Bitcoin Forum

Anyone ever got the feeling that Bitcoin is too complex for the average person? The average person wants things as simple as possible, so when the word, Blockchain, Decentralization, etc, come into play, I feel that makes it too complicated for the average person to understand or even care.

The average person is an idiot unfortunately, most can't even use a computer at all.  Talk fiat finance with technical terms and the average person will understand just as much as BTC, maybe even less because once you get into fiat finance you realize how BS and made up it all is.  The "average person" will learn and adapt, and as BTC becomes more and more accepted folks will develop ways to make it easier and easier to use.  The behind-the-scenes stuff will continue to be complicated by its very nature.

But the thing is, Fiat or government created and regulated currencies are already the dominant, established forms of money. Bitcoin itself is alternative, so when you're speaking to a regular person about Bitcoin, you have to explain what is it/does, came from, etc, etc. With fiat, you need not explain any of that at all, since it's already the dominant system.

Well, I guess most of those idiots can use a cell phone which of course is an internet computer nowadays.

As a long time IT manager I finally realized that if you want folks to adopt to new advances you need to completely skip the technical aspects... more time should be spent giving them "what's in it for me" and making it fun.
When we did need to have training sessions relating to tech concepts we tried to make it a good experience... for example casino night... correct answer gained chips... or a virtual baseball game between two teams (base hit for simple answers... home run for harder etc).

As the op says as a community we have to come to grips with the need to dummy it down ... simple short promotions that can positively address their every day issues.

I don´t know; since idiots tend to underestimate the intelligence of others then the reverse is probably true

being that those "others" overestimate the stupidity of idiots.  ;D

complexe ?

1) print this : https://www.bitaddress.org
2) buy btc

Less complexe than a 3D Secure from a VISA Card ...  ::)

I do agree on what your saying. Skip the technical aspects and go for more mass adoption. As more and more are adopting this new currency into the market, people will easily understand then the need for BTC and its advantages compared to fiat.

What's going to happen if a new person comes to Bitcoin, and comes across a website, say something like, https://www.bitaddress.com (only .com vs .org) and the program on it's website has the ability to know all the private keys used?

If people are still saying things like this currently (posted today):


How do you make it safe for those who don't know how to make your own private key?

yes，the wallet is not freafriendly enough for average people.
And for average people the security is the biggest proplem.

Also, average people who are going to have their wallet on their computer are going to have it on their windows system, and not have security in place, and will probably easily download malware that can steal any funds left on it.

Bitcoin can be one of many catalysts to a population die off….

The strong survive… Its a needed thing.. because you are right I hate the average person i think they're stupid and the only thing they might offer me is a chunk of their money through their life…

I thought the current bitcoin protocol block chain cannot get changed, and if it does get forked, we are dealing with bitcoin 2.0 not the original sound bitcoin… Well the original bitcoin has its limits… 2-7 transactions/second… Todays consumer driven world would overwhelm they if even partial adoption occurred…. sooo…

Let keep bitcoin the same and change the face of the planet… don't be a hater because it means you might die… Atleast your children won't be slaves to bankers… but perhaps the 1500 bitcoiners who have most of the coin.. Fortunately those 1500 people might just be nicer than the bankers and don't have foul intentions…

Granted they still want their yatchs and need someone to polish the railings...

Until people know and understand encryption and private keys/public keys(even i don't understand it but i know what they are and why they are important, how they work is not my game..)  but until then, they can count on getting Fucked over till death do us apart. Some will learn, most will die and shrivel up when the real gets real… This economy is a farce and it won't last.. People are getting killed in NY over bitcoins…. GET IT GOT IT!!! it isn't a nice world and you might just die or get killed. lol ISIS and terrorist can kiss an educated criminals ass..

Bitcoin is still a beta project.  That should indicate something.

The average person shouldn't use bitcoin, yet.

And people are getting killed over it… That should indicate something also.

TCP/IP is too complex for the average person but their browser uses it just fine to let them post photos of their cat on facebook.

Same thing that happens to the countless people who get fooled every day by phishing sites made to look like PayPal or their bank.. unfortunately without the dispute process that banks and PayPal have to try to get your money back.. but personally, I'm of the opinion that protecting people from their own stupidity by making it clear that whenever they make a mistake someone will come in and clean up after them only encourages them to remain stupid. Harsh, I know, but as long as there are no consequences for making such a foolish mistake (anyone who can read should be able to spot a phishing site a mile away) people have no incentive to learn not to make that mistake.


In that case, we've already lost the original Bitcoin and we're on (at least) 2.0 by your narrow definition, since Bitcoin has already been hard-forked.


Yes, let's make Bitcoin the new fiat banking system, transferring all of the world's wealth into the hands of a few elite (less than 1%) of the population giving them unimaginable power over the average person.. because, you know, that's not the system we're trying to move away from or anything.


Call me when you wake up from that dream. In reality, the most power-hungry people with the most foul intentions will become the most wealthy and powerful if you create a system that allows them to do that.


^ this.
Just because something is too complicated for the average person to understand, that doesn't mean we can't abstract away the complicated parts and make something that "just works" for the average person. I can count on one hand how many people I know who even have the faintest idea how their cell phone works but I don't know anyone who can't use one.

