Yes, you are right. And as every metaphor, it can't be perfect, otherwise it'd be the thing, rather than a representation of, a stand-in for the thing...

But also, the rewards are a temporary feature of the Bitcoin network. In only a 126 years there will be no rewards directly generated from weaving, and just as other activities, instead of magically paying for itself, it will be rewarded by those who value it.

In the case of bitcoin transactions on the network these will be the fees. People will pay to have their thread woven into the tapestry of the transactions.

Thanks for the positive reply 


And for the neutral-tending-to-negative one 


Yes, I agree: if it gets picked up, it won't replace the mining terminology, even if it is better. That is path dependency for you!


It isn't, but you are probably right, I should have "weaved" it in!


Good point. Do you think that mining is macho and admirable, while weaving is to be looked down upon?
"I strengthen the global tapestry of financial transactions. The computers? Think about weaving, that's what they do, only with numbers, not with textile fibers."

When describing what the network of computers calculating the blocks does, the metaphor of weaving is much better than that of mining:

• done together (a network)
• to strengthen the fabric (the transactions)
• intertwining threads (cryptographic functions)
• with emerging patterns (the payment or other applications)
• upon new fabrics (alt-coins, with their separate blockchains)

Also, a nice bonus, the first computers were the automated looms that were programmed with punch cards, and gave rise to the Luddite movement opposing them, just as the incumbents oppose Bitcoin, and its automation of the opaque financial system.

Check out more details and nuances in the full article I wrote for Bitcoin Magazine:
http://bitcoinmagazine.com/12311/weaving-better-metaphor-bitcoin-instead-mining/

What do you think?

After receiving this error repeatedly and finding this thread, it occurred to me that it might be due to browser incompatibilities. I switched from Chrome to Safari, and the error disappeared. I hope that anybody finding this thread again will be able to resolve the issue just like this, without the need of clicking repeatedly and crossing fingers.

Just registered, working my way up to be able to post outside of this sandbox.