What's currently playing in the world of Tech

So the world of tech is not slowing down at all at this moment. Some very cool stuff has been going on recently. Let's start one by one and talk through what the tech is and what it can do.

  1. Everybody get's a blockchain! I think the word blockchain has been shouted out in recent weeks/ months. If it's about the price of bitcoins (currency that runs on a blockchain) going through the ROOF or how Ethereum is taking over the world with it's new blockchain.

    So what is the blockchain? The video below explains it pretty short and sweet. The possibilities are endless. The easiest ones are removing banks from the process of transactions. But you could also use blockchain to register what steps a product has been through before it reached it's destination.


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  2. OK, so we got the blockchain covered but what about Ethereum or Ether. Ether was created as a new and improved version of Bitcoin. Ether is not only decentralized money but also a decentralized computer making the possibilities even bigger. With bitcoin is became possible to store anything of certain value (currency but also stamps or baseball cards). With Ether you can run applications on the Blockchain creating a massive computer system. Ownership of the data will not be with the servers but instead be with the users. Such an awesome technology to see growing. In the future it could even help the autonomous cars when driving around, who knows. What sets Ether also apart from Bitcoin is the possibilities of the smart contract. Now don't get me wrong Smarts contracts were already in the Bitcoin but not a very sophisticated level. So what is a smart contract, the example below explains it very clearly.

    Suppose you rent an apartment from me. You can do this through the blockchain by paying in cryptocurrency. You get a receipt which is held in our virtual contract; I give you the digital entry key which comes to you by a specified date. If the key doesn’t come on time, the blockchain releases a refund. If I send the key before the rental date, the function holds it releasing both the fee and key to you and me respectively when the date arrives. The system works on the If-Then premise and is witnessed by hundreds of people, so you can expect a faultless delivery. If I give you the key, I’m sure to be paid. If you send a certain amount in bitcoins, you receive the key. The document is automatically cancelled after the time, and the code cannot be interfered by either of us without the other knowing, since all participants are simultaneously alerted.
    You can use smart contracts for all sort of situations that range from financial derivatives to insurance premiums, breach contracts, property law, credit enforcement, financial services, legal processes and crowd funding agreements. Source: https://blockgeeks.com/guides/smart-contracts/
  3. Quantum computing! Ok so this is a game changer for sure! The idea of Quantum computing is very simple a Quantum Bit as they call it can be a 1 and a 0 at the same time (when in a superposition). Easy as that. So before in machine language a bit could only be a 1 or a 0 but with Quantum computing it's possible to use both at the same time creating a massive amount of computing power.  






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  4. The last one I want to discuss is Data broker as a service (dbrPaaS). Let's take the two words apart to make it a little easier.

    Data broker: A data broker, also called an information broker or information reseller, is a business that collects personal information about consumers and sells that information to other organizations.

    PaaS: Platform as a Service. is a category of cloud computing services that provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage applications without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure typically associated with developing and launching an app.

    So if I add up the words I'm seeing a platform where users can create apps that use data that has been collected from users? Jikes that sounds scary! Luckily this technology is still a way away but I'm really interested in what's going to happen with this. I have my questions about this:
  • What kind of information? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc..? 
  • Medical data included? 
  • I see that now it's possible to get data from cookies etc.. What else?

    It's still at the bottom of the Hype Cycle but I'm going to keep an eye on this.


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