I think what's going to end up happening, is we'll get lots of businesses who create wallets that will hold your Bitcoins (Private keys & Public keys) for you (so you don't even need to give someone an address, maybe just QR codes everywhere), and let you spend it and insure it against loss in the exact same way credit cards work and hold your money. If they screw up they'll need insurance on the Bitcoins, so we'll see more Bitcoin insurance companies, and the companies will need to make sure they have taken as many precautions as they can so their insurance premiums will be lower the more protected they are.

it would take an average person less than an hour to know the basic things.
they are too lazy or just not that much interested.

This is why money printing is out of control… If the bank were actually liable for the losses of irresponsible customers or ID theft then the big banks would have been long gone by now… The need to print money as far as i understand is because so many deals go sour… Yet need to be honored financially or we ride the fuk off a financial cliff.

That's what's going to have to be different for these types of companies, and the insurance they would need. They'll have to have the bitcoins (or the ability to actually buy the bitcoins) to pay people in the event of loss instead of just being able to print money since you can't just print bitcoins when you need them.

It might be but an avergae joe can alays rise if he/she have some interest, though their are simpler exchange's like coinbase which helps them alot

It's important to remind yourself now and then that "With intelligence comes great responsibility." Otherwise it's easy to forget and you end up abusing your own fellow ppl of the world, and that ends up being who you are in the one life you have to live. Being smart is not the most important thing to be.

Anyway, yes, too complex. Almost no one knows what "Github," "wallet.dat," ".json" or even "encryption" means. Those things need to be in the background but not of concern to the user.

I tend not to tell many people about BTC anymore. It's something that most people just aren't interested in and often even think is downright stupid. Most people aren't even interested in the stock market. They watch sports/reality TV (depending on their sex) and get on social networking sites. And of course video games are popular with guys too. Older people who do have money to invest--often thanks to their previous investments--say "I'm not of that generation." They really just don't care, and it confuses them and makes them feel uncomfortable. That lack of comfort also seems to exist in the youth to an extent.

The original bitcoin allowed the arbitrary creation of an unlimited amount of coins due to a bug, had no protection against spam, a rather broken method of implementing custom scripts, allowed creating coinbase transactions with duplicate transaction ids, allowed the sending of bitcoins to an ip address which was cryptographically weak and a whole host of other problems which have been fixed over time.   You couldn't even get the "original sound" bitcoin client to sync with the current network.   Protocols evolve.  Nothing is in stone.  The burden for change is high, it isn't impossible, if it was then Bitcoin would be dead today.

i agree with this
years ago in 2010 when i visited this forum and learning about bitcoin i was completely unable to how it works and then i give it up
now again in 2013-14 i decided to look into it deeply and now i understand basic of it how it works

computer and the internet is too complex for the average person....

Bitcoin as such is not very complex for an average human being. But the safe storage of Bitcoins, protecting it from hackers and robbers can be a bit of a headache. I have seen coins stolen from well established users here.

Frying an egg is too complex for regular people. . bitcoin is more like swapping an alternator. electrifying ???

It's as complicated as you want to make it. Call it a form of digital currency. Anyone can understand that.

Maybe the problem isn't in Bitcoin, maybe the problem is in the people. Have you considered that?
People are very limited when it comes to technology. The majority really have no idea what they are doing.

Just show them how easy it is to use a mobile wallet to send money directly to another person, usually that is what they are interested in. Then if they have more questions you can dive into the other major benefits and technical aspects of bitcoin.

If you overload them with information right from the get go, they will quickly dismiss it as too nerdy or too complicated.

Bitaddress page using javascript to generate private keys so the algorithm run only on your browser, not on the server, which mean that generated key is made by yourself, not by someone else. If you want to be careful you can save that page to an offline computer and open it with browser, still work fine.

However you're right about the fact that this is not the way to make Bitcoin easier for average people. They probably refuse to believe a paper wallet can receive money because this piece of paper can't connect to internet !!!

Bitcoin as a whole is complex. But the average person doesn't need to grapple with that complexity. They just need a wallet and to understand how to use it and their public keys.

Compare bitcoin to fiat, for example. Does the average person need to understand how a mint coins money, how the Federal Reserve works, how monetary policy and bank security and credit card transaction networks work? Nope.

I have no idea how a wire transfer works. I just go to the teller and say I need to move money from this account to that account. I haven't got a clue how I am able to have a piece of plastic in my wallet that allows me to swipe it through this slot-thing and I've paid $39.80 for dinner for two. I go days on end spending money without ever having a single dollar bill in my pocket. I don't know how any of that works, but I do it.

I call the 1-800 number on the back of my card, key in my account number and this robotic lady tells me I have x amount of money to spend. But where's that money?? I don't see it! It must not be real!

Anyone who has ever owned a bank account or used a credit/debit card can easily understand bitcoin. Your wallet address is your account number. Your device is your debit/credit card. Who cares how it works? I can buy things with it.

