You're right that this level of pedantry isn't actually that useful. However, we're both on hacker news and thus presumably steeped in technology, which seems to turn people into pedants quite easily. I'm making the pedantic point because you're already talking specifically about tiny semantic points in this thread, and if you're going to quibble semantics, pedantry seems open.
This distinction is not the one that actually matters and does not have huge significance in my frustration with blockchain advocates.
To me, the large issue seems to be that people advocating for blockchain _stuff_ usually seem to be ignoring reality and trying to paint a libertarian dream that is simply entirely divorced from how real governments and societies currently function.
The exact definition of blockchain doesn't matter. The use of a blockchain technology also doesn't matter (like, I don't care if my doctor is saving my records in Oracle SQL, some private blockchain, or whatever, never have cared, as long as the data is still there next time my doctor needs it, and it's compliant with legal privacy requirements).
What matters is that "blockchain" always seems to be coupled with "and by using it, it will fix this social problem somehow" when that problem is inevitably social or political, not technical.
I'm all for fixing these problems, but switching databases ain't it when the problem is several layers off, so it seems like at best a distraction from useful action, and at worst a grift to extract money from various entities by promising an easy solution to a difficult problem, which cannot realistically be delivered on.
This distinction is not the one that actually matters and does not have huge significance in my frustration with blockchain advocates.
To me, the large issue seems to be that people advocating for blockchain _stuff_ usually seem to be ignoring reality and trying to paint a libertarian dream that is simply entirely divorced from how real governments and societies currently function.
The exact definition of blockchain doesn't matter. The use of a blockchain technology also doesn't matter (like, I don't care if my doctor is saving my records in Oracle SQL, some private blockchain, or whatever, never have cared, as long as the data is still there next time my doctor needs it, and it's compliant with legal privacy requirements).
What matters is that "blockchain" always seems to be coupled with "and by using it, it will fix this social problem somehow" when that problem is inevitably social or political, not technical.
I'm all for fixing these problems, but switching databases ain't it when the problem is several layers off, so it seems like at best a distraction from useful action, and at worst a grift to extract money from various entities by promising an easy solution to a difficult problem, which cannot realistically be delivered on.