Topic: Monero Marketing: Is It Time? - page 4. (Read 3236 times)
I think we need the database and the GUI before ...
following
You can probably guess my opinion on this issue but I am curious to hear the opinions of others.
The last thing I want to do is upset the community by proceeding with some of my marketing ideas for China if lots of people think we are not ready.
Monero is a decentralized community where everyone is free to make their own decisions. However I still respect community opinions.
The last thing I want to do is upset the community by proceeding with some of my marketing ideas for China if lots of people think we are not ready.
Monero is a decentralized community where everyone is free to make their own decisions. However I still respect community opinions.
I'm optimistic about Arabic and Chinese translations, as there are plenty of brilliant underutilized coders in those countries, although the language barrier hasn't stopped our Russian (and Czech?) friends from participating in the fun.
I'm a little resentful and borderline bitter about so many XMR being thrown at FreeBazaar, without escrow and to the exclusion/insult of the underfunded core devs.
Our rockstar core dev/crypto-boss tacotime's participation rate dropped soon after the thread worked itself into a lather over FreeBazaar, which IMO is extremely regrettable:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.10015296
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.10015353
I don't have the right to question how others spend their perfectly (at both protocol and social level) fungible XMR, but will nevertheless raise the issue of when to evaluate ROI on that service-building endeavor vs the opportunity cost of platform solidification.
the database is the killer for now, but step by step 
You can probably guess my opinion on this issue but I am curious to hear the opinions of others.
The last thing I want to do is upset the community by proceeding with some of my marketing ideas for China if lots of people think we are not ready.
Monero is a decentralized community where everyone is free to make their own decisions. However I still respect community opinions.
The last thing I want to do is upset the community by proceeding with some of my marketing ideas for China if lots of people think we are not ready.
Monero is a decentralized community where everyone is free to make their own decisions. However I still respect community opinions.
Previously, the XMR community had strong consensus that marketing should to be deprioritized until the DB/GUI were done(ish).
Now we're seeing an outpouring of verbal and financial support for translations, etc.
Are we in danger of putting the marketing cart before the development horse?
Are translation efforts valuable for both development and marketing, as they introduce XMR to users and coders outside the anglosphere?
Let's clarify what has changed, and evaluate whether those changes justify a shift to higher marketing priority.
Looking back, 3 specific concerns were raised in concluding premature marketing is at best futile and at worst self-defeating:
I think that we have to do 3 things first
+ GUI: better usability shows that XMR tech is mature and easy for mass market (== user adoption == liquidity)
+ Database: amount of memory required for XMR wallet is not trivial any more
+ Multi-signature: some deep web merchants may need it to protect their buyers
Amen to that.
The first point is actually an important one. Bad usability and a lack of GUI wallet for the mass market make Monero look like a immature technology. This is true -for now- but progress continues. There is still plenty of time for Monero to grow into it's own.
I certainly agree with you and forgot to add in my previous comment that we will only start with this (reddit giveaways were already discussed) after the GUI+DB has been released. But discussing about it won't do any harm.
All that was many months ago. Is it still too SoonTM?
This issues:
1. Database. Official tagged and released client still consumes ~6GB of RAM. But unofficial binaries and official source code use a paltry ~75MB. More and better compilation tutorial videos are available, and the unofficial binaries are from a well-known source. Verdict: not there yet, but tantalizingly close.
2. GUI. The webwallet mitigates most of this issue, as do the four(ish) unofficial GUIs. A compromise, wherein the core devs designate one or more 3rd party GUI wallet as 'Officially Unofficial' is coming into view. Verdict: all systems go!
3. Multi-sig. This requires research into new crypto-magic. But crowdfunding for a part-time dev is going very well, gmaxwell has generalized ring signatures and made them do fancy new tricks, and new services like xmr.to and shapeshift allow markets to use BTC internally while keeping XMR for the on and off-ramps. Verdict: all systems go!
Now we're seeing an outpouring of verbal and financial support for translations, etc.
Are we in danger of putting the marketing cart before the development horse?
Are translation efforts valuable for both development and marketing, as they introduce XMR to users and coders outside the anglosphere?
Let's clarify what has changed, and evaluate whether those changes justify a shift to higher marketing priority.
Looking back, 3 specific concerns were raised in concluding premature marketing is at best futile and at worst self-defeating:
I agree that DRK's marketing is a lot better than ours, but we should wait with heavy marketing till all key features are completed (GUI,DB). Advertising XMR in it's current state will only generate a contradictory effect than what we desire.
i agree, we need marketing soon. but slides and everything needed can already be produced now 
i too feel this will be really huge. the tech is superior, dev team is honest, community is grown up and coin is fair.
i too feel this will be really huge. the tech is superior, dev team is honest, community is grown up and coin is fair.
I think that we have to do 3 things first
+ GUI: better usability shows that XMR tech is mature and easy for mass market (== user adoption == liquidity)
+ Database: amount of memory required for XMR wallet is not trivial any more
+ Multi-signature: some deep web merchants may need it to protect their buyers
Amen to that.
The first point is actually an important one. Bad usability and a lack of GUI wallet for the mass market make Monero look like a immature technology. This is true -for now- but progress continues. There is still plenty of time for Monero to grow into it's own.
Marketing is done slowly because marketing a command line utility with few B2B solutions at present is an exercice in futility. Main marketing for now is word-of-mouth, which is the most realiable way to avoid disappointment (one only makes one first impression).
Also, we are trying to transition to http://forum.monero.cc for this reason
Also, we are trying to transition to http://forum.monero.cc for this reason
Not for nothing but releasing and marketing something to the general public that is not ready for prime time WILL poison the brand. Even when it gets ready those that tried it and failed with it will never try again. You will sour a huge market if you market to to the uninformed/nontechnical masses.
If on the other hand your just looking for a price surge that will cause a quick selloff then have at it.
If on the other hand your just looking for a price surge that will cause a quick selloff then have at it.
I certainly agree with you and forgot to add in my previous comment that we will only start with this (reddit giveaways were already discussed) after the GUI+DB has been released. But discussing about it won't do any harm.
All that was many months ago. Is it still too SoonTM?
This issues:
1. Database. Official tagged and released client still consumes ~6GB of RAM. But unofficial binaries and official source code use a paltry ~75MB. More and better compilation tutorial videos are available, and the unofficial binaries are from a well-known source. Verdict: not there yet, but tantalizingly close.
2. GUI. The webwallet mitigates most of this issue, as do the four(ish) unofficial GUIs. A compromise, wherein the core devs designate one or more 3rd party GUI wallet as 'Officially Unofficial' is coming into view. Verdict: all systems go!
3. Multi-sig. This requires research into new crypto-magic. But crowdfunding for a part-time dev is going very well, gmaxwell has generalized ring signatures and made them do fancy new tricks, and new services like xmr.to and shapeshift allow markets to use BTC internally while keeping XMR for the on and off-ramps. Verdict: all systems go!
Jump to: