However, I think maybe you're missing one thing that is being proposed as a real thing - and that is, that blockchain has become like a distributed database - I mean, there are people proposing that they can be considered as the same kind of technology, or blockchain tech can be seen as an evolution supporting database technology.
I am still on the fence if I completely believe it, which is probably why I won't get rich building blockchain-based database technology or implementing it. But I think it is a valid consideration and we as technologists should look into what this model (blockchain as a kind of database technology) really represents.
It's another arrow in the architect's quiver, perhaps.
The comment you replied to mentioned that "Large companies ... make billions of dollars handling [databases] for $companies." Central databases have become excuses to erect toll booths that blockchain may eliminate.
Because $company is only one of a number of competitors and none of them is going to let one of them handle the pot.
And because there's distribution but also only a small number of semi-trusted peers, a "blockchain" would be efficient as it wouldn't have to be a proof of work, it would only need to be a signed "public" ledger (public in the sense that all companies can access and add to it). Don't think bitcoin, think a git repo with a bunch of committer signing all their commits.
If you don't trust your business partner, don't do business with them. If there are problems, contracts and courts decide what to do. There is no need for blockchain.
When you have large industries with thousands of peering organizations all over the world, you can't just "trust" -- there is, in fact, no metric for trust and no ability to measure trust. That's why the middlemen exist.
This is especially true in finance, healthcare, and other industries where blockchains are being used.
Who determines if competing companies are entering authentic data into the communal blockchain? How do you address a consensus attack in an aggressively competitive industry with relatively few players?
Immutable garbage is still garbage.
Databases are perfectly compatible with any variety of authentication layers.
However, I think maybe you're missing one thing that is being proposed as a real thing - and that is, that blockchain has become like a distributed database - I mean, there are people proposing that they can be considered as the same kind of technology, or blockchain tech can be seen as an evolution supporting database technology.
I am still on the fence if I completely believe it, which is probably why I won't get rich building blockchain-based database technology or implementing it. But I think it is a valid consideration and we as technologists should look into what this model (blockchain as a kind of database technology) really represents.
It's another arrow in the architect's quiver, perhaps.