Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerbs
Can someone Eli5: ETH? and its potential.
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Quick ELI5: Ethereum is a magical computer that lives in the clouds which will not and cannot be shut off. Anyone can build applications into this computer and anyone can interact with these applications.
Long ELI10:
I took the bit below from
What is Ethereum? | Ethereum News Summarized but I'll also add some of my own insight:
"Today, our personal data, passwords and financial information are all largely stored on other people’s computers - in clouds and servers owned by companies like Amazon, Facebook or Google. While bitcoin aims to disrupt PayPal and online banking, ethereum has the goal of using a blockchain to replace internet third parties - those that store data, transfer mortgages and keep track of complex financial instruments."
This is a very important distinction between Bitcoin and Ethereum because they aren't necessarily competitors. Although Ethereum can be sent around as currency and can be a store of value, Bitcoin is already dominant in this space because of the first-movers advantage. Furthermore, Ethereum wasn't built to just be a Bitcoin clone with nominal improvements. Instead, it was built to be a platform for developers to build distributed apps.
"Scrolling through a typical app store, for example, you’ll see a variety of colorful squares representing everything from banking to fitness to messaging apps. These apps rely on the company to store your credit card information, purchasing history and other personal data - somewhere, generally in servers controlled by third-parties.
The idea is that one entity will no longer have control over your notes and that no one could suddenly ban the app itself, temporarily taking all of your notebooks offline. Although the apps appear to be possible, it’s unclear which blockchain applications will actually prove useful, secure, or scalable, and if they will ever be as convenient to use as the apps we use today."
This is essentially the vision for Ethereum. To eventually have developers who build on top of the platform where each application can now talk to each other seamlessly without huge obstacles. And the applications that will be built cannot really be imagined today as this is just such a paradigm shifting technology that it will need a lot of time to refine itself.
Were any of you privy to the fact that Uber/AirBnB/Netflix would one day rise from that dial-up black magic tone making device from the 90s? It seems to common sense and natural today for these types of semi-peer2peer businesses to pop up but it was a huge obstacle back then.
The internet of things will be a huge deal soon and it will usher in the future we've only imagined of from cartoons. The ability for each of your hardware device to monitor their value in real time and only charge you for exactly what you use will finally be possible.
Mark my words that Cryptoeconomics will be taught in schools within our lifetime.