Bitcoin Forum

I've noticed a lot of "intros" to Bitcoin discuss technical aspects of it.

I'm putting together a blog post designed for non-technical users.

I've posted a PDF of it online and would appreciate feedback: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nlz1d4lv4ddduev/ExplainingToGrandma.pdf

Do not run PDFs linked from bitcointalk by unknown users, unless you like to be exploited.

The first feedback is nobody needs to click on a PDF here. There are more holes through Acrobat Reader than there are licks to the center of a tootsie pop.

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/09/12/adobe-has-patch-tuesdays-too-a-reader-reminds-us/

Yeah, I am not sure why OP didn't just link to their web-page.

Errors:

• There are fees. They can often be optional, but it is incorrect to say there are "no fees".
• Both Money Orders and Wire Transfers tend to be non-reversible. It is incorrect to say only cash is not reversible.
• Computer destruction can result in a loss of funds. You should have your savings stored off-line (or encrypted with the key stored off-line) in at least two physically separate locations.
• Sending section is a little weird. Governments frown on people moving large amounts of cash across borders. For paying your neighbour, using cash is probably easier: especially for "grandma". I may be better to say the difficulty of sending a transaction does not change with distance.

You lost grandma at the word "accounts"

Errors:
- There are no minimum balances, no fees and no interest paid.
The "no fees" part is demonstrably wrong if you ever want your transaction to go through. Also Bitcoin service providers demand fees for everything and anything under the sun.

- Computers solving mathematical puzzles.
Double hashing SHA-256 with random nonces until a number is reached that complies with difficulty demands is not "solving puzzles", it is "throwing shit at a wall until something sticks".

- Today specialized hardware is needed to profitably mine Bitcoins.
There is no inherent technical need for specialized hardware. The current need is purely related to the "Arms Race of Greed"

Thanks for the feedback. I didn't post a link because it wasn't live yet.

It is live now with most of the feedback incorporated: http://blog.davidsilvasmith.com/2013/09/explaining-bitcoin-to-grandma.html

Not sure how I forgot about BTC sending fees!

Thanks again!

Granny wants to know how she can score a few coins for her change purse, the bodega where she buys her scratch cards didn't have any :-\