I'm not even certain the average person knows that folders are containers for files and that you can put folders inside of folders. When at people's houses, I've noticed it to be common to just see a ton of files all over their desktops (typically Windows). They know that clicking an icon opens a program. Even if they learn/know that those icons can be sorted into different folders (i.e. "music," "video games," etc.) that doesn't mean they understand that a program is just a collection of files sorted into folders and that you can add or subtract a file--such as a wallet.dat, for example--to make the program behave differently. Having them experiment with that concept with something financial is risky stuff.

As someone from you told, bitcoin is still a project/revolution and each day it will be more strong. As revolution isn't so simple, because a lot of person think that the FiAT values are better the bitcoin and we should try to change the "mind" of those person.

I agree which is why I invested heavily in GEMS, If there is another project that will take Bitcoin mainstream tell me about it, until then this is the best chance we got. I wish the Bitcoin community gets behind this app and pushes it to their friends and gets it viral. It is another Altcoin but it has a Bitcoin wallet, it's a win win. The Bitcoin community is so fragmented it's hard to get a United front to attack the mainstream.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.getgemsmessenger.app&hl=en_GB

That's right. That people too lazy to understand about bitcoin and new technology, they need a simple thing which make they activity become simple as just click they dont need to understand why that technology works. And that's why indrustries become effloresce.


~iki

I have had many discussions on this topic and I can tell you, most people do not even know how the fiat banking system work.

When I explain it to them, and I highlight the problem areas, they tend to get why BTC is the solution to those problems. The average person do not deal with the inner workings of the fiat financial system, so they never see the bigger picture or the problem with it... they want to go to a ATM, withdraw money and complain about the fees.

You have to explain the problem, before you get to the solution.  ;)

The average person do not care how the fiat financial system work, and they should not care how the Bitcoin protocol work.... they should just use it. The more than average person, will ask more questions, and there are "Bitcoin for dummies" guides all over the internet for that. { Nice pictures and animations and videos }

We make it complex, when we go into too much detail when we discuss it with NEWBIES  :(  

Owning bitcoin is not complex. Spending and protecting them takes time to learn.

I truly believe bitcoin is too complex for the average shopper right now. We need a secure contact-less medium, similar to a credit card, to bring high street shoppers interested in bitcoin. Changing people's daily habits is difficult. I am fine with bitcoin staying off the high streets and focus on cross-border "internet" payment system. This is the real strength of bitcoin.

Security is a major concern with owning bitcoins. Fortunately, we are starting to see a fall in hardware wallet prices. When hardware wallets become common, newbie bitcoin users can secure their coins easily at a low cost. Having the most complex part taken care of, bitcoin should be simple enough for the average.

More people need to learn about what BTC is instead of just being told to start using it.

Thats true , but thats isn't essential. Using it and knowing how to use it is enough too.

Give it time, but to get to true mass adoption it is an issue that needs to be solved
Making it as easy as swiping a visa using your phone and loading money in and out without issue is the ideal
Still a ways away from doing that securely quickly and cheaply (Aka getting everyone to use it and scaling down costs)
But we are progressing to it just need more terminals like Stripe or Square :)

Only when they hear about the benefits of Bitcoin, such as anonymity and protection against inflation, they will start using it. So we still need to popularize it.

Yes this is obvious, but there are a lot of people that have never used a smartphone or "surfed" in the web and also there are some people never used a credit card or debit card.

As if the average person has even the remotest clue of how current monetary systems work. They even believe they have actual euros or dollars on their bank accounts.

The technicalities don't matter. It's just about creating a user-friendly, newbie-proof, non-technical software environment and ecosystem around it. Today's mobile wallets (especially bread wallet and mycelium) are already MUCH more accessible to the Average Joe than the Bitcoin-Core client (or any desktop client for that matter).

We're getting there, these processes just take time.

There are a huge number of people I know(work, family, what ever) who are still frightened by things like email and purchasing online. If I introduce Bitcoin to these people, their minds would implode. Even SIMPLY. These are the kind of people who will like the idea of Bitcoin but make some stupid mistake(store large sums online, accidentally send to wrong address, fall for scam) and forever be turned away.

Once people even learn how to use Bitcoin, I bet 99% would just say it's easier to use paypal. The problem is not just Bitcoin but the whole money system. Why do you think they call money printing Quantative easing?
 I've tried to tell people on FB that private banks under control of the FED are literally making money out of thin air but absolutely no one cares or believes me. Our system is almost so crazy that it's unbelievable, like they say if your going to lie then lie big. Imagine a news report came out that some guy got caught making fake bank accounts wih billions of dollars, people would be pretty quick to say he should be stopped and arrested. People can't understand things as they are now, they only understand things from a mainstream perspective they have been programmed to get.


Only one way people are going to get it is a currency collapse. I'm sorry to say it but people deserve to suffer one due to their apathy and ignorance. People need to be woken up to what is being done in their name to to them, and that includes tons of illegal wars made possible by monopoly money printing and that theft of money from the lower classes to fuel the political class.

I'm doing some online banking now and it sucks balls and involves many stupid steps and hassle. I'm not sure once bitcoin gets more and more easy the technical side will block most people. I think maybe people need hand holding later though and we might have some very user for some services and even 'banks' in the tradition way but based at least partially on crypto. I can easily see in a few years some progressive banks offering to help set up a abitcoin account that is used though a wallet with all the logos of the bank you bank with and loads of help menus and helplines etc. People will need handholding and possibly insurance if they make a wrong payment of maybe wallets that have in built blocks for large amounts that need bank authorisation and checking etc,

IF someone really wants to create a kind of centralised Bitcoin bank that handholds people like traditional banks their is a lot of money to be made I think. People would be running to you in a currency crisis.

