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Technological revolutions have shaped our world. Without past inventions and historical landmarks, contemporary society would only be a shadow of its current self. Without a number of the worlds inventions, none of what we experience today would be possible. I say this as I type on a laptop, listen to music through a bluetooth speaker and drink mineral water out of a bottle.

See what I mean?

Inventions that are technological revolutions can be anything, from the iron nail to the printing press, the wheel to the shipping container, the smartphone to the internet. Some of the most basic inventions, such as the paperclip have changed the way we behave on an international scale, though we might not think it. With the paperclip in mind, just think how unorganised our paper filestores would be without it? Now, take that individual scale and multiply it across the planet… paper, everywhere.

So, this takes us to know, the current era and the rise of blockchain technology. The internet, was a technological revolution, it helped us into the information age and now keeps us securely in the data age. The internet is a ley part of pretty much everything we do and without it, a lot of us would be pretty stuck. The blockchain is always considered to be the next internet, indeed, the blockchain wouldn’t be what it is today without Bitcoin, therefore, many would consider that in turn, Bitcoin is a technological revolution.

By technological definitions, of course it is. The blockchain is a technology that will revolutionise the way many businesses and people operate. Is Bitcoin a revolution though, or is it more an inevitability? Something that was always guaranteed to happen?

Let me explain…

When we look at products like the wheel and the nail, they were made to help us achieve tasks that would otherwise be impossible. Like the internet, they are technological revolutions because they have adjusted our behaviour, our perceptions and our habits. Currency and the use of salt (and other commodities) as a means of currency was a technological revolution too, but now, isn’t FIAT currency the same thing?

Bitcoin can’t be a technological revolution because it doesn’t allow us to do things that we can’t already do, it doesn’t allow us to invent new habits. Of course, it improves our current experiences but is this a technological revolution? Or is this just an example of human adaptation?

Let’s go a little further…

Imagine a scenario when you need to get fruit from the top of a tree, now you have two options, you can wait for the fruit to fall and a merchant to collect it who will then sell it to you, or, you can invent the ladder and climb the tree to get it yourself. The ladder in this instance is a technological revolution because its allowing you to access something that you otherwise couldn’t.

Now add Bitcoin to the scenario. You could already purchase the fruit before it falls using FIAT currency. Granted, Bitcoin might allow you to get a better deal and it might mean the merchant receives their money a little faster, but nothing has changed and the option to pay with some sort of currency was already there.

With all this in mind, we know that Bitcoin and blockchain technology will be a technological revolution one day, it’s just, at the moment, we haven’t yet established the full potential of the technology. Until the blockchain becomes fully immersive, like the internet, I can’t imagine historians referring to this era as the blockchain era. Bitcoin will become a technological revolution, when it helps us do things that we currently can’t imagine.

What sorts of things do I mean you might ask? Well I don’t know, because we can’t yet imagine them, that’s the whole point of this…

According to a post in Hackernoon:

“The revolution is just starting and Bitcoin is merely the first and most successful decentralized application, but it won’t be the last. While Bitcoin itself may only be a temporary stepping stone towards future economic freedom, blockchain technology is a gift to the World that has the potential to create an entire ecosystem of decentralized applications.”

“Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize everything from decentralized social networks, trade distribution systems, and to governance systems by leveraging zero-trust principles and incorruptible transactional transparency. With blockchain technology we can end fiat currency, disrupt Facebook and Twitter, prevent censorship, and create new value based economies.”

I think this quote captures what I am trying to say perfectly. At the moment, Bitcoin and blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionise the world, but we’re still in its infancy and thus, it’s too early to say how and when this technology will revolutionise the world.

Trent Lapinski, the author of the Hackernoon article continues this sentiment:

“Bitcoin isn’t a bubble, it is one of the first serious shots fired in the revolution and as more people wake up to the corrupt nature of the current banking cartel system, the value of Bitcoin will increase. The powers that be are going to try and use their money to convince the World that Bitcoin is a fraud, and they will purposely try to break the public’s trust in it by creating unnecessary volatility. However, once Bitcoin reaches critical mass the more powerful it will become and there is no way the banking cartels can stop it. Bitcoin is just software and it is changing everything.”

It’s still just a software, one that has the potential to grow and one day become a technological revolution, joining the ranks of the wheel, the iron nail, and even the shipping container.

Hackernoon - Trent Lapinski