The technology behind Bitcoin is not important

[countryfree]

Met a guy a few days ago, he told me he heard about BTC but he didn't quite understand how it worked. I guess I could have tried to explain (though, I'm hardly qualified for doing this) but I chose not too. Why explaining? Do people need to understand BTC to use it? I don't think so.

This very day, millions of people have been using a microwave oven, but I bet only a handful actually knows how this appliance works. I've read an article telling that millions of Americans are using Viagra. Everybody knows what it does, but who knows how it works? Same thing for computers or cars, most people don't know how they work, and they just don't care.

From now on, I propose we stop trying explaining how BTC works to people discovering it. The nerds already know about it, but to the general public, technology is not important. It's what you can do with technology which matters.

I shall just say that BTC is a new electronic currency, independent from all governments, which you can transfer safely anywhere and anytime fast and cheap.

[randy8777]

it is important. i as average joe would like to know what makes bitcoin that different and why is the technology behind it so important before using it. however this might be a personal thing. every person is different.

[Ron~Popeil]

I work in merchant services and have talked to some of my business owners about it. In sales features do not matter. Benefits are the meat of the issue so to speak. If I were to try to tell them about the technology their eyes tend to glaze over somewhat, but when I talk about the customer absorbing the tx fee and the impossibility of chargebacks I tend to get their interest. 

[asuryan180]

I work in merchant services and have talked to some of my business owners about it. In sales features do not matter. Benefits are the meat of the issue so to speak. If I were to try to tell them about the technology their eyes tend to glaze over somewhat, but when I talk about the customer absorbing the tx fee and the impossibility of chargebacks I tend to get their interest. 

Yes this is exactly right people don't want technical jargon and get bored easy as you know it also puts them off, they just want to know it is simple cheaper and more safe than what you are using currently and it is no need for all the nuts and bolts. The fact that it is free from governments will be a nice selling point to some but not the majority because they are so far in the system they don't really care, the ease that it can be used and how cheap to send world wide is what should be sold to people, let them work out the tech if and when they are ready. Nice points op.

[bornil267645]

As long as the people are getting a simple financial system that is able to maintain their day to day transaction avoiding taxes and charges, they are happy. BTC They won't ask around  about "Blockchain101" or "Encrypted Wallet"

[temroa]

of course important no big fee no long time no portatibility problem this things are great in financial world.

[gentlemand]

It's a classic tale that'll repeat forever. The techno weenies create and seed something. When they try to excite an average personage the automatic reaction will be to glaze over and run away.

It takes a different breed to understand and package the benefits for wider consumption.

Android would not have gotten anywhere if you had to go to a Linux forum, ask a bunch of questions and then download a tar.gz from a .edu mirror. That's where Bitcoin is right now.

The pros took android and gave it back to the rest of us in an easily swallowed form. That's what thousands of companies and people are working on for BTC right now.

[--Encrypted--]

not just bitcoin, most people just doesn't care about how things works as long as they have a use for it.

unless you're speaking to a nerd (can't find a good word, sorry) that happens to be on the dark about bitcoin, don't explain how it works unless you're asked to.

[Denker]

I work in merchant services and have talked to some of my business owners about it. In sales features do not matter. Benefits are the meat of the issue so to speak. If I were to try to tell them about the technology their eyes tend to glaze over somewhat, but when I talk about the customer absorbing the tx fee and the impossibility of chargebacks I tend to get their interest. 

Right. I mean how many people know how the engine of their car works?Most of them don't know and will never get it. But they know how to drive it and what is the benefit to it instead of riding a horse.

[Ron~Popeil]

It's a classic tale that'll repeat forever. The techno weenies create and seed something. When they try to excite an average personage the automatic reaction will be to glaze over and run away.

It takes a different breed to understand and package the benefits for wider consumption.

Android would not have gotten anywhere if you had to go to a Linux forum, ask a bunch of questions and then download a tar.gz from a .edu mirror. That's where Bitcoin is right now.

The pros took android and gave it back to the rest of us in an easily swallowed form. That's what thousands of companies and people are working on for BTC right now.

Simplification for the masses is crucial. Getting bitcoin into POS systems and credit card terminals via NFC would be a large step. The rest is just well thought out education initiatives.    

[xDan]

I would just say "it's a new currency with no banks involved, the money is stored on your phone". Lotta people hate banks.

[abyrnes81]

Yeah, it is very important because also if bitcoin will die (with die I want to say drop/crash to zero dollars) the blockchain will stay and with a large consensus we can create and use a new crypto currency.
Remember that bitcoin isn't perfect, but it is better than FIAT value! One day will come a new currency more better than bitcoin ( one day = > after 2050-2060).

