It would be great if the majority of the population understood keypairs but . . .
Numeracy (in the UK - where I am) is just not that great.
I remember just a few months ago I was in a supermarket queue - one person (behind me) was speaking to the other (in front of me):
"I have been cheated - I bought 9 (whatever) at £8 each but have been charged £72. It should only be £60 something".
She went storming off to customer services to complain.
What surprised me that noone bat an eye (well - I gently commented that she probably thought it was *8* things at £8 = £64).
I think for the large majority adding up prices is as much maths as they need. So that is all they want to know.
Aldous Huxley: All ignorance is vincible, people do not know because they do not *want* to know.
Topic: What is the way forward for bitcoin? (Read 3186 times)
Right, because a digital commodity with an in-finite supply would better hold its price 
What makes you think it wouldn't? Have you looked at the GEM and Encoin proposals?
People think it's a ponzi scheme because some people made tons of money quickly on the internet. After Bitcoin is around a while, and people see that holders of coins both lose and make money as in any commodity or business situation, the ponzi stigma will fade away. Suggesting that the "limitation on supply" is the problem is foolish.
Wishful thinking won't get this community anywhere.
The ONLY way forward is for cryptography to become more widely understood. People will only truly trust Bitcoin once they get comfortable with the idea of keypairs and how message signing works. Until then, they will be uneasy about it.
Are you serious? The use of cryptography is basically the only aspect of Bitcoin that doesn't get heavily criticized.
Sure it's not criticized, but it's not understood. 75% of the population either doesn't even know what a keypair is. That's kind of fundamental to understanding how Bitcoins are safely and securely transferred. The value is determined by trust. People need to understand something before they trust it.
I'm not sure of the best way forward for Bitcoin but there seem to be lots of opportunities for the currency.
I can see a few startups that are occupying potential Bitcoin niches that could easily be blown away by Bitcoin with some nice marketing.
1. A bitcoin version of flattr http://flattr.com/
2. Micro payments https://www.buysimple.com/
I can see opportunities with the new contracts functionality that's being worked on at the moment especially escrow.
I'd like to see more derivatives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_%28finance%29). Bitcoinica is a good start but I wonder if it's possible to implement FX swaps and some more complex financial instruments.
The community is amazing you wouldn't believe how much time people spent helping me to get my projects here up and running.
Personally, I'm working on Bitcoin related projects whenever I can.
I can see a few startups that are occupying potential Bitcoin niches that could easily be blown away by Bitcoin with some nice marketing.
1. A bitcoin version of flattr http://flattr.com/
2. Micro payments https://www.buysimple.com/
I can see opportunities with the new contracts functionality that's being worked on at the moment especially escrow.
I'd like to see more derivatives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_%28finance%29). Bitcoinica is a good start but I wonder if it's possible to implement FX swaps and some more complex financial instruments.
The community is amazing you wouldn't believe how much time people spent helping me to get my projects here up and running.
Personally, I'm working on Bitcoin related projects whenever I can.
Stick a biten apple on bitcoin and ta dah suddenly they will understand and love it
So sad and true 
Stick a biten apple on bitcoin and ta dah suddenly they will understand and love it
The ONLY way forward is for cryptography to become more widely understood. People will only truly trust Bitcoin once they get comfortable with the idea of keypairs and how message signing works. Until then, they will be uneasy about it.
+1Yesterday at the meeting of our local Bitcoin group we had a guest who more or less said exactly the same: for somebody who doesn't understand much about computers, let alone cryptography, Bitcoin is just as opaque as our current monetary system. To them it boils down to replacing bankers with geeks and that's not something many feel very comfortable about
I think it is time for a follow-up to the "What is Bitcoin" video - maybe a "How does Bitcoin work"...
It should make the basic principles of Bitcoin accessible to the non-technical audience and it should do so in a way that does not oversimplify things. It doesn't hurt if it is a bit longer (~10 minutes), but it should give everybody the feeling that they understand Bitcoin and that they can really trust it.
Someone less lazy than me and with more community trust should start a bounty. That's how the first one got done. I would probably put a couple dozen BTC towards such a bounty.
The ONLY way forward is for cryptography to become more widely understood. People will only truly trust Bitcoin once they get comfortable with the idea of keypairs and how message signing works. Until then, they will be uneasy about it.
+1Yesterday at the meeting of our local Bitcoin group we had a guest who more or less said exactly the same: for somebody who doesn't understand much about computers, let alone cryptography, Bitcoin is just as opaque as our current monetary system. To them it boils down to replacing bankers with geeks and that's not something many feel very comfortable about
I think it is time for a follow-up to the "What is Bitcoin" video - maybe a "How does Bitcoin work"...