No, to clarify the statement... it's too complex if you are illiterate or are totally lost when it comes to computing or technology. I presume it won't be harder than using an ATM machine to withdraw money. In fact, when the first ATM paper money machine came out, everybody also has that kind of reserved feeling about how to go about using it and  instead prefer to withdraw money from over the bank counter. All the terms and jargon shouldn't be too complicated, once you got hold of the basic understanding.

I don't think it's that difficult. If people can online bank then they should be able to use blockchain.info.


What makes you think these things wont come? I'm sure there will be all sorts of wallet apps to do things like contactless payments and have advanced security features (finger print scanning etc).

You know what else is too complex for the average person? HTTP.

Did that stop the internet from blowing up after layers were built on top of HTTP?

I agree with the OP.  Bitcoin is too complex for the average person.

If you were to explain Bitcoin to the average person on the street, or an older family member, or someone not as computer literate as you, there eyes would probably glaze over and it would immediately go over their head.

Once we Bitcoin as easy to use as sending an email, swiping a credit card, or just tapping a sensor using NFC like Apple Pay, then we may get the average person using it.

LOL - Complex technology is a sin for some religious people and they should ignore it but they figured out how to post a blog preaching that technology is a sin even though they don't support learning about technology.

"technology is also one of the chief means by which humans attempt to create a world without God. As our technology grows more and more powerful, the illusion of control becomes increasingly more convincing."

Blockchain.info has a problem. New people hear of the blockchain and they think Blockchain.info is THE site to go to. (Doesn't help how much it was featured on CNN's Inside Man episode).

Blockchain.info was hacked. It's not that safe, but if Bitcoin became mainstream tomorrow, Blockchain.info would have a TON of new wallets created. Think of that, while reading this: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2ohnb8/how_i_lost_15_btc_on_blockchaininfo_without_my/

Blockchain.info will look like it's the best online wallet for a newcomer, but it has many problems, and should not be suggested to those new to Bitcoin to put all of their money into it.

The best online wallet is greenAddress (multisig + 2FA). However you know it doesn't exist the 100% of security, but I agree with you because blockchain.info isn't secure and the proves exist ( a lot of hacks related to the site, the famous RNG value).

I know, my point is newcomers are going to hear of the blockchain, and will go to blockchain.info thinking it's the official wallet. I don't know how we, as a community, can stop that from happening....

First you will need to give definition of average person.
Who is average Joe?
40 or 50 years old, married, playing games on Internet and sending emails?
For such average Joe I don't see any problem to understand the concept of BTC and start using it.
I would rather say that average persons never heard about BTC or if they hear about it, they don't see the reasons to use it.
In my opinion, this is the real issue with BTC.

The age doesn't matter at all. You obviously do not understand the term. The average Joe has trouble taking screenshots on a computer, how do you expect them to understand BTC?
I'm pretty sure the majority (or a good part) of BTC users understand it superficially anyways.

Same thing with the internet... only those with a strong technological and financial inclination will jump all over it.

It's too complex because, well, it's not, the average person is not very smart... they can barely use a computer... 2P stated that.

Not only that, they think they know what they're doing but they don't, not only that, they get mad when you show them the right way.

Insanity's not doing the same thing over and over again, it's doing it over and over again expecting different results - Albert Einstein

Technology follows a "Line of Divination" or is what I call it...

-Nerds are always on top, once it's out, nerds want it to study it.  IE: Bill Gates & Comptuers, Mark Zuckerberg and Social Media & so on.
-Then businesses, they see that there is a lot more money to be made, for them it's a time to hog the good money now.
-Government gets in because they're scared the mean will be more powerful than they are, regulation comes... IE: DMCA, PIPA, SOPA, etc...

If the nerds and businesses benefit from it, then the government will say how good it is and start using it themselves... at that time though, it's too late, all the money has already been made.  It's the same thing with the Gold Rush syndrome... everyone remembers those old timers in 1849 who's pick up baseball sized nuggets out of creeks, overnight riches.  So they hear of a new gold rush thinking they'll go somewhere thinking they'll just pick baseball sized nuggets.

The new ones who came had a lot more work cut out for them to turn a profit and many failed.  One man's fortune is another man's pain.

It's not too complex, the average person is not interested in this kind of stuff... I tried, only 2-3 wanted to get into it, the other hundred got their heads so far up their wive's anus, even a bullhorn wouldn't fend them off. 

Plus when it comes to money, people want the sure, secure, protected and insured solution and cryptos are none of that.

They never had to live through a great depression and those who did seem fine with another one.. been there done that, who cares?

Even giving Bitcoin's not an easy task to someone who doesn't understand economics nor technology...

The internet is far more complicated than bitcoin. Which is why the internet has been such a miserable failure.

