Blockchain for dummies

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John works as a graphic designer. He also runs a taxi organization in Mumbai. John doesn’t have an office and prefers working from his home in Delhi. The company’s management suggested Mumbai as the optimum city for him to run operations based on his preferences. He does not own any of the vehicles, they are rented through a third organization in which a number of people like John have pooled resources of value (time, money, reputation, computation). The hardware and software of the vehicles updates automatically, the vehicles decide when they need to go for servicing, tell each other about best routes for a greater return on investment. When Seema enters one of John’s taxis and asks it to take her home, the taxi recognizes her through a third party service that verifies identities called ‘VerifyB’. ‘VerifyB’ automatically identifies important credentials about her, like blood group, insurance, wallet balance and sends only relevant information to John’s taxi service.<br>As soon as the ride begins, software on the taxi begins deducting pico-payments from Seema’s bank wallet which contains US dollars. Thankfully, John’s taxi service accepts USD and even if it didn’t, the system can convert any currency into one that John prefers. The software on the taxi service runs a dynamic insurance pricing algorithm for the taxi as well as Seema. The model charges a higher insurance rate in accident prone areas. If John’s fleet has decided to go by the route that is safer to drive on, but slightly longer; the algorithm adjusts the price of the fare and insurance accordingly.<br>All transactions in Seema’s ride happened automatically. She never had to interact with a hand held device. She entered into a taxi of her choice and specified her intent. Only relevant information about Seema was provided to John’s fleet. John could never know her name, age, where she lives, her friends, relationships, etc. The identification software does not allow this information to be shared and asks for consent from Seema when an odd request such as her name or phone number arises, Seema declines it and flags John’s fleet’s reputation. This does not affect her journey. Both John and Seema did not have to know or interact with each other.