It should make the basic principles of Bitcoin accessible to the non-technical audience and it should do so in a way that does not oversimplify things. It doesn't hurt if it is a bit longer (~10 minutes), but it should give everybody the feeling that they understand Bitcoin and that they can really trust it.
The ONLY way forward is for cryptography to become more widely understood. People will only truly trust Bitcoin once they get comfortable with the idea of keypairs and how message signing works. Until then, they will be uneasy about it.
No U.
I guess I should have known that is the limit of your argument to begin with. You laughing all the way to the bank or not isn't my concern, but you seem to not think beyond your own speculation stake in the market. My statements above had nothing to do with the price of bitcoin. Completely understandable seeing how the entire country is in it's current economic state because of repeating thought process such as yours.
Bitcoin's adoption plateau is not because of the technical limitations of the client and the network, but because of the finite supply which makes most people consider it a ponzi scheme. You're going to have a seriously hard time trying to change that.
Right, because a digital commodity with an in-finite supply would better hold its price
People think it's a ponzi scheme because some people made tons of money quickly on the internet. After Bitcoin is around a while, and people see that holders of coins both lose and make money as in any commodity or business situation, the ponzi stigma will fade away. Suggesting that the "limitation on supply" is the problem is foolish.
Bitcoin's adoption plateau is not because of the technical limitations of the client and the network, but because of the finite supply which makes most people consider it a ponzi scheme. You're going to have a seriously hard time trying to change that.
Well it isn't a ponzi scheme unless people make it one.
No U.
but whatever, I'll laugh all the way to the bank once the thing I told you would happen becomes apparant.
I'm out of TT
but whatever, I'll laugh all the way to the bank once the thing I told you would happen becomes apparant.
I'm out of TT
I think it's just the opposite. The innovators and businesses still need to know and understand what bitcoin is first before they decide to embrace it or not.
Promoting bitcoin will attract all kinds of people. There is no right or wrong kinds. If people see bitcoin for what it is and create new type of service or use it to send money overseas, so be it. If they see speculative value in bitcoin then so be it.
Regardless what type of people bitcoin attract isn't as important as simply having more people know that something like bitcoin exists at all. Let them decide what bitcoin can do for them.
I simply see value in the idea of bitcoin and think it's an idea worth sharing with others.
That is a naive attitude imo.Promoting bitcoin will attract all kinds of people. There is no right or wrong kinds. If people see bitcoin for what it is and create new type of service or use it to send money overseas, so be it. If they see speculative value in bitcoin then so be it.
Regardless what type of people bitcoin attract isn't as important as simply having more people know that something like bitcoin exists at all. Let them decide what bitcoin can do for them.
I simply see value in the idea of bitcoin and think it's an idea worth sharing with others.
Consider the home computer revolution of the 80s: What would have happened if people would have been starting to buy up microchips and store them in a safe instead of buying computers and writing software.
Granted, the relation between moores law and the plank length wasn't widely known back then and the actual distribution of processing power is a little differnt. (Or maybe not since in the long run transaction fees could surpass block rewards profits by magnitudes)
What would have happened in that scenario?
I think we wouldn't be using this forum right now if it were.
You are still not getting it... Who said anything about buying bitcoin and hoarding?
More people that know that something like bitcoin exist and understand it's advantages, more people that will use the idea to innovate and create new business or apply it's uses in their current ventures. Some may choose to speculate, sure. Some may even be a hoarder for the long haul, if they choose. But the fact remains. People need to know about bitcoin's existence first.
I think things will REALLY take off once Bitcoin becomes a popular method for in game payments of virtual goods.
+1
I agree this is an ideal use of bitcoin. In this scenario the users don't even need to know or care anything about bitcoin. Just the fact that the game owner sees it as a way to monetize his application is enough.
When we had a couple apps on Facebook, we struggled to find a way to properly price our virtual goods in a way that enhanced gameplay. We had to be careful not to over-issue or under-issue our in-game currency. Using an outside currency would have solved that, and bitcoin has the added benefit of being suitable for online use.
Implementation in just one big Facebook game would really propel bitcoin forward. At least in terms of its USD value.
A decent client would help. The current one SUCKS
try this: http://ecdsa.org/electrum/PS: and yes, it allows you to set the fee to zero.
I think it's just the opposite. The innovators and businesses still need to know and understand what bitcoin is first before they decide to embrace it or not.