When Bitcoin goes mainstream, all that Average Joe is going to see and know is, User Name & Password & how much is in their "account".
All the addresses/privatekeys/confirmations/coinbases/txid/fees/etc will all be hidden behind a nice bland user interface.
Average Joes won't even truly understand what their private key is and will care even less about the advantage of decentralization.
The wallet program will maintain everything/encrypt/decrypt/key generation/etc., but will be hidden and only found after clicking the "Advanced" button.
And when you click that button, a message will popup, "Warning: Only advanced Bitcoin users should proceed. Changing any settings could harm your Wallet".
Average Joe will not proceed.
IMO, this will be the reality till one generation of the above stated user is gone.
Then Average Joe's children will understand, probably around 2050 AD.

You are pretty right on this! As per now it is pretty hard , though it has really been better than before and it will get better in future and soon enough good enough to be understood by anyone Hopefully :)

Give Bitcoin some time....
Soon, the average person will think of his wallet as some kind of bank account. He really won't care about anything else.

Bitcoin is as it is, and it will find targeted audience no matter how "complicated" it is. And in the end whats so complicated about it, its not like every user has to
know to sign a message, or mass with private keys. even with basic bitcoin client, all you have to do is imput reciever address and click send..
they dont need to know all the process behind it to be able to use it..

cheers

Yes, for now it is. But it is new technology and in next years will simplify enough and become more secure.

The topic of money itself is too complicated for the average person, yet people still use it. Bitcoin is no different.

It is not a big deal because people do not need to understand how Bitcoin works in order to use it.

Pretty much true, we'll pick up more people from the mainstream to use this evolutionary technology the easier it is to use w/o them having to go through the learning curve that most of us have went through. As in, tech advances allowing them to use it w/o totally realizing the finesse points. Iron-clad wallets, exchanges and apps that allow them to use it painlessly in a related fashion of how they spend/use/store their fiat. The rest of what Bitcoin has to offer will add the bonus factors.

Its not just a feeling its a reality, services need to simplfy BTC for the average person.  Sites like changetip are great for this as they offer easy use but then there is always the option to withdraw and go full bitcoin.

and bitcoin wallet itself it need to be simplified so user can use it easily like web browser, and more importantly more informative.

If everything gets fixed and fully implemented, the average person won't even have to worry. It'll be as seamless as using a debit card. Paper wallets, on the other hand, I foresee a lot of people possibly hording in the future like bearer bonds. It's just an added feature to create value. But what's cool is if you ever decide to use paper wallets, it's as easy as taking it to the merchant and scanning the code, whereas consuming bearer bonds require a lengthy process. Yeah, I'd say it's pretty well thought-out.

bitcoin many stories about this that I hear and unique, for it is good news I believe.
make it a spirit. because I have not experienced it directly

I am talking about western countries..
There is less than 10% of EU that has a "old" non-smartphone.

So honestly that isnt a problem..

Its telling people about the benefits instead of talking about the scams and silk road.

Yes, I agree with this.
We just need more merchants to accept BTC, because right now average person can't spend his bitcoin funds in to many places on Internet.
We want public to use bitcoin for buying and selling digital products, not like investment.

I talk about all the World, there are more than 1 mld of person who don't have an internet connection (and worse a smartphone with a mobile connection). So at the moment bitcoin is not fort all the world , maybe in the future the things will change.

Why go after something that is impossible, instead of going after what is possible to do.

I got that feeling too, I am so sad that bitcoin has also stopped growing and remains inaccessible to common people. I can't send btc to any of my friends and family because none of them have taken the time or energy to figure out how to use it

If the price ever hits $1000, you will suddenly find all the average person will become a smart person. The problem is also because people are too lazy to learn. If they notice that bitcoin has the potential to become higher, suddenly you will see people developing to interest to learn up everything there is to know about bitcoin. Right now, it's too damn difficult and it's certainly not worth the time spent to learn up.

all what you wrote is fine. The problem is, it does not apply to many people who are not able to handle computers that well, e.g., elderly people. In their case it is not laziness and I don't think they will become bitcoin enthusiast any time soon.

but because the people know bitcoin can be money, therefore they want to use it, even though they were idiots

Pretty much. I know many people who didn't like it because they couldn't understand it.

It is not that complicated to use blockchain! You buy/earn/receive some bitcoins then two type of addresses, private and public, you click send, copy paste the public address, done!

i do not think so...

mobile wallets/apps,
are really very easy to use...
in the last year thw really matter,
it was,
and i hope not will be,
the bitcoin price...

i'm sure if the price restart to rise,
the interest comeback too.

Nope! that's not true!
It was complex once but now every average guy knows internet and google teaches it all easily

Although the future is unknown,
many are wondering what it will do to the value of bitcoin. BTC does not operate in a vacuum. learning is important, but the decree of government regulations and a country that will affect the price of the bitcoin. More countries are receiving, then the price will be improved

i remember when android was released, at that time everyone uses blackberry or symbian phone. no one understand what android offer, but then ppl start using android and even bbm was ported into android, and android got better games than symbian.

thats what will be needed for bitcoin to reach the masses.

No one knows how fiat, banks or credit card work, they still use it.

