The blockchain is a useful protocol, but what you are describing doesn't even require it, just a few trusted sources, which blockchains have to fall back to, anyway, with trusted oracles.
Their larger point might be that as much a blockchain advocates love it, there's not a single mainstream application outside of Bitcoin 8 years later. Someone yesterday compared it to the hype behind torrents changing everything, though torrents might be more practically useful.
git freebase
The only really novel thing Bitcoin brought to the table was the consensus algorithm (which is in no way, shape, or form a complaint — it's precisely what it should be) — but that consensus algorithm only works for currencies (for a sufficiently loose definition of currency that allows for the current fees and delays). Nakamoto consensus solves the double-spend problem, but only if mining blocks gives you a reward that's denominated in the same currency as the transactions you're mining.
Of course this is only a guarantee that contracts will run as written, not that they're written correctly. There's a lot of research on applying high-assurance techniques to contract development but it'll be a while before that stuff is ready for production.