You do not NEED it, but it can enable it. In the situation above the benefit is you, the recipient, are never again dependent on Reddit to validate that award for you. As long as the blockchain continues to exit, you, the wallet owner, maintain “ownership” over that award.

Considering how much most HN users rail against centralized services and things others not to turn stuff off, it seems like the value is obvious to me.

> You do not NEED it, but it can enable it.

How so? Why is it any better than a public API?

> In the situation above the benefit is you, the recipient, are never again dependent on Reddit to validate that award for you.

You're assuming that Reddit would create an NFT that doesn't grant them any special power. Why would they do that? Why wouldn't they create a blockchain NFT with an admin address that they own and which can do pretty much anything?

> Considering how much most HN users rail against centralized services and things others not to turn stuff off, it seems like the value is obvious to me.

You can be centralized on a blockchain though, e.g. using an admin address as I described.

> How so? Why is it any better than a public API?

Specifically in that using my API won't require you to pay him money. There are other reasons they'll claim but once you dig through the chaff that's what it comes down to.

Massive global adopted blockchains will indeed provide additional interoperability, thought there's none now.

Just consider it something like decoupling in coding but for the whole internet.

Globally adopted standards provide additional interoperability. What does this have to do with blockchain technologies?

Yeah, I agree it does not have to be blockchain, any "consistently online" and widely adopted thing will do.