Topic: First meeting of the Church of Satoshi&LDC Tonight! South Africa! (Read 1599 times)

Yes it's in RAND here, I was talking Euro's as it's my currency of reference, and corresponds closely to the dollar. If I were to day 60 RAND it doesn't mean much unless someone looks it up, I imagine the vast majority of people only casually watching this thread aren't interested in looking it up, hence I just did a rough calculation to euro.

That said people will definitely accept dollars depending on the situation.

crazy_rabitt. It was a pitty nobody showed up, but not unsurprising. But do not give up!

Btw, you mention mobile plans, why are you talking about euros, isn't rand's the currency in South Africa ? At least this is what wikipedia says. Perhaps it is different in real life ? Are shops accepting Euros and Dollars too ?

So, some feedback from last night!

Rather unsurprisingly, no one from Bitcointalk showed up. :-) Although to be fair, the cafe turns into a club at 11 and as African men are really snazzy dressers- there were lots of pink pants. So maybe I missed someone?

I talked to a bunch of people though and indeed everyone uses blackberries because they are so cheap (perhaps older models are 'dumped' on the market?) most people have the 6 euro per month pay-as-you-go plan and from what I understand somehow the blackberries are included in that price. (I need to ask about this more, because that seems insanely cheap).

The plan includes only internet, and peoples phones ARE their internet connection. They do no have computers at home as well. They do all their Facebook, email (gmail is popular) and BBM on their phones.

I only saw one iphone, and a couple several Samsungs. They are all smartphones, but obviously 1-2 generations behind.
So as a note for African leaning developers, things probably need to be backwards compatible for a few generations of phone.

Interestingly, I saw *no one* pay with cash. Everyone pays with debit cards and they swipe with a handheld GPRS Point of Sale terminal.

Additionally they have opened a new public transport system here (buses that are a bit more beefy to look a little bit like a tram or metro vehicle) the have their own fancy stops and their own lane to drive through traffic.

The REALLY interesting part however is your bus pass is something you need to purchase, and then charge up with money. The kicker? The buss pass is a Mastercard PayPass Debit card with RFID. It can be used exactly like mastercard anywhere in South Africa (It specifically says valid only in South Africa). No Id is needed to purchase it. A controller at the station has you 'touch in' when you enter the station. What a deal/scandal Mastercard scored with that- they must be getting a percentage of the entire Public Transport revenue!

So that's the update. Met an American who moved from Detroit to Capetown after having visited during the world cup. Talked to a few people about the future of money- they get it, but Bitcoin has no infrastructure here yet. None. The potential is high though. The cafe/bar looked exactly like any super-cool smart liberal hipster bar would like in the states. People were dressed to the nines, the hipsters could out-hipster a Brooklyn hipster any day. You could see a reflection of us (Westerners) but as Africans. There is a big future here for Bitcoin. :-) Blessed be thy blockchain! :-)
 

It is understandable that we for whom smartphones are the culmination of centuries of commerce, technology, political freedom and affluence think it strange that poverty-stricken countries (and I'm not necessarily referring to SA here) are not following the same sequence in their own progress.

I find it really exciting that a rapidly growing number of people who may still need to walk for dirty water and live in impoverished conditions have access to communications technology - and now Bitcoin too.  I can't find a link a the moment but there's some amazing figures regarding growth of trade when mobiles hit poverty-stricken districts - and that's before Bitcoin is added to the mix!  This combination may not provide the whole answer but maybe along with some means of alleviating the negative impact of land speculation such as Land Value Tax (an interesting Blog about LVT's potential in India) it may end up that we Westerners wake up to the biggest changes ahead by example of the developing world.

I find this totally hilarious, keep up the good work. If anyone doubts the sincerity of crazy_rabbits satire, then I suggest you read what he says about what he's wearing for tonight's "service" lol.

Say a few "Hail Satoshis" for me CR, I think we'll be requiring a Second Coming at some stage!

Sounds pretty good!

As long as your "god" is reason and science and you don't worship any man I'm all for it.

Well I'm not South African, but I see what you mean. There is an incredible dichotomy here. But in the west we still think of cell phone like luxuries, when really in many parts of the world, even if they are expensive, people really do understand the importance of being 'connected' and they will go to any lengths to get 'connected'. It's an expense but people consider it necessary. That said apparently you can get data Blackberry contracts for something like 3 euros a month that include basic data access. So, the future is out there.

i do love this, when actual south africans inform us of blackberry carrying population, yet oxfam still show the dirty water carrying poor people lol

next oxfam advert should be donate 1BTC a month to help the african population tweet and facebook message their friends.

Welcome to Africa Muthafooker!



I'll leave my psycho killer baboon at home.

Seriously. 11pm.

Do you have a special client that takes 10% as a tithe ?

 

Yeah man, I was just joking.

On a serious note: I praise your initiative! And all the best of good luck!

On a serious note, we already get emails like this:

"Arrgh mattey, I be da' Pirate of the crypto-seas! I offer 7% per week.....arugh!"

So it can't be that much worse.

You go past the townships and you seriously see lots of people on their blackberrys. (Blackberry is very popular here). Everywhere I go everyone is on their smartphones.

How long til we get e-mails like this:

"Hi, I am Negamiaou, the baptist of the church of Sathosi in South Africa. It recently came to my knowledge that you are the only ancestor of Sathosi Nakamoti, and I would hereby like to get in touch, so I can give you 15 million bitcoins. Please get in touch so we can resolve this ASAP!

God bless,

Negamiaou"


On a serious note: "Yes, cryptocurrency can be the killer technology in Africa. Along with mobile internet.

To get the ball rolling on this awesome/insane project I'm hosting the first meeting of the Church of Satoshi & Later day Coins tonight! The venue is Long Street Cafe on Longstreet in Capetown, South Africa! Meet up time, 11pm localtime. All coin denomination believers welcome. :-)

I will have a black suit jacket and Red/Pink Pants. Will we drink beers and talk ideas, the future of Crypto, the genius of L.Ron.Hubbard (kidding, we won't talk about him) and other things. Africa is the future of Crypto, so might as well start off the LDC here.

Long Street Cafe: https://www.facebook.com/longstreetcafe