Whilst most people only started to learn about blockchain because of Bitcoin, its roots and applications go much deeper than that.
Blockchain is a technology unto itself. It powers Bitcoin, and is essentially the reason why *so many* new ICOs have flooded the market creating an ICO is ridiculously easy (no barriers to entry).
The point of the system is to create a decentralized database which essentially means that rather than relying on the likes of Google or Microsoft to store data, a network of computers (generally operated by individual people) are able to act in the same way as a larger company.
To understand the implications of this (and thus where the technology could take industry) you need to look at how the system works on a fundamental level.
Created in 2008 (1 year before Bitcoin), it is an open source software solution. This means its source code can be downloaded edited by anyone. However, it must be noted that the central repository can only be changed by particular individuals (so the development of the code is not a free for all basically).
The system works with whats known as a merkle tree a type of data graph which was created to provide versioned data access to computer systems.
Merkle trees have been used to great effect in a number of other systems; most notably GIT (source code management software). Without getting too technical, it basically stores a version of a set of data. This version is numbered, and thus can be loaded any time a user wishes to recall the older version of it. In the case of software development, it means that a set of source code can be updated across multiple systems.
The way it works which is to store a huge file with updates of a central data set is basically what powers the likes of Bitcoin and all the other crypto systems. The term crypto simply means cryptographic, which is the technical term for encryption.
Irrespective of its core workings, the true benefit of wider on-chain adoption is almost certainly the paradigm that it provides to industry.
Theres been an idea called Industry 4.0 floating around for several decades. Often conflated with Internet of Things, the idea is that a new layer of autonomous machinery could be introduced to create even more effective manufacturing, distribution and delivery techniques for businesses & consumers. Whilst this has often been harked to, its never really been adopted.
Many pundits are now looking at the technology as a way to facilitate this change. Reason being that the interesting thing about crypto is that as especially evidenced by the likes of Ethereum the various systems which are built on top of it can actually be programmed to work with a layer of logic.