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Title: [2014-05-06] ZeroBlock and beyond: An Interview with Dan Held Post by: aliceHortrex on May 06, 2014, 12:37:30 PM http://cointelegraph.com/post/zeroblock_and_beyond_an_interview_with_dan_held (http://cointelegraph.com/post/zeroblock_and_beyond_an_interview_with_dan_held)
http://cointelegraph.com/storage/resizer/resize_url/780/?url=http://cointelegraph.com/storage/uploads/view/1518 Title: Re: [2014-05-06] ZeroBlock and beyond: An Interview with Dan Held Post by: DooMAD on May 06, 2014, 05:06:40 PM Quote CT: What do you think is the most effective method of getting more consumers to use, and understand, Bitcoin and its advantages? DH: Many Bitcoin enthusiasts believe that we need to teach new users how Bitcoin works. I completely disagree. Most consumers have no idea how their existing banking system works, how their credit cards works, how their cell phone works, or how their car works. They trust and use those products because they understand the process. My job at Blockchain is to teach new consumers what buttons to press, and to design interfaces that meet them halfway. This is a dangerous mindset to approach things from, IMO. Individuals should take more responsibility in understanding how the systems they rely on work, assuming they don't want to get screwed over. Blind trust is no longer an option if we want to keep companies and governments honest and transparent about what they're doing. If everyone understood how the banking system works, perhaps we wouldn't have allowed things to become as bad as they they are now. It's better for people to be educated and knowledgeable so that they can make informed decisions and even have a "plan B" in the event of a worst case scenario. If we don't teach new users about how Bitcoin works, they're going to do something reckless with their money, lose it, then go around telling everyone it's not secure. All because they didn't know how to use it safely and securely. I think it's safe to say we don't need any more of that kind of negative publicity. I'll be continuing to warn new users about the hazards of using web-wallets, particularly if their employees have the same attitude as Dan Held. Title: Re: [2014-05-06] ZeroBlock and beyond: An Interview with Dan Held Post by: LiteCoinGuy on May 06, 2014, 07:55:16 PM if you want the masses, you have to do it like Dan Held.
Title: Re: [2014-05-06] ZeroBlock and beyond: An Interview with Dan Held Post by: DooMAD on May 06, 2014, 09:13:50 PM if you want the masses, you have to do it like Dan Held. Then it's reasonable to say we're not quite ready for the masses yet. Maybe there will be a time in future when people can use Bitcoin without understanding it, but that time isn't yet. Plus I'd still argue that even when that time does come, it's better for people to be able to tell what's going on at a technical level for the sake of overall transparency. Complacency isn't something we should encourage when it comes to a relatively new technology. Making the technology easier to use won't necessarily make people's money any less easy to lose. Maybe the blockchain.info wallet service itself is secure enough, but if people come along thinking that all third party services that offer to store bitcoins online are just as secure, they're more likely to get burned. New users need to understand that it's not safe to assume that all the services they encounter will offer the same levels of protection. As an analogy, just because car manufacturers can design cars that can parallel park all by themselves, it doesn't mean we should stop teaching new drivers how to do it yet, in case they find themselves in a car without that feature. Maybe that will change in future, but not yet. The same applies to Bitcoin for the time being. Unless you want the negative headlines to continue, it's better for users to have a basic understanding of how this all works. |