I'm happy with my purchase, it's a very interesting and provocative book, well written, extensively documented. It gave a good overview of the potential of Blockchain technology. Too often I think people focus on Bitcoin, but the currency is just one of many potential applications that leverage Blockchain technology.
However, while reading this book, I couldn't help but feel there is a huge disconnect between what is theoretically possible with Blockchain technology, and what is more likely. There is a strong Libertarian stream that flows through most discussions of Bitcoin and Blockchain, and that was certainly true with this book, even if the author never uses the word itself. And hence there is a massive underestimation of the political will necessary to make most of this vision happen. There are just too many entrenched, powerful players that have a vested interest in working against this technology, or at least the vision for this technology given here.
Worse, for many of the examples given in this book to be implemented, the world would need to look much differently from what it does today. Swan writes, "Blockchain technology...is a new class of thing like the internet,..a revolutionary organizing paradigm for human collaboration,...a liberty and equality enhancement tool..." Ok, fair enough, who doesn't want their liberty enhanced? But we are governed by the likes of Louie Gohmert and Michelle Bachman, the head of the US Senate committee on the environment believes Jesus will save us from global warming (which is a hoax anyway, according to him), and yet somehow Blockchain will rise above all of this inanity to create its own, utopian structures for the good of our citizens? Hardly.
And do we even want this type of world if we found the political will to implement it? There is always an assumption from Libertarian types, left unspoken, that the masses are just like them: educated, rational, etc. But America is more Jersey Shore than All Things Considered. If we were a nation of 300 million C++ programmers, perhaps a vision of this type would work. Sadly (or thankfully), that is not the case.
Still, this book is incredibly provocative, there is a lot here to digest, the author has done a very good job of giving the reader a glimpse into what could, theoretically, one day, perhaps, possibly happen. That is what I had hoped to find, and that is why I would definitely recommend this book to others.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 31, 2015
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 4, 2018
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 19, 2015
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 2, 2018
caffeine induced evangelism for the blockchain(or: orgasmic notes on the author's internet browsing)
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 11, 2015Top reviews from other countries
CS Professor
A point here, a point there and a lot of bull and that's the cover!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 11, 2015
Stephan Pire
Great case studies, short on tech details
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 15, 2016Amazon Customer
Good content, and well researched overview of the field
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 2, 2016
Karim Sultan
Lightweight "Summary" of Early Blockchain
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 16, 2017
Karim Sultan
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 16, 2017
Melanie Swan is a renown writer of some skill, and has tremendous credibility in the field of blockchain. She's done Ted Talks and the University circuit (was just at mine last week) and is a techno-evangelist for blockchain - mainly, its potential for our economy. Currently I'm working on a PhD on blockchain, so I read everything on the topic (despite ratings) but I expected more from Swan in this book, and the fact that it is an O'Reilly text.
Pros: Provides a good primer on blockchain; is a quick introduction to the concept and its application; can be read easily and quickly without previous knowledge of the field; introduces many field-specific terms.
Cons: The book is light and thin; its printed length is only 130 pages including appendices and index; you will finish it in 2-3 hours (one night for most people); it reads like a seminar; it lacks any real depth into the topic; it is dated (was written in 2014 at the cusp of blockchain's exposure).
O'Reilly no doubt went light with this one to rush into the market space on blockchain for 2015; but as we head into 2018 there are many more books that can give a much better overview or managerial summary, including some fairly advanced web resources. However, it still gets 3 stars because for what is written, it is applicable and educational, and hints at the true knowledge Swan holds on the topic.
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