Topic: [PRIMECOIN XPM] How would you say it? (Read 874 times)

Can we be less negative? We need positive energy in here!

I'd pretty much tell them, basically, it's a way to help discover the nature of primes, and earn a few dollars doing so.

good analogy

I think I'd start of by introducing the concept of "coin mining" by actually using mining as an analogy.

You and a whole bunch of other folks go into a mine armed with a pickaxe and you start chipping at the rocks.
It's really hard work, but every once in a while you'll find a chunk of gold!  When you do find a chunk of gold, you hold it up and announce to all the other miners that you've found something of value.  Everybody writes down in their ledger that you own that specific chunk of gold along with where you found it.
You can take this gold and trade it for cash, or you can find stores that accept the gold directly and barter it for goods.  You can even break off a chunk of the nugget and give it to another person.

As one section of the mine becomes depleted, you move further down the mine.  There's still gold chunks buried in there somewhere, they're just spaced further and further apart, so you'll spend more time digging at the walls to find anything.
After a long time, all the big chunks of gold have been found, but there's still gold buried in there, they're just not quite as big nuggets as they used to be.

Here you have the option of describing a mining pool: instead of each person getting to keep the whole nugget for themselves, a group of miners band together and form a pact.  Whenever one of them finds a chunk of gold, they'll split the gold nugget amongst all the people in the pact.  Each person gets a share of the nugget equal to how much rock they've mined leading up to it.


Now all you have to do is explain that the work you're doing to mine gold isn't by swinging a pickaxe, it's by looking for numbers with very specific properties.
Depending on which mine you're digging in, the requirements of the numbers are different.  In some mines, they want really big lengths of prime numbers.  In other mines they want numbers that, when mathematically crunched, are less than a certain value.  It all depends on which mine you're digging in.

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edit: Apparently I killed the conversation.  Great.

Hmm i never found it hard to explain Bitcoin or Primecoin to my friends.
Bitcoin: PCs calculate on a hard puzzle until one of them solves it and gets 25 Bitcoins as reward, that's when the next puzzle begins.

Primecoin: Bitcoin's puzzle is basically trash, as the data it generates only contains useless hashes, wasting lots of energy on these useless calculations. Primecoin's puzzle generates primechains, which some say is useful for cryptography aswell as for research about prime distribution. So while it's not yet clear if the primechains have a real scientific value (although many math pros say yes), they are at least a lot more useful than bitcoin's seemingly random hashes.

AQkqNi3LnvookY8FRrEvZ58HEUR8cFzbRm

I have .006 BTC to my name. I have never had enough BTC to buy ANYTHING. I have loads of XPM. You do not need BTC to get XPM. Just join a pool.

It's too difficult to explain to the masses unless they already know about Bitcoin. It's something for cryptocurrency enthusiasts and mathematicians.

Serious? People have a hard time with Bitcoin. You have to start there. Why? Because, if you want XPM you have to buy BTC. Explaining that to someone will induce headache and sideways looks.
"So , wait. You're telling me I have to buy this bitecoin to get a primecoin? Why can't I just get primecoin? Can't I just have someone add up prime numbers for me? Uhh.....yeah, I don't get the math. Yeah I don't understand it. So, who buys it from me? I sell it. For bitecoin.  Oh,but if this bitecoin is already making ways, why not that? So buy now because the price is low? Wait, I could lose money? Can I hold it? No? But what if my computer dies? Wallet? I buy a seperate wallet?"
I think XPM is awesome, I just think it's hard, right now, to pitch it or any alt for that matter. LTC might be the easiest of the alts. I'm not saying it's better, but just might be easier to pitch to a noob.

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Q1) How would you introduce Primecoin XPM to someone?
It could be anyone - someone you know, or don't know... who knows nothing about primecoin!

Hey there Primecoiners,

Let's start a discussion about Primecoin (XPM). This is a thread about "How would you say it".

XPM Tips are random - Please include your XPM address, and don't just do it to earn some free coins.
Do it because you want to add value to the thread, and who knows...  One day, you may need
to introduce Primecoin to your neighbors, family/friends, and co-workers, so, how would you say it?

Q1) How would you introduce Primecoin XPM to someone?  How would you pitch the idea and benefits?