Everyone who's going to hear about bitcoin has heard about it

[CryptoTrout]

i meet people who have never heard of bitcoin all the time

[MUFC]

True, but there's a universe of difference between hearing a word and actually knowing all it entails.

I obtained my first mobile phone around fifteen years after becoming aware of them. I had heard of the internet many years before i actually got on there and realised the potential.

I first read of btc in 2009 but didn't bother to comprehend it until 2012/13.

Reminded me of White men can't jump scene where woody and wes are fighting over Hearing Jimmy and Listening to Jimmy.  Many have "Listened" about bitcoin but few have really "Heard" about bitcoin.  Here's the clip from the movie:

https://youtu.be/WIgODEvUTgU [NSFW]

Completely agree... How many times each of us has heard about Bitcoin and dismissed it before jumping in a year or two later? Even Andreas A. has dismissed Bitcoin as useless "nerd's money" first time around, just to become Bitcoin evangelist a year later. It's a common story around here.

This is true about most new things. With bitcoin as pretty much anything else there will be waves on adopters, but like the internet or computers or mobiles phones it could become where it's just another every day thing. This wont happen overnight and will take some time but it certainly could happen for us if we just have some patience.

I think we still have a ways to go, we need more big companies under our belt to be able to really reach the layperson. I believe Overstock is currently the biggest retailer we have which is really awesome, it's just a bit of a shame that they don't seem to have Bitcoin mentioned anywhere on their front page, it's only when you go to pay that you get the option. People need to be able to see the Bitcoin logo more places online, if the word Bitcoin is always popping up, eventually some will try to learn more about it.

I've seen the PerfectMoney, Webmoney, and other logos about 10,000 times. I've never felt the desire to learn more about them. Why? Because I'm doing fine with the things I'm using now. I won't start using something new unless I get a big discount. It might be the same with most people and bitcoin.

Yes but nobody talks about PM or WM and those rare people that do don't put it across with nearly the same amount of energy as when Bitcoin folks talk about Bitcoin. The reason is simple, PM and WM have never made anyone rich and hope is not a sentiment associated with these two. Bitcoin on the other hand has made plenty of nouveau riche and has given plenty more people hope. The energy involved is not nearly as dull as with PM and WM. The person who's seen the BTC logo 10,000 times only has to speak with 1 BTC enthusiast to have a good feel of this energy. Having the Bitcoin logo displayed in more places is never going sway the whole world, it merely increases the likelihood of the Bitcoin fever spreading  

Bitcoin is different from things like PerfectMoney etc because not only is it a payment processor, but it's something completely revolutionary in that it is it's own decentralized currency as well. Bitcoin really has the power to change things and make people's lives better, PerfectMoney doesn't - it's just a money transmitter at the end of the day.

[Lauda]

They were trained to be guided and told what to do.
Ever since they stepped foot in school.
They "taught" them all the things they need to DO and only what they wanted them to know.

Well if you put it like that, it would mean that the ones that are awake are either special or haven't gone to school (?).
I guess it will take us a lot of years before people really catch on and Bitcoin becomes more mainstream.

[stromma44]

It's not true. Still many people are not aware about bitcoins and its functioning. They would have heard but dont possess any knowledge how it works. Thing at present is that everyone is so addicted to smartphones that they can't take their eyes off it so how can they know about bitcoins??

[Omikifuse]

i meet people who have never heard of bitcoin all the time

same.

Not everyone pay attention to CNBC and Yahoo/Google Finance, or even use Internet too much.

Some people just don't care about finances, so they won't care or give any importance to bitcoin and stuff

[CoinBateman]

Hearing about bitcoin is a long shot from knowing the uses, and adopting it some aspect of their life.
Even in countries such as Korea where Bitcoin ATM's are everywhere, hardly any businesses will accept bitcoin and more so, the general public are still at large oblivious to what exact it is.

Bitcoin does have some challanges and hurdles, which to the general public is quite hard to overcome.
Over time, i expect alot of the services developed for bitcoin will help people get into crypto with little barriers of entry.

[zendantom]

Hearing about bitcoin is a long shot from knowing the uses, and adopting it some aspect of their life.
Even in countries such as Korea where Bitcoin ATM's are everywhere, hardly any businesses will accept bitcoin and more so, the general public are still at large oblivious to what exact it is.

Bitcoin does have some challanges and hurdles, which to the general public is quite hard to overcome.
Over time, i expect alot of the services developed for bitcoin will help people get into crypto with little barriers of entry.

Very Rightly Said. Nobody is interested in keeping an eye on financial news so how can we expect that they have heard about bitcoin. Everyone is busy with their own businesses and thinking how to make money they should start looking for diversification and thats only possible when they know what exact bitcoin is.

[Whitehouse]

All the people in the Asian and African remittance markets haven't heard about it. All the people in the gambling industry haven't heard about it. All the people in the adult/sex industry haven't heard about it. Those are three huge industries that both merchants and consumers/users can benefit from bitcoin and there's many more. Bitcoin probably hasn't even reached more than a few percent of its true potential. It can easily go global so I disagree massively with this thread.

