This is exactly where I started before even posting here. Sorry, but in my eyes this link is technical mumbo jumbo. Level 1.2. From my limited experience i assume it will get there for sure, but i don't know up to how many hours it can take. I don't care about "nodes, confirmations, blocks". Neither does your father (probably)
The reason I said what I said is because of my legitimate concern for you. Bitcoin is not like fiat currency, it requires a much higher level of user competence. Without this competence, you are susceptible to making mistakes that could cost you your coins. The fact that this is a BETA project and you want to use it but don't care to learn about it (and worse, you assume you don't need to learn about it) is alarming.
I spent over a dozen hours researching Bitcoin before I even downloaded my first client.
That's why i've sent 0.01 to "test the waters". I can risk this. But let me add some details. I'm not your sister, i'm your sister 2.0
I know more than you assume right now, but i'm really not interested in "nodes, etc discussion". From all that i've gathered about bitcoin i trust it enough to use it. But I will not get into the programming side because to me it's chinese.
What are you going to say to all the grandmas, fathers, brothers out there? You tell them don't use it at all (don't even test it) unless you 100 percent understand the technical side of it? I doubt you do...
Talking about nodes isn't talking about the "programming" side of things. It's understanding an integral part of the Bitcoin system. I'm not suggesting you need to learn or understand code, I'm just suggesting that you might want to have a working conceptual model of the Bitcoin protocol so that you know how it, well, works.
And yes, that is exactly what I tell them, "Don't use it unless you do your due diligence first." Bitcoin is a BETA project and it's not ready for everyone to use. Developers are working on making it more accessible. But I can't tell you how many times people willingly encourage their own ignorance, then mess up somewhere and lose all their coins, and then they blame Bitcoin for being too technical for the average user. Well, it IS too technical for the average user still, and until more user-friendly services and software become available, then I wouldn't want my friends and family using it.
