<story><title>Don&apos;t get caught up in blockchain hype</title><url>https://blog.apnic.net/2017/12/14/dont-get-caught-blockchain-hype/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>colordrops</author><text>From the article, about the supposed expert who is skeptical:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; For all that she has learned, Radia is first to confess that she is by no means an expert in the technology — admitting that she cannot distinguish exactly what makes something blockchain technology&lt;p&gt;The article is right about one thing though - a lot of people are talking blockchains up without having any idea about what they are or how they work.&lt;p&gt;Conversely, a lot of people, like Radia in the article, are talking blockchains down, without understanding them.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>danblick</author><text>Ya know, Radia Perlman has decades of experience working on networking protocols, I&amp;#x27;m willing to bet she understands blockchain as well as anybody. The statement &amp;quot;I cannot distinguish exactly what makes something blockchain technology&amp;quot; should probably translate as &amp;quot;currently the term &amp;#x27;blockchain&amp;#x27; is thrown about so loosely its meaning is obscure.&amp;quot;</text></comment>
<story><title>Don&apos;t get caught up in blockchain hype</title><url>https://blog.apnic.net/2017/12/14/dont-get-caught-blockchain-hype/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>colordrops</author><text>From the article, about the supposed expert who is skeptical:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; For all that she has learned, Radia is first to confess that she is by no means an expert in the technology — admitting that she cannot distinguish exactly what makes something blockchain technology&lt;p&gt;The article is right about one thing though - a lot of people are talking blockchains up without having any idea about what they are or how they work.&lt;p&gt;Conversely, a lot of people, like Radia in the article, are talking blockchains down, without understanding them.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cjhopman</author><text>People who &amp;quot;understand blockchains&amp;quot; don&amp;#x27;t agree on what exactly distinguishes something as blockchain technology, and people (and companies) are claiming all kinds of things as using &amp;quot;blockchain technology&amp;quot;.</text></comment>