The only thing that make things complicated is the way how people perceive and understand things. An average person doesn't need to have an in-depth knowledge of how is money made; he just needs to know why is it needed, how was it used, and who are the people using it. Same as your food. You don't know how it was made/processed but in the end, you'll end up eating it because you need it. Understand the basics and surely you'll go fine.  ;)

Indeed. The end user experience is what counts. It's up to the BTC space to streamline that and convey the underlying benefits.

What bitcoin really needs is the support, adoption and knowledge of the general public to it. As the given quotes stated above, Android was once an unknown technology introduced by Google and other companies but once it reached the masses, it was quickly understood and seen widespread use all around the world.

Drop the nonsense please. How many air passengers know aerodynamics and internals of jet engines? Can average office user name even one layer of OSI model before sending that print job to a network copier? My 80 years old uncle blown away every time fax machine sucks sheet of paper on one end and it comes out of another fax machine across the town (he thinks it's magic). Throughout the history we have been using tech very few of us truly understood, but all those brilliant engineers made it easy for the rest of us because all the complexities of engineering and technology have been hidden behind simple and functional user interfaces. Bitcoin tech is no different - it's in very early stage with a lot of brilliant scientists, engineers and coders working on it while the rest of us posting dumb things on the forum. Give it some time and you see how simple Bitcoin tech can be for an average user. 

Do people how cars work? How smartphones work? How computers work? Nnnnope. Yet everyone uses it.
Bitcoin's use is going to be exponentially simpler, and knowing how it works its irrelevant to the average joe.

i think it's easy.  don't try running bitcoin core as a noob.  sign up for coinbase or equivalent and you're all set.

Just ask some one to log into blockchain.info and send them $5 while they are looking at the screen and it goes beep. And then you show them how you had them give you an address,  and that is how you send a coin to someone. But they need to be logged in and looking at bitcoin for this to work… Don't make a fuss over passwords or 2FA… They'll figure that out, and at this point once they have the $5 you can begin talking about security and what being your own bank REALLY means.  Then they will understand the importance of Farm to table… You cannot eat bitcoins lol.

Said it all!
Today with google, everything becomes easy.

I think the main two things that the average person needs to understand and that simplify things a lot in their head are:

1) The relashionship between private key and public bitcoin address.
Any random 256 bits, that is, 256 zeros and ones can be picked and the corresponding bitcoin address will be yours because everything you need to control a public bitcoin address is its private key.
2) Bitcoins only exist as virtual balances associated with a bitcoin address as a result of previous transactions related to that address that are recorded on a global ledger that is recorded and replicated in every computer node on the network.
What you need to keep and can copy to a USB, to a CD, or to a paper, or even email to yourself and friends is the private key.
To protect your private keys you need to encrypt your wallet.
Bitcoins are not created. They simply enter circulation given as a reward to those that secure the network "mining" the proof-of-work that garantees all transactions enter the global ledger in the correct order.


If these two things are mastered and understood deeply the average Joe will have no problems with bitcoin, i'm telling you.

See my youtube video production: "United Colors of Bitcoin".

I like where you're heading. There does come up a problem in this case. What I've been usually asked is 'how are Bitcoins created' and 'aren't they just fake money' (where people do not seem to understand the difference between the virtual currencies such as gold in certain games and digital currencies).
I have no problem explaining the mining process, but that is where the problem occurs. Most of the time they do not understand and that's when they start doubting me. This is known as 'personal incredulity'.                 Because people find something difficult to understand (in this case the mining process, or Bitcoin in general), or are unaware of how it works, they will make it out like it's probably not true.                                              

This is one of the reasons that every now and then we stumble upon someone who believes that Bitcoins can be indefinitely created.
Lack of knowledge inevitably leads to lack of understanding.

@LaudaM, you should reply to these person : aren't fiat money fake? When a government printing his money ...
bitcoin isn't falsifiable and this is a great thing.

It is misleading to say that bitcoins are created or that they exist at all.
It is much better to think of them as virtual balances.
The network and the bitcoin protocol ruled by the majority of nodes on the network limits the total amount of bitcoins in balances at any given time, as they enter circulation in a schedule known in advance.
That makes each amount in a virtual balance rare, and because they have usefulness as a medium of exchange, the laws of supply and demand will apply determing its market value, known as bitcoin price.
They are fake money indeed, they are not legal tender. But that doesn't imply that they don't have value.
Of course, were they legal tender their usefulness as a medium of exchange would be much greater and would make its price skyrocket. But the beauty of it is that unlike fiat it doesn't need to be forced upon people for it to acquire a significant amount of value.

Understanding these things might be the hardest computer knowledge most people I've known would have mastered yet if they learn it. They wouldn't know how to copy something to CD and don't know what USB means.

I don't discuss bitcoin or linux with the average person. Its not worth the hassle.

Fortunately, only half of the population is average or below ... for the rest of us, there is bitcoin.

I would say seeing the today's hype in science and technology , Op's average is less then half

Yes! so the point here is more like that it will become more and more simple as more people start using it

All hail google

and real world usage, like car/house lease which always connect to internet and when ppl send btc to the printed btc adress, then the car/house will be unlocked. also other thing like phone bill, utilities (phone/water/eletricity) they all can be made payable by bitcoin.
moving further maybe blockchain can be broadcasted by radio too ?

