that had monumental effects on society by filling a need or solving a problem. One such technology which comes to mind is the printing press. Before the printing press books were written and bound by hand, and copies were handwritten copies. People who could find and buy books containing knowledge of math, history, science and business were at a great advantage over people with no access to books and no access to knowledge. The printing press made knowledge available to all. It solved the problem of so many people and so few books. It filled the knowledge gap.
The next thing that comes to mind is the Steem Engine. It was a huge advance in technology in its time because a Steem locomotive was much more powerful then a horse and it never needed sleep. You just kept adding wood or coal to its furnace and water and it power the train which allowed people, materials and money to be transported over vast distances rapidly. It also power great machines which -lowed fields for crops, dug big holes in the earth and provided power for other industrial processes replacing manpower and horsepower with Steempower. It solved the problem of not enough manpower to get jobs done, and helped eliminate the need for large numbers of unskilled laborers, large factories could be constructed and towns and cities very far apart could be connected for commerce. It solved the problem of not enough power and filled the power gap.
The last great technological invention of recent times is the internet. It connects people from one end of the planet to another in seconds. People 10,000 miles apart can have a video phone call looking at each other’s faces and exchanging information about friends, family, and also knowledge and commerce details are instantly transmitted. You can take educational classes at Harvard while staying home in China, you can order chocolate from Belgium in Japan by looking at pictures and ordering online. The internet has solved the problem of great distances for both families, educational institutions, governments and businesses. But the problem with all the webpages and databases on the internet is that the information can be wrong, it can be changed and you don’t know if you can trust it. The problem of trusting people we do business with or receive information from remains. The stories of scams, swindles, thievery and other dishonest acts are know in every nation and translated into every language. Everyone knows not to trust Nigerian Bank Transfer letters, emails or texts. The problem with the internet now is trust.
So far, we are dependent on trusted intermediaries to verify the information and insure we are not cheated. It seems every transaction has three parties, someone who wants to trust someone, someone who wants to be trusted and a intermediary or neutral third party who verifies the transaction and collects a fee. These intermediaries are commonly called middlemen and the function they perform is necessary and the fees they charge are significant. I have always thought it odd, that we assume we cannot trust the other party in a business transaction and no matter how many times we do business with the same person, in general, we use a trusted intermediary.
I believe that the next technological advance we will see following close on the heels of the internet by 25 years is upon us. It is called the blockchain. The blockchain, as I discussed in this first Post has five elements which allow trust less transactions without trusted intermediaries or middlemen. This greatly improves the speed of the transaction and provides a permanent record of the transaction. If your business can perform transactions at the speed of text messages, confirm payments, confirm product shipping times and provide verifiable tracking of products, you will possesses an incredible edge over your competitors. Smaller advantages then that have changed business history and created dominant forces. In the future blockchain will become the standard of verification. It is already being used in a centralized for for many businesses to track purchases, production, shipping and other processes with objective measurable points.
The next big thing, the blockchain is here. It’s a disruptive force similar to the internet, which killed many colossal “brick and mortar” businesses like BlockBuster and Borders Bookstores in America and many tradition Print Newspapers and traditional retail outlets. The writing on the wall is clear; change, adapt, evolve or cease to be.
✍🏼Shortsegments
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✍️ written by Shortsegments
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