Something to keep in mind when explaining Bitcoin to people

[hazek]

I just read this article, completely unrelated to Bitcoin itself but highly relevant when it comes to explaining Bitcoin to people and getting them to use it so I thought I'd share it:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/10/weve-located-the-reality-distortion-field-and-its-in-the-consumers-brain/?comments=1#comments-bar

We've located the reality distortion field, and it's in the consumer's brain
For some, learning about a product shatters their illusion of understanding.

The Ars Technica readership generally prides itself on wanting to know the technical details behind products, and finding these details generally increases the average Ars reader's desire for a product. But not everybody falls into this information-loving category; for some, learning more about a product actually makes them desire it less. Now, researchers have come up with an explanation for these information foes: the added details expose their existing understanding as shallow, which leaves them disappointed.

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Continue at the link above.


As it turns out there are appear to be two groups of consumers, one that likes and wants to understand in detail how something works before buying it, and one that is perfectly happy with a simple explanation and might even dislike extra detail to the point that it would not buy the product. Someone in the comments made a really good observation:

This is a brilliant breakdown of why both Apple and Android products sell well:

Android products cater to people who want to understand what they're buying and why.

Apple products cater to people that just want something shiny without thinking about it.

(Local rule: No apple vs android debating, any posts about that will get deleted because the quote above isn't stating a scientific rule, merely a general observation that naturally has exceptions.)

I think this is important to keep in mind when you are explaining Bitcoin to potential new users. Look for cues what type of a consumer that person is and depending on how much detail they prefer, cater your explanation/pitch accordingly.

[Trader Steve]

+1

[Wekkel]

In my experience, there is a growing Android user base that would fit the 'Apple' category just nicely. Being: it should work and be a little fancy. Not users that would want to run Windows XP on their phone with Bochs or Ubuntu in dual boot

So regardless of the user-flavor, Bitcoin software should move towards usability and a good interface. From that perspective, the windows Bitcoin client is gruesome with long loading times, the blockchain seems not update-able unless you have 3 weeks to incremental update when a mere 100 days behind, and your HDD seems to die in the process (at least, it sounds as if it is dying).

What a difference with the simple BitcoinSpinner app for Android. Simple, fast and more or less 'instant payment' (if payment is made, the system announces a payment coming in). That's the way an average user would want to work with Bitcoin (and so do I). Of course, the main difference from the official client is that the Android app relies (as I understand) on a server to get blockchain information.

Nevertheless, mobile appz are showing the way forward.
*Instant payment (most payments will probably not be tampered with)
*Virtually no fees
*Nobody can stop you

Add the properties very interesting for the second/third world
*No bank account needed
*Again, virtually no fees

And for the people that frown upon fiat and central control
*Limited supply/store of value/no fraud
*Free from interference by government/monopoly

Depending on the user's interest in technique and society, you would have to focus on these aspects of Bitcoin.