Blockchain for babies can make for a good bedtime read
Relying heavily on illustrations, 'A Place In The Blockchain' hopes to make understanding blockchain simple and fun
Do you have a six-year-old who is keen to learn about blockchain and bitcoins? Or, more plausibly, are you a grown-up struggling to get your head around the complicated terminology behind the technology? If so, there just may be a solution for you. For there is now a book to explain the intricate concepts of blockchain to children in the 4-6 age group.
A Place In The Blockchain is the brainchild of Brett Biery, a software developer and blockchain enthusiast. Relying heavily on illustrations, the book hopes to make understanding blockchain (a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions) simple and fun.
The book’s protagonist, Blocky, is a block attempting to fit into this new world, but doesn’t start out too well—the book tells us “the blockchain is strong and not easily unwound”, before adding “once our arms are linked, they cannot be easily unbound”, referring to the strength of the technology. Next, it talks about the proverbial fork in the road—a shorter, faster and cheaper route to deploying a new technology, or a more secure (and perhaps more complex) path towards achieving the same end. Ultimately, Blocky finds its place in the blockchain—“it was a race to find the proper spot,” the book says, but isn’t very clear about how.
Blockchain is a complicated domain, involving oft-heard but little-understood terms like bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, ledgers and mining. Even after reading the book, the meaning of some terms may elude the general audience. That aside, the book does explain well the complex calculations involved in blockchain technology through illustrations.
It’s short, crisp and fun to flip through, and can take over bedtime-book duty for a night or two.
A Place In The Blockchain is priced at Rs66 on the Amazon Kindle store but is free to download and read if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber.
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First Published:2 Sep 2021, 01:03 PM IST
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