Blockchain: Hype or Hope

Blockchain is the technology that powers Bitcoin. There is a lot of hype, giving the impression that it is a revolution in computing and any forward-thinking engineer should adapt their applications to run on it. It's difficult to get clear descriptions of what the technology is, and even less is written comparing its properties to what could be achieved with traditional technologies. To add to the confusion, people are using the term "blockchain" as pretty much anything that involves computers, networks, and cryptography. This talk will explain exactly how the original "blockchain" works, and why, with its enormous cost in terms of computation, bandwidth, and storage, together with its security properties, it is almost certainly not a suitable basis for most application.