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'You Do Not Need Blockchain: Eight Popular Use Cases And Why They Do Not Work' (smartdec.net)
Ivan Ivanitskiy: People are resorting to blockchain for all kinds of reasons these days. Ever since I started doing smart contract security audits in mid-2017, I've seen it all. A special category of cases is 'blockchain use' that seems logical and beneficial, but actually contains a problem that then spreads from one startup to another. I am going to give some examples of such problems and ineffective solutions so that you (developer/customer/investor) know what to do when somebody offers you to use blockchain this way.
1. Supply chain management
Let's say you ordered some goods, and a carrier guarantees to maintain certain transportation conditions, such as keeping your goods cold. A proposed solution is to install a sensor in a truck that will monitor fridge temperature and regularly transmit the data to the blockchain. This way, you can make sure that the promised conditions are met along the entire route.
The problem here is not blockchain, but rather sensor, related. Being part of the physical world, the sensor is easy to fool. For example, a malicious carrier might only cool down a small fridge inside the truck in which they put the sensor, while leaving the goods in the non-refrigerated section of the truck to save costs.
1. Supply chain management
Let's say you ordered some goods, and a carrier guarantees to maintain certain transportation conditions, such as keeping your goods cold. A proposed solution is to install a sensor in a truck that will monitor fridge temperature and regularly transmit the data to the blockchain. This way, you can make sure that the promised conditions are met along the entire route.
The problem here is not blockchain, but rather sensor, related. Being part of the physical world, the sensor is easy to fool. For example, a malicious carrier might only cool down a small fridge inside the truck in which they put the sensor, while leaving the goods in the non-refrigerated section of the truck to save costs.
If you approach a technology thinking, "This will solve all our problems!" then you are going to have a bad time.
You need to think critically about how that technology will help you. What distinct advantages does the new technology have over the old. And, most importantly, what new problems will this new technology introduce.
The majority of problems I see have nothing to do with technology, and everything to do with poor planning, poor process, etc.
Hadoop has been a fantastic example of this. Everyone and their goldfish think they need hadoop because they have SO MUCH DATA! Does your data measure in petabytes? No? Then you don't have as much data as you think you do.
And now we're seeing the same thing with blockchain.