Blockchain technology itself is not that novel. All the technologies it used have already been there for a while, even the PoW.
But after reading all the arguments and discussions, my opinion is that blockchain simply reflects the human's desire for a more transparent, secure and fair IT systems.
Current IT systems work, just it is not transparent, so people do not know whether it is doing as it claims.
Since there are strong requirements, there will be one revolution. Imagine if the government adopts such transparent and fair system, who cares whether it is centralized or not?
In real world terms...I am currently in the process of closing on a property transaction. And, while it does take some time, I haven't seen anything during the process that was immediately made better by what 'blockchain' proponents purport to be better alternatives.
To be clear, there are certainly inefficiencies I have witnessed. I am just not clear as to how a blockchain solution, however you define it, helps.
It is transparent. If you make a transaction using paypal, you were told the money is transferred. But how do you know it is true? You have no way to verify it.
Similar problem, facebook and google claim that they are only using the customers data for certain actions, but how do we verify?
Blockchain only gives the possibility that the IT system could be transparent and verified by external parties. But Bitcoin blockchain is not the final solution.
Current IT systems work, just it is not transparent, so people do not know whether it is doing as it claims.
Since there are strong requirements, there will be one revolution. Imagine if the government adopts such transparent and fair system, who cares whether it is centralized or not?
So blockchain is simply a strong desire.