The Trust Gap in Internet and Blockchain Commerce and on solution: Smart Contracts.
One of the five core elements of a blockchain, and to some one of its most important is its role as a “trusted entity” and I would like to explain why that’s important.
History is filled with Problems and Solutions
Knowledge Gap
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 is the printing press. Before the printing press books were handwritten and hand bound. People who could find and buy books containing knowledge were at a great advantage over people with no books and no knowledge. The world had a knowledge gap. The printing press made knowledge available to all. It solved the problem of the knowledge gap.
Power 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 man, a horse or a group of men or a group of horses. Plus it never needed sleep. This invention provided the power to move materials over vast distances rapidly. It also power great machines which plowed 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 twin problems of not enough manpower & not enough horsepower to get jobs done. It solved the power gap.
Distance Gap
The next 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. It also allows the exchange of knowledge and the conduction of commerce details across vast distances. The internet has solved the distance gap.
Trust Gap
The latest technological achievement is cryptocurrency and the blockchain. The Internet solved old problems, but created new ones involving trust and verification. The problem with sending knowledge and conducting business over great distances is trusting the person far away. The stories of scams, thievery and other dishonest acts are know in every nation. 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. The function they perform is necessary and the fees they charge are significant. But we have a new technological innovation called the blockchain. The five core principles of the blockchain 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. Additionally the blockchain has smart contracts, so money doesn’t change hands until all conditions are met. The smart contract on a blockchain fills the trust gap.
Adapt, change, thrive ot whither
The next big thing, the blockchain is here. Those businesses who learn about it and use it, will prosper and those businesses that don’t will probably whither and die. Change is not optional. Change is inevitable. Learn to harness and use change to your advantage.
Recognize, adapt and thrive.
Stay thirsty for knowledge my friends.
✍️ written by Shortsegments “The Hawaiian Blogger”
Title: The Trust Gap in Internet and Blockchain Commerce and on solution: Smart Contracts.