Review of 'The Internet of Money Volume Two' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Meh. Andreas M. Antonopoulos is supposed to be an expert on the technical aspects of bitcoin, but there was no actual technical information in this book. At no point is there any detail on what exactly a blockchain is, how it works, etc. The book is a compilation of short talks Antonopoulos has given over the years and they almost all sound like a cross between an inspirational TED talk and a marketing pitch. Yes. we get that bitcoin has lots of potential. Yes, we get that it's a potential paradigm changer. But chances are that anyone who picked up this book already knew this and is looking for something more than glib metaphors and comparisons to early adoptions of other revolutionary technologies.
The one part I did enjoy was a critique near the end of the terrible design of Bitcoin and the systems around it, trying to make it …
Meh. Andreas M. Antonopoulos is supposed to be an expert on the technical aspects of bitcoin, but there was no actual technical information in this book. At no point is there any detail on what exactly a blockchain is, how it works, etc. The book is a compilation of short talks Antonopoulos has given over the years and they almost all sound like a cross between an inspirational TED talk and a marketing pitch. Yes. we get that bitcoin has lots of potential. Yes, we get that it's a potential paradigm changer. But chances are that anyone who picked up this book already knew this and is looking for something more than glib metaphors and comparisons to early adoptions of other revolutionary technologies.
The one part I did enjoy was a critique near the end of the terrible design of Bitcoin and the systems around it, trying to make it sound like a traditional bank. Using metaphors in the naming and design of things should help people understand what the new thing is. To borrow from an internet meme, if I describe a skunk as a "fart squirrel" then you can probably safely assume it's something that looks and acts similar to a squirrel but smells really bad. This description sets accurate expectations in your mind. But all the terminology around bitcoin utterly fails at this. By trying to make it sound like the kind of currencies and banks we already know, the folks who designed all these terms are actually making everything way more confusing. Because Bitcoin is not a coin, or even a currency really, it's more like a platform. A crytocurrency wallet does not act like a wallet in any way, it's more like a keychain. Bitcoin ATMs are not at all like bank ATMs, and are designed to mimic the minimal explanation fast transaction models of bank ATMs, which is the last thing that they should be doing when Bitcoin requires a lot of explanation for most people and does not have any kind of pre-existing relationship with a financial provider, which is what ATMs are based on.
So, some very valid and well expressed points here on the failure of design around this new technology. But overall, if you're interested enough in cryptocurrency to buy and read this book, you probably won't find much in it that's any news to you.
