Sacramento Bee article: "Bitcoin just hit a record high. But what is it . . .?"

[Uberse]

Get ready for more and more "What is Bitcoin?" (http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/technology/article178644401.html) articles and news videos that will get the most basic things wrong. For example:

You can also “mine” [bitcoins] by solving “complex math problems” with your computer in a process CNBC called “complicated, mathematical wizardry.”

Miners' ASIC-based computers really just do Herculean grunt-work --- there is nothing mysterious about it. The real "complex math problem" and "complicated mathematical wizardry" lies in the hash algorithm itself, which expands or reduces any arbitrary data-set to an alpha-numeric string of predetermined length (and even its process is totally public knowledge). For advanced hash-algorithms like the one Bitcoin uses, there is only one data-set in the universe that will produce a given hash output -- a fact that makes Bitcoin what it is now, and will be in the future. Bitcoin itself cannot be hacked and there is no black box keeping all the secrets.

Don't expect the "complex math problems" and "complicated, mathematical wizardry" pseudo-explanations to go away anytime soon. It's just the nature of journalism.

[jseverson]

Lmao. Well, to be completely fair, that information would not matter to majority of Bitcoin users. You're only really going to need that information if you plan on mining, and maybe not even then. They're getting away with it because no one really pays attention to it. Great catch though! I do agree that it shouldn't be over simplified in such a misleading way. I would be just as simple and far more accurate if they just say your computer will have to perform complicated operations to mine them.

[n4poleon]

I guess none on their teams is technically savy to walk them through, in that case, it's a 9-5 glorified gossip job at its best. They just wanted to catch the fire just to keep up and make their organization feel at bay. Sad.

[CryptoBry]

I guess none on their teams is technically savy to walk them through, in that case, it's a 9-5 glorified gossip job at its best. They just wanted to catch the fire just to keep up and make their organization feel at bay. Sad.

Well, this can expected for something even the mainstream media has not yet fully grasp at. Plus we have to understand that these media outlets are fighting for attention of the readers so they are resorting to headlines which can attract the focus/traffic they are looking for. Anyway, a bad or half-baked publicity remains to be a publicity and this can still help push the Bitcoin agenda.

[Red-Apple]

Don't expect the "complex math problems" and "complicated, mathematical wizardry" pseudo-explanations to go away anytime soon. It's just the nature of journalism.

they think they are making it easier to understand for people with not enough knowledge in the field (not tech savvy so to speak) but they go overboard and make it wrong.
and in some cases doing this, is more harmful than it is helpful to understand how bitcoin works. and the confusion it leaves behind sticks with you for a long time.

[Opquar]

They really just tried to simplify it for the casual reader and failed. Like others have said, most people won't care anyway. I doubt the writer has the slightest idea how Bitcoin is actually mined.