Not google, youtube, people tend to learn better with video tutorials than reading.

This is true! Many of us are kinetics learners, which basically means we learn by doing! With bitcoin we must all go through the motions
of buying selling and using bitcoin to really grasp how to us it.

Well in order to be able to properly secure bitcoin, you will need to posses significantly above average technical skills, as well the ability to anticipate potential future attacks (if there was a 'standard' security protocol to follow then potential attackers could try to poke holes in such security protocol and steal large amounts of money from lots of people). 

yeah bitcoin is complex for new user, especially people who didn't quite understand about internet and technology
from my experience, i spent a lot time before understand how bitcoin works :(
and it's difficult to explain that to new user. many user afraid using bitcoin for transaction if they still didn't understand it

Computers are too complex for average people, yet here we are using them.

People will innovate ways to make user adoption easier. They will be rewarded handsomely, and one day we'll wonder how we ever existed without it.

Bitcoins are really simple, just download the app and start receiving and sending money!

Credit cards are way more complex, with plastic cards and pos readers and shitty modules and hidden commissions and cloning and so...

agree with this one, credit card is more complex, yet many people using that for daily transaction
I hope many "average person" will try to understand bitcoin and using it for daily transaction in the future

It's not that difficult at all. I provided a link to a family member to download the wallet.

And everything else was so easy (setting up, sending and receiving, etc) that he didn't ask me for help.

He had everything set up and was ready to go. He bought $50 worth of Bitcoin and got it instantly in his wallet.

It is a non tech person, if he can do it, then others can as well.

It's definitely complex to understand for a common man as it is more like a virtual currency. For me, I took about 2-3 months to really find the use of bitcoins and now I have a lot more to learn about it.

Bitcoin isn't too complex. The only thing you absolutely  need to know to use Bitcoin is how to copy + paste and address, click on a bitcoin URI or scan a barcode. Most wallets now have a wizard that guides the user through creating the wallet password protecting it and backing it up.

Yes, I have feeling this.

It's not much easy for new users. I think it will take me a very long time to learn about BitCoin

you have to adapt,times are changing.

What? average person does not need to know anything about it besides that he can pay with it

this is how average ppl end up losing bitcoin... they need to know how to backup ther wallet at least

Which could be as simple as "backing up" your CC.

the main causes to wallet problem are:
1) many ppl lost/forgot theyr password: are no longer able to login or they lost password after wallet encryption.
2) many ppl do not undertand well how to handle wallet.dat file.

I think this may be true, though all you need is a smartphone, and I think they can handle that.

A bigger danger is things like "every address and its corresponding private key is on the internet" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=923636.msg10455457#msg10455457) that will scare the crap out of the average person and make them think their money is not safe or will not be safe in the future.

Try Getgems (http://getgems.org/), made with the main goal of being simple to use.

It is too complex for the average person. And beyond much cultural understanding too... if people still don't use banks in some lesser-developed countries because they don't trust them (literally) then they sure aren't going to trust their money to an app on their phone.

The only thing I don't understand about it is the price . Its 260 now, and in 10 minutes it got pumped up to here.
Hpw in the world does this happen ?

The Wall Street Journal article that just popped up, maybe?


BIT Poised to Become Publicly Traded Bitcoin Fund
Fund has been racing against rival offering from Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss

http://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-investment-trust-gets-finras-ok-to-become-public-bitcoin-fund-1425242094

the average person is what drives the world.  Bitcoiners are idiots for making a niche target that only works for and is understood by 0.001% of the world.  Until Bitcoin changes its language and gets some easy to use apps, it will continue to be a laggard.

Same way it will rise to 2600 later, and 26,000 some time after that, and so on.

Credit Card ?

how ? if I lost my CC, or i lost my pin,  i just call my bank and request another one.  what happen if i lost my bitcoin pin or wallet ? call bitcoin foundation ?

I agree, even the exchange can't make sure their coins is safe from the hackers, coins security will be one of the biggest problem in Bitcoin development.

yah, that's why I sold all mine at $8

why sold all ?
i bought potcoin and when it price doubled i sell more than half  but not all, essentially i own free potcoin. why sell all ?

i assume that next we have bank style bitcoin

for the same reason I sold all my Xcelera (XLA), I guess

My grandma just asked me to set aside a week so that I can train her how to sign in to websites (the username and password boxes). She's been trying for weeks to figure it out. She is financially successful, has travelled from country to country and so on, but the supposed complexity of this is just terrorizing her to the core.

Well the difference between bitcoin and credit cards in this regard is that if someone messes up the security of their credit card (eg their credit card number somehow leaks) then the issuing bank will protect them from losses, however if someone messes up the security with their bitcoin (eg their private key leaks) then their money will be gone forever.