[pawel7777]

Right. I mean how many people know how the engine of their car works?Most of them don't know and will never get it. But they know how to drive it and what is the benefit to it instead of riding a horse.

But everyone needs at least a little bit of knowledge. You don't need to know how the engine works, but you know that there is a thing called 'engine', that it requires a fuel, some maintenance etc.

No one will switch from riding a horse to driving a car without the very basic idea of how the car works.

Same with Bitcoin. Without explaining the concept of decentralisation and P2P network, most would still imagine that Bitcoin is some sort of company that sells 'currency' backed by nothing to the naive.

I would just say "it's a new currency with no banks involved, the money is stored on your phone". Lotta people hate banks.

Sure, good explanation (not quite correct, since wallet on your phone doesn't really contain any currency). But majority would struggle to comprehend that you don't need any bank or other entity to issue and control the currency.

[Denker]

Right. I mean how many people know how the engine of their car works?Most of them don't know and will never get it. But they know how to drive it and what is the benefit to it instead of riding a horse.

But everyone needs at least a little bit of knowledge. You don't need to know how the engine works, but you know that there is a thing called 'engine', that it requires a fuel, some maintenance etc.

No one will switch from riding a horse to driving a car without the very basic idea of how the car works.

Same with Bitcoin. Without explaining the concept of decentralisation and P2P network, most would still imagine that Bitcoin is some sort of company that sells 'currency' backed by nothing to the naive.

I would just say "it's a new currency with no banks involved, the money is stored on your phone". Lotta people hate banks.

Sure, good explanation (not quite correct, since wallet on your phone doesn't really contain any currency). But majority would struggle to comprehend that you don't need any bank or other entity to issue and control the currency.

I know several girls and boys in my clique who have absolutely NO idea how a car works! But they all have driver's license and can drive a car. But really absolutely no knowledge about the technic behind that.

Or use the internet as example. Most people know how to use a web browser to surf in the web. But ask them if they know what happeneds in the background when a webpage loads on the browser. The border gateway protocol routing algorithm that takes the TCP/IP package that your browser sends, uses the IP adress etc.....95% of the people have no fucking clue! But they know how to use a web browser.

We have to make bitcoin more user friendly. It feels a bit like in early 90s of the internet now without browser and search engines. I'm sure there are companies working on that.At least I hope so.

[needFREElunch]

I think that we should just explain how to use it and what it is and in basic terms why it is better but then if people ask for more about the security and the blockchain then give them the infromation.

[pleaseexplain]

I find it is always good to have a "than' in every sentence so people can relate it to something they know
eg faster and cheaper than xyz for transfering money to far off places

I also try to push the blockchain too without using the word itself
eg its a better/easier way to prove to anyone that you own something (eg your house) or to express your views (eg voting) than traditional/current ways of doing so.

and for those over 60
it is like a commune on the internet where people are trusting one another to make progress rather than sitting on our arses waiting for the government to do something

[medUSA]

From now on, I propose we stop trying explaining how BTC works to people discovering it. The nerds already know about it, but to the general public, technology is not important. It's what you can do with technology which matters.

I agree to that to a certain extent. Most new users just need to know what they can buy/do with bitcoin, how bitcoin is different to other payment systems, and what are the benefits for us. After they are interested, they will read more on the technology and understand how things are they way they are. Computer security is probably the only area new users needs to brush up on before they use bitcoin.

[Q7]

I think the best approach is rather than telling them about the technology behind, it would be better for them to discover it themselves. I'm sure most of us here have no idea about it in initially, I mean non-geeks, and once you find out how simple it is to use to transfer bitcoin to another party, naturally you will want to discover more information how the decentralization concept works and how bitcoin cannot be controlled by anybody.

[Blazr]

This is so true, but at the same time Bitcoin is kind of unique in this respect in that what makes it so useful is the gritty details that most people don't care about/understand. And if you don't know how Bitcoin works and want to use it then your only option is to blindly trust the developers, which may not be a big deal for most people but a major selling point is the lack of trust needed to make Bitcoin work so that can be a deal breaker.

Also if you are blindly trusting the developers why don't they just trust blindly trust coinbase too and keep their bitcoin online for convenience? Now everyone is using a PayPal-like service to manage their Bitcoin and we've done all this for nothing.

[OpenOcean]

It's not important for those who want to use it after the value has been created by those who will go down in history (or at least enjoy a more fulfilling life).