Blockchain Technology® has a bad "solutions in search of a problem" problem.

So when I think "I :heart: blockchain" and then I remember that "I :heart: bookmarks" I get a little tinge of giddiness. I've learned to mute that giddiness over the years, but I just cannot help but think that "storing stuff on the blockchain" is coming sooner than folks think.

Do you really require a guarantee that your selfie will not be dropped from the network ever ever? Or can it just be "on chain" (layer x) and with a best-effort guarantee of six months (plus or minus a microsecond) and you can have that for "free" or maybe for one ethereum gas.

How about integrity? That's not all-or-nothing too? Maybe we only work so hard to ensure it doesn't get altered. And, again, for free. Good enough if the reputation of said network is good? Probably yes for most cases.

The impulse a lot of us have to never, ever throw away a hard drive is the same impulse that makes it hard to think about data storage on a blockchain.

We really want kinda-sorta-works with no archiving for 99% of our data (if you're doing it right.)

And speaking of storage, I wonder if there are ways to optimize blockchain storage by leveraging features of the file "type". For example, if JPEG, index by EXIF data thing foo. Is there a way to pick and choose data from the JPEG format that lowers the quality and size in a predictable way? Only store those chunks? Your JPEG storage could boast: store absolutely any JPEG.