Blockchain Revolution

Don Tapscott
Non-Fiction
Pages: 368
Date Started: April 28, 2018
Date Finished: May 5, 2018
Reason Book was Chosen:
I keep hearing about blockchain and how it is going to impact a number of industries and yet I know nothing about it. I need to remedy that. This book is the start of that learning process.

My Thoughts

When deciding on my list of books for 2018, I wanted one in there about bitcoin and the blockchain. I just did a basic search, probably on Amazon, to look for books about the topic. This one came up and it’s the one I chose for my reading list. It probably wasn’t the right one for what I was needing. I needed a beginner’s level book and this one was a bit more into the weeds. Despite reading Blockchain Revolution, I’d still have a hard time describing blockchain to someone. So, my bad on the wrong book choice.

Because of that, it took me a while to get into this book, but once I did, I’m glad I read it. Chapter 9 dealt with the way blockchain will likely impact artist, especially musicians. My wife is a singer/songwriter and I plan to try some of the services and suggestions mentioned in that chapter. I also bought the book for a musician friend of mine and told him to go right to chapter 9.

My main critique of Blockchain Revolution is that it was overly optimistic bordering on naively utopian. Many of the potential advances in blockchain were presented as great leaps forward while I read about them with horror knowing how this could easily go sideways. The authors definitely address the pitfalls, but the overall tone is one of optimism. Perhaps, rightly so. This technology does have the potential to add more trust to the system and more encryption. I do find it interesting though that the upcoming GDPR legislation out of the EU is geared towards the collection of data in the first place. It’s not about better encryption or protection, but rather, not collecting it at all. I’m curious to see how/if this will impact blockchain implementation going forward.

If you have a working knowledge of blockchain, this book will be a good next step in understanding uses and learning about companies delving into the technology. If you are a newbie, I’d look for another book geared towards beginners.

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