Thanks everyone for the positive comments. All the comments are valid. The network is still stable and running (and still faster than most
). It is a good idea to look at the direction of kobo. The downside is that I'm doing this on my own (which makes motivation hard when so much else is going on). I'm flying up to Edinburgh on a Monday evening, working like a dog, then flying back down to London on Thursday, then dealing with family and home life. Every week. It's tiring. Kobo Tech keeps failing once in a while and things are requiring rebuilds etc. I want to get started on the news reader but I've still not done it. I'm knackered! I've automated twitter though which has already increased followers and interest from the twitter end, but yes, so much more to do.
Developing crypto stuff is even more tiring. I would like to take the core services in a direction that makes it more appealing. Smart contracts, internet of things etc is good, but it would be even better to develop a toolkit that allows anyone to develop a smart contract service on the kobo network, or integrate their 'things' into the kobo network. I personally can't develop a toolkit (I don't have that skills to attempt such a thing), but if anyone knows someone who can, then PM me. I'd be happy to work with an uber developer to start getting these things implemented.
I agree that it has to be marketed and real world uses have to be found, but it has to have a constant momentum. You can market kobo ferociously for an entire year but the moment you stop marketing it, the interest will wane. The vicious circle is valid. Without trading interest no-one in the real world will give it a look. Most people what to know how to get from kobo to fiat, and that requires trading volume, which requires a constant marketing drive (I guess).
I haven't got started on the newsreader yet but I will. It just needs to be forked, configured with the same feeds I'm using for the twitter feed (plus a few others), and then merged with the wallet code. I also want to add crypto price features as well (but don't want to swamp the fact that it's ultimately a crypto wallet).
It all sounds reasonable, but the effort required is f**king monumental, means that you can forget sleep, and causes extreme weight loss. I lost 2 stone (almost 30lbs) getting the Abe explorer and Android wallet built. I'm still scarred by the experience. Don't fool yourself that it's easy for anyone. Big name devs kill themselves to get these things out. Young whizz kids are needed, but that real type of skill in crypto is few and far between.
Big dreams at launch but sober reality has brought me down to earth on me batty (ass, backside etc), but unfortunately for the crypto industry (and every other industry I've ever been in) I don't just roll over and die like I should
I'm getting used to my travel regime. I'll soon fork that bloody newsreader, bite the bullet, and you'll see screenshots posted of what I'm doing. I am going to look into what it takes to develop a toolkit for the blockchain, and the development of a first app to show what a toolkit can do. I want to hear all and any ideas for marketing. I have a few kobo that can be used for marketing purposes. If anyone wants to help with marketing on here or anywhere else, please do. I'll do what I can to help as well.
If you've got kobo, hold onto it (not that you've got any choice at this time - no-one's buying!
). Just don't throw your wallet away...