I explain the current crypto environment to people I talk to in casual and business conversations; friends, colleagues, neighbors, sales prospects, customers, investors, through the following analogy.
Before the example, a little bit about my perspective. I have the benefit of a longer career in tech than most of the people I talk to (not bitter) and this is not unique among the Generation X crowd, the generational label where I firmly plant my feet (1970).
As such, I was around for pretty much all the consumer facing advances in computing technology. I learned to program Basic on an Apple II in elementary school (we had one for the entire school). We were able to get the solid state home TV game, Pong, complete with a photo gun to shoot those pesky blocks off our black and white TV screen (no TV remote, had to use the dial). Graduated on to the different consoles along the way, Atari ( I don’t think we ever had one as poor kids), SNES, PC’s, Macs, etc, etc. I cut my teeth on the internet while it was just dial up accessible, before that with BBS’s, scrounging the local phone lines for boards with zero day warez. Met one of my best friends and business partners that way.
I digress.
Here is what blockchain technology represents and why I believe it’s another gold rush that we are just starting to see.
Back to the late 1800’s. Electricity was invented with promises to change the world. The first 20 or 30 years of that technology invention, they spent all their time running wires from generators, over land, up telephone poles, into buildings, etc, etc for the use case of putting a light bulb into a dark room.
A little while later, everyone came to expect there to be an outlet in the wall of every room in the house that _something_ could be plugged into. This investment in infrastructure created the biggest boom the world had ever seen as appliances, personal items, fans, record players, radios, televisions, electric stoves, refrigeration, washing machines were invented, all connected via power delivered through that outlet.
The internet is exactly the same.
The first 20 or 30 years, everyone ran wires everywhere so information could flow into peoples homes. Email, websites, etc sprung up as use cases that were very obvious digital versions of analog inventions (Letters, Magazines, Mail-Order). Eventually, we even have that connection in our phones, watches, and cars.
Blockchain technology is the next set of inventions that will sit on top of the “internet everywhere” infrastructure landscape that’s been built and is now ubiquitous.
The next set of decentralized inventions, industries, and “appliances” haven’t been invented yet, but are being thought about right now and tested.
Trustless networks running over an “always on” layer of network connectivity is going to enable some really incredible things to be built, many of which we can’t even imagine in much the same a person at the turn of the century using a light bulb couldn’t grasp the idea of “moving pictures transmitted through the air” onto a screen in their living room.
Once I explain things in these terms, whoever I am talking to generally has an “aha” moment and some of the fear, FUD, or reluctance disappears.
And this is also why I’m extremely excited to work in this space. It’s not often you get to be around for two tectonic shifts in a lifetime.
Anxious to see what this baby can do 🙂
Just a Dude 