Comment on From millions of dollars to under a grand: The dramatic fall of the NFT
dtaylor84@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 hours agoBut Blockchain/NFTs solve the easy part of the problem that is already sufficiently solved with a database. Now you’re suggesting using NFTs and a database? Why bother.
Klox@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
What is your background in IT? I briefly explained that a database is not “just” a database when it comes to building a marketplace/exchange, there is a ton of infrastructure and code. The problem is that it is all proprietary and not following any kind of open standard. In comparison, the database schema for “checking in” to an event is dead simple: (ticket id, checked in). You could literally print off paper and do it analog if you wanted, it’s that simple. If you tell me your background maybe I can make a more specific analogy, but the infrastructure + code + database schema for a marketplace is like the difference between a golf cart and an F1 car. Or a grocery checklist and a novel. These are many orders of complexity different.
Why bother? Because it sucks paying fees. Literally billions of dollars extracted by middleware companies. Every stupid ass website is charging fees for everything because it’s all centralized crap. My wife wanted to go to a popular musical, and for 5 tickets I’m paying literally an extra ticket worth in “convenience fees”. I bought a paid for a couple more tickets for my siblings to join, and they bailed. I posted them on StubHub and one sold for less than value, and the other didn’t. The “general problem” of ticketing infrastructure - generating, marketplace, trading - has been solved with an NFT open standard at a fraction of the cost in comparison to what these parasitic companies are extracting. Why bother? Because I’m tired of our fees culture.
dtaylor84@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 hours ago
You can replace the middlemen without involving Blockchain.
I am not saying the problem doesn’t exist, I’m saying Blockchain is overly complicated, inflexible and superfluous.
Whatever solution you design with Blockchain, I can redesign without Blockchain without losing anything – and gaining simplicity.
Klox@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
Ok, here are your requirements:
A ticket exchange that provides permission less access and trust less verification of ticket authenticity and ownership.
Tickets must be transferable between parties without intermediary controlling and approving exchanges (or you’re just the new middleman).
Rules around issuing tickets, resales, and revocation must be enforceable transparently.
Good luck friend. LMK what you come up with.
FWIW, if you don’t understand why blockchain technology is unique, in that it can solve problems NOT POSSIBLE with other technology, then you haven’t studied it enough. There are tradeoffs of course when designing systems, including efficiency and cost, etc. But that doesn’t mean the technology is not unique.
dtaylor84@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 hours ago
Point 3 is where it all breaks down for me.
We already have a legal system to enforce rules, trying to replace that with a self-enforcing Blockchain just doesn’t work for most people. And when courts disagree with the smart contract, or there’s a bug, or someone’s key is phished… It’s an interesting idea, but it isn’t practical.
Anyway, I don’t see the point of any of this. You ultimately need to trust the provider of the service the ticket entitled you to. All the decentralised smart contracts in the world won’t help you if they’re scamming you.
So just trust them. With a database. If you really want, produce digitally signed tickets that can be verified against that database with an API.
Or hell, just putting physical tickets that can be physically transferred.