Lee Rogers > Recent Status Updates

I read an interview recently that referred to this book. I was interested in reading it ESPECIALLY because it was written in the 80's and I had always thought the case for AIDS was cut & dried. I find that while Mr. Rappoport's propositions/opinions are provocative, his references and citations allow me to do my own research...which I doubt I'll do.

There's no explanation of blockchain. If you go back to Henry Ford's era and someone talks about a self-propelled carriage, that, at least, is a metaphor that allows you to piece together the potential of the invention. Saying "the changes that the blockchain will bring will be like the Internet all over again" is meaningless. I had an ISP in the 90's and I still haven't figured out the blinkety-blank Internet!

There's a problem with this book: Blockchain (and bitcoin etc...) remains a black box. This means that every other point made isn't anchored; it's all just a fantastical "blockchain world" for which I have to take the authors' word(s). I've struggled mightily getting to this point in the book, and I continue because I paid for the damn thing and am determined to get at least a shekel (...coin) of value from it!

A bit of a slugfest to get through. I feel the tiniest bit wiser about blockchain, but not satisfactorily so. I've decided that the only way I'll really figure it out is to become a miner and "work the programme". I'm continuing to read the book in the same way I won't give up on scrubbing the last bit of burnt food off the bottom of a pot...it's just something I have to do.