It is the nature of bitcoin and every one who want to use bitcoin at large scale must understand the underlying complexity to increase the security and avoid loss

Except blockchain, there are no definite truth on internet, every truth could be a fake in user's local network segment, so there are numerous ways to do phishing or man in the middle attack on bitcoin: Fake websites, fake clients, fake identities... Users must have a good understanding about what security risks are involved in a bitcoin transaction, and that is getting harder each day when bitcoin becomes more valuable and popular

There will be security firms that specialized in handling bitcoin security, or education to increase the user's awareness of security risk

agree, its inevitable if the price of bitcoin will reach, say 100.000 usd per btc

maybe the main thing about bitcoin, how it works, blockchain and also downloading the 30 GB of data for a wallet! is kind of complex, i agree. but i think if we want to make it simpler there should be legit, secure and trustworthy services like online wallets namely blockchain.info, coinbase, xapo and so on so people can just buy and use bitcoin with simple clicks and fast

I think that average person on Internet don't have problem understanding the words Blockchain, Decentralization, etc. If they want, they can find out in 5 minutes. Much more serious issues for average person is question about instability of BTC, its value, price going up and down all the time...
Old users can see it as good opportunity to earn good money on BTC but this can scare average because they don't understand nature of BTC.

I think wallets will become more secure over time too. Both hardware wallets and desktop and online ones. I think maybe biometrics with 2-factor such as mobile phone will prevent scammers from stealing funds but as with any payment system there will likely be weak links.

Because sending your money with a biometric 2-factor ID will still not stop sending money to fake websites, lol. Good in theory, but just like people look for the https nowadays, there will have to be a sign for trustworthy websites, they'll probably have to prove they're trustworthy and not a scam somehow to get approved by something/someone/gov't? before people trust them.....

I am inclined to agree. For most, the process of downloading a wallet, installing it, allowing the blockchain to download and take up 20+GB of space, then trying to figure out how to secure it, and acquire Bitcoin, is daunting and intimidating to them.

However there does seem to be an influx of services and even technology built on top[ of the blockchain, that is aimed towards the 'average joe' and adapting to their needs. Things like Bitpay take a lot of the hurt out of the process for non-technical minded folks, and wallets like blockchain.info and even electrum also absorb some of the brunt.

Maybe over time the core Bitcoin wallet will evolve into a much more user friendly experience, and maybe more technologies will be created to make buying, selling, using and trading bitcoin as simple as a few clicks and easy enough for my grandmother to use (she is so technically-declined that she used to think that her dial-up internet would interfere with her tv shows, so she would never let anyone in the same room as the computer when her show was on).

:)

People should stop telling newcomers to use Blockchain.info....

lack of faith ?

if new people go on blochain.info, thinking who blockchain.info it is THE BLOCKCHAIN, the problem is their.
if you want to use a new tool, a minimum of documentation is required...
you can not use a chainsaw to cut nose hairs!!!

  ;D ;D ;D ;D

AHAHA LOL...

you made me laugh!!!
but why you don't use a tomahawk to cut you nose hairs???
sorry for the OT,
but i have not resisted

 ;D ;D ;D

Yes, all altcoins except MSC and XMR are pump and dumps, so get your money (BTC) and run.

I agree with the op, bitcoin can be a bit overwhelming to the newbie

You can only guide and protect people so far before they have to take care of themselves. If people send money to phishing sites then there's nothing you can really do about that other than they get a costly lesson and they hopefully wont do it again.

If in the right locale, nothing about bitcoin is an insurmountable difficulty.

Day 1: Point noob at a service such as Circle - the service will guide them within a few minutes to their first bitcoin acquisition.
Noob buys something from Dell, or Overstock, or Expedia, or...

At this point, they are using crypto. They've spent a grand total of well under an hour. They're either intrigued enough to start studying, or they're not ready.

----
responsible followup may include:

- Tell noob that, though Circle (or any such service) seems so far to be legit, there is always a risk in entrusting the private keys of more than a trivial amount of XBT to another has inherent risk.

- Introduce noob to Electrum or other SPV client. Show how transfers work.

- Get noob to spend an hour browsing bitcoin.it.

- Intro noob to this forum.

- Explain full node concept, install Bitcoin Core.

Or whatever.

----

But anyone that can create an account on (e.g.) gmail -- or even AOL -- can sign up with a service like Circle in a matter of minutes and be using crypto with minimal effort. And the example of Circle is just the first generation of what will be a succession of business layers simplifying the use of crypto for people for a fee.

You have a source for any hacks? This looks like a technical problem, and while blockchain's fault, it doesn't qualify as a third party intrusion.

Yes there are sources, there were lots of news articles about the blockchain.info hacks. I was responding to people who would suggest using blockchain.info for people to store all their Bitcoins, when the site is just not safe for multiple reasons, not just because they're inept in saving all private keys, and not just third party intrusions. If hackers go after Windows more than other operating systems because average joes who can't protect themselves use it, think of Blockchain.info as the Windows of all Bitcoin wallets. It's going to be a target for as long as it's the most used.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/interview-johoe-hacker-returned-800-bitcoins/

http://www.bitcoinaffiliatenetwork.com/blog/bryan/how-hackers-used-tor-to-rob-blockchain-info-and-localbitcoins-users/

but he sold all bitcoin for 8 usd because lack of faith ?

Such people stay among the average and never really achieve anything in life. The process of learning how to use Bitcoin was actually quite fun for me back in the day. As time passes by it will probably get easier, with better tutorials and explanations. A lot of things are way too complex for the average person, so this shouldn't be surprising.