With the evolution of technology and looking back at previous products that stored data VHS, floppy disks, cds, and now USBS it is a similar pattern that eventually these technologies get dropped. VHS support has almost entirely been dropped and cds are now the new in. Well thats what we thought but now modern computers are shipping without cd drives and everything is moving to the digital world of downloading but storing a private key on the internet for it to be downloaded in the future is not a good idea at all. Luckily with Bitcoin we can create a physical copy of a private key and copy that over the a computer manually by typing that in. This is the only way of preventing issues with technology being developed and support being dropped for certain media options.
I found this quote from the article to be particularly interesting:
This is why when gifting Bitcoin the only way of doing it would be providing a private key to the recipient. The good news about providing a private key instead of storing funds on a USB is I don't see letters going out of fashion in the world of computing any time soon. I agree it could be a cool gift if it is worth something when they are older otherwise it is a pretty lame gift.
technology will continue to develop over time. so if we give our baby satoshi bitcoin now and keep it in a hardware wallet. I'm afraid that in the future bitcoin hardware wallets are outdated and irrelevant to the technology of the time. 18 years is a long time I am also afraid that at that time bitcoin was not as valuable as it is now. I better sell Satoshi Bitcoin to buy gold jewelry for my baby.
If you are worried about Bitcoin becoming obsolete why do you not have the same concerns about gold? The smart option would be to be invested in both and not have your eggs in one basket but even then both could become obsolete. What is obvious is that digital assets are becoming more and more desired as the internet and computers develop and physical items are becoming less so.
I'm a fan of anything that is durable and portable to be used as a wallet. I have been experimenting with steel plates that I engrave private keys in manually, and I actually like idea behind it. It's far more durable than a paper wallet, plus it can resist temperatures of ~1000 degrees celcius. Inside a safe, it's destined to last.
Steel plates cost a few bucks, and an engraving pen costs somewhere between $25-$50 brand new. Great value for money I would say.
Anything that is exposed to air and gravity for a long time will have changing properties. Metal plates can rust in the incorrect environment as well as be a heat conductor. Steel plates can be worn down through aging and looking at how deep you are engraving is probably worth thinking about as well as the environment that you are storing it in. Paper and steel plates would probably be ok for most of our lifetimes but if you are storing it for future generations then thinking about these things is probably a wise decisions because when it changes hands to your "heir" it might not be stored in the conditions that you stored it in.
Memory is a difficult thing but if you teach 1 kid a rhyme of 12 words I am 100% sure he can remember it. Some things just stick with you the way ABC songs does. And if you can do it in a local language even better which is how I remember my mnemonics:) Use the local language version of it so even if international hackers try, they'll never even be able to bruteforce me;)
Without using memory techniques most of our memories are not that good and when that person ages things that they do not use on a daily basis will be lost. To remember something which has no meaning and is complex in its structure requires frequent use of it otherwise it will be forgotten. I don't mean complex in the words that are used but complex in that it does not make sense in English.