Honestly most comments about the capabilities of the "blockchain" sound a lot like "the capabilities of programming": anything you can do with blockchains you can do better without them and everything "new" or "innovative" is just something that's benign to anyone with a degree and some experience in computer science.

Many blockchain engineers hold CS undergrad and higher level degrees, myself included.

I do not think blockchain is in and of itself separate from computer science but an enhancement to, and application of the knowledge in the field. It is definitely something different than other implementations, or it would not exist.

You compared one of my quickly typed examples of a use of the "time machine" data in the chain to a commercial product offering that has a timestamped version of data - probably using a similar concept of the trie structure for the "timestamped" versioning. But that is looking at only the storage, in a vacuum, and independent of the whole blockchain purposed usage - very relevant to my example (this post did say there are "not many good uses for a blockchain").

So, to be fair to my example, I will expand my thinking on that one example:

That commercial product you shared is not independently available 24/7 across borders and without permission. This is where using the concept on a blockchain sets it apart in some regard. I can record some data on an ethereum virtual machine (EVM) based chain, and can process logic both based on time and relative time because of the block chain. The blockchain allows me to post a contract to interact with the data using programmed logic. One of the aspects of the logic can be relative to time, but many other interactions like balances and proof of origination are able to be handled in the logic. Also, once my program is published, no one can take it down or stop it because it is on the blockchain that has an independent value propagating that chain. All the while that blockchain is processing transactions and minting a money supply in a more sound and stable way than our government fiat systems. Thus an independent value that persists the chain and completely independent of the little software program I posted that uses, and interacts with the historical data and evolving historical data.

Can each of those parts be broken out and used independently? Of course. But, they can't be used in combination the way I am using them without a blockchain. And in that case, no software solution you post will be able to handle that situation. There will always be some part of it that you can't fulfill. Whether it is people to run it or some admin to be trusted with the keys to your cloud deployment or server, or a way to pay the participants.

Contrast to something you might compare it to: today's peer group might die off or fall apart over time and lose interest. Meanwhile, a blockchain that includes a currency is gathering supporters for my program even though they know nothing of it. Those supporters don't care about my program, but support it with every block they use in their money making and trading practices.

This is just one example, of course, and there are many more. I did not even get into the independently auditable aspect of the data that is publicly available because I think most other blockchain support arguments will start there. I dove into one area of blockchain development and implementation as an example that the common enthusiast might not see as an immediate value.

I hope my comments entice someone who might read this post not to just write blockchain off as a buzzword, and to actually peek into the code and under the hood. The codebase is public by design. pull the code and compile bitcoin and make some modifications to the c++ source and try to make your own chain. Elevate to the ethereum core and understand the EVM and the logic in that chain. Understand what is going on under the hood in those software systems and you will better your skillset in your work place. You probably won't make the statements you made above. This is what made me appreciate the technology in the blockchain implementations that are out there. It's not all ape NFTs and rug pull scams, but some real world changing technology happening in front of your eyes. I was sour on bitcoin for years because I lost a pk to a few btc in 2013. But when I got into the source code in 2017 it changed the way I think about all software development from that point on.