Promoting bitcoin will attract all kinds of people. There is no right or wrong kinds. If people see bitcoin for what it is and create new type of service or use it to send money overseas, so be it. If they see speculative value in bitcoin then so be it.
Regardless what type of people bitcoin attract isn't as important as simply having more people know that something like bitcoin exists at all. Let them decide what bitcoin can do for them.
I simply see value in the idea of bitcoin and think it's an idea worth sharing with others.
That is a naive attitude imo.Promoting bitcoin will attract all kinds of people. There is no right or wrong kinds. If people see bitcoin for what it is and create new type of service or use it to send money overseas, so be it. If they see speculative value in bitcoin then so be it.
Regardless what type of people bitcoin attract isn't as important as simply having more people know that something like bitcoin exists at all. Let them decide what bitcoin can do for them.
I simply see value in the idea of bitcoin and think it's an idea worth sharing with others.
Consider the home computer revolution of the 80s: What would have happened if people would have been starting to buy up microchips and store them in a safe instead of buying computers and writing software.
Granted, the relation between moores law and the plank length wasn't widely known back then and the actual distribution of processing power is a little differnt. (Or maybe not since in the long run transaction fees could surpass block rewards profits by magnitudes)
What would have happened in that scenario?
I think we wouldn't be using this forum right now if it were.
Ask yourself what bitcoin can do for you not what you can do for bitcoin.
It's just a system, It hasn't any desires, emotions... Be sure what you want, what are your dreams - would you like to archive something? If not, get out it's as simple as that.
Promoting bitcoin is stupid, it only attracts the wrong people. New suckers if you will...
I ask you: Are you a sucker???
It's just a system, It hasn't any desires, emotions... Be sure what you want, what are your dreams - would you like to archive something? If not, get out it's as simple as that.
Promoting bitcoin is stupid, it only attracts the wrong people. New suckers if you will...
I ask you: Are you a sucker???
I think it's just the opposite. The innovators and businesses still need to know and understand what bitcoin is first before they decide to embrace it or not.
Promoting bitcoin will attract all kinds of people. There is no right or wrong kinds. If people see bitcoin for what it is and create new type of service or use it to send money overseas, so be it. If they see speculative value in bitcoin then so be it.
Regardless what type of people bitcoin attract isn't as important as simply having more people know that something like bitcoin exists at all. Let them decide what bitcoin can do for them.
I simply see value in the idea of bitcoin and think it's an idea worth sharing with others.
I think more speculation is the way to go.
$100 by Christmas anyone ? It still is possible. Buy now !!!
$100 by Christmas anyone ? It still is possible. Buy now !!!
Can I send without compulsory TX fee ? If not, then it is fail.
you speculate with bitcoin but you're to stingy for a 0.000xx fee?
LOL.
Do you really think this spirit brings bitcoin forward?
I think this is really not your thread - or your just the usual Troll.
Yes I am damn stingy for a fee because the miners DO NOT NEED IT right now due to the massive 50 BTC block reward and also only pool OP gets the fee normally and if it is not compulsory in the damn protocol / network why make it compulsory in the damn client ? Will get my own damn client without any damn TX fees. Scammers !
A fun activity that will help bitcoin succeed is to help build trust!
at http://www.thebitcoinreview.com/ it is are goal to help build trust for bitcoin businesses
come a look though the 750 bitcoin business listed
when you see a bitcoin business that looks good give them a +1 as a comment, or write a review.
If you have had a bad experience with a bitcoin business it is very important to let everyone know, so go write a bad review.
If you know a bitcoin business that is not legit or is no longer operating, report them @ http://www.thebitcoinreview.com/
click on
to report a site
click on
to list the site as a Hidden Gem
at http://www.thebitcoinreview.com/ it is are goal to help build trust for bitcoin businesses
come a look though the 750 bitcoin business listed
when you see a bitcoin business that looks good give them a +1 as a comment, or write a review.
If you have had a bad experience with a bitcoin business it is very important to let everyone know, so go write a bad review.
If you know a bitcoin business that is not legit or is no longer operating, report them @ http://www.thebitcoinreview.com/
click on
to report a siteclick on
to list the site as a Hidden Gem 
I think more speculation is the way to go.
$100 by Christmas anyone ? It still is possible. Buy now !!!
$100 by Christmas anyone ? It still is possible. Buy now !!!
Can I send without compulsory TX fee ? If not, then it is fail.
you speculate with bitcoin but you're to stingy for a 0.000xx fee?
LOL.
Do you really think this spirit brings bitcoin forward?
I think this is really not your thread - or your just the usual Troll.
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