[ebliever]

In 1955 most people had heard about "computers" in the U.S. Doesn't mean they were using them. Ditto with cell phones in 1990, or GPS technology around that time. So it's fallacious to say we are anywhere near a ceiling based on minimal awareness.

[spazzdla]

You're not going to find a middle class guy who is remotely tuned in to CNBC or Yahoo/Google Finance who hasn't heard of bitcoin by now.

In the past, bitcoin expanded into new demographics. It started with the Slashdot crowd in 2009. Then the Wired/Silk Road article crowd in 2011. Then expanding more towards the VICE/Reddit/CNBC crowd in early 2013. By late 2013, it was on major network television in places like China, Russia, India, etc. You can't be a Wall Street Journal reader or a Google Finance reader without having read about bitcoin. It's been on the front page multiple times.

The next push won't be expanding into a new demographic. It will have to be on the strength of the technology itself.

So like.. 1% of the population has heard of BTC... such large %  ...........

[jehst]

In 1955 most people had heard about "computers" in the U.S. Doesn't mean they were using them. Ditto with cell phones in 1990, or GPS technology around that time. So it's fallacious to say we are anywhere near a ceiling based on minimal awareness.

Yes, which brings us to the "strength of the technology" point. People heard about computers in 1950s to a sort of saturation level. Then it took improvements in the tech to foster further adoption. I believe the "easy-gains" (of speculative investment and attention) that come from expanding from obscurity into celebrity are over. Now bitcoin will (or won't) progress based on what it can actually do. I'm not saying any kind of ceiling has been reached, except the ceiling of novelty.

[shulio]

In 1955 most people had heard about "computers" in the U.S. Doesn't mean they were using them. Ditto with cell phones in 1990, or GPS technology around that time. So it's fallacious to say we are anywhere near a ceiling based on minimal awareness.

Yes, which brings us to the "strength of the technology" point. People heard about computers in 1950s to a sort of saturation level. Then it took improvements in the tech to foster further adoption. I believe the "easy-gains" (of speculative investment and attention) that come from expanding from obscurity into celebrity are over. Now bitcoin will (or won't) progress based on what it can actually do. I'm not saying any kind of ceiling has been reached, except the ceiling of novelty.

Why do you think that bitcoin cant progress on it is now? Bitcoin may not have a lot of space for progress but atleast it is the technology that will be use in the future. Furthermore what we need is just to educate people on how awesome bitcoin is if you compared it to fiat

[jehst]

In 1955 most people had heard about "computers" in the U.S. Doesn't mean they were using them. Ditto with cell phones in 1990, or GPS technology around that time. So it's fallacious to say we are anywhere near a ceiling based on minimal awareness.

Yes, which brings us to the "strength of the technology" point. People heard about computers in 1950s to a sort of saturation level. Then it took improvements in the tech to foster further adoption. I believe the "easy-gains" (of speculative investment and attention) that come from expanding from obscurity into celebrity are over. Now bitcoin will (or won't) progress based on what it can actually do. I'm not saying any kind of ceiling has been reached, except the ceiling of novelty.

Why do you think that bitcoin cant progress on it is now? Bitcoin may not have a lot of space for progress but atleast it is the technology that will be use in the future. Furthermore what we need is just to educate people on how awesome bitcoin is if you compared it to fiat

Many reasons. Two that come to mind:

1. The bitcoin ecosystem is rife with hacks, theft, and fraud. It's not ready for grandma to use.
2. Scalability.

We are working on these things. Bitcoin's current state is not suitable for most regular people's use.

[shulio]

In 1955 most people had heard about "computers" in the U.S. Doesn't mean they were using them. Ditto with cell phones in 1990, or GPS technology around that time. So it's fallacious to say we are anywhere near a ceiling based on minimal awareness.

Yes, which brings us to the "strength of the technology" point. People heard about computers in 1950s to a sort of saturation level. Then it took improvements in the tech to foster further adoption. I believe the "easy-gains" (of speculative investment and attention) that come from expanding from obscurity into celebrity are over. Now bitcoin will (or won't) progress based on what it can actually do. I'm not saying any kind of ceiling has been reached, except the ceiling of novelty.

Why do you think that bitcoin cant progress on it is now? Bitcoin may not have a lot of space for progress but atleast it is the technology that will be use in the future. Furthermore what we need is just to educate people on how awesome bitcoin is if you compared it to fiat

Many reasons. Two that come to mind:

1. The bitcoin ecosystem is rife with hacks, theft, and fraud. It's not ready for grandma to use.
2. Scalability.

We are working on these things. Bitcoin's current state is not suitable for most regular people's use.

Fiat is surrounded with the same things as well , theft, fraud, launder and such but I agree that it will be hard for a grandma to use especially it involves in copying and paste-ing address which is hard for the old person to do. But all this reason doesnt mean that we cant educate people in using it. The same thing with computer, all I remembered that it takes a lot of cash just to learn Microsoft Words when there is a "computer" coming into my country

[BillyBobZorton]

You're not going to find a middle class guy who is remotely tuned in to CNBC or Yahoo/Google Finance who hasn't heard of bitcoin by now.

In the past, bitcoin expanded into new demographics. It started with the Slashdot crowd in 2009. Then the Wired/Silk Road article crowd in 2011. Then expanding more towards the VICE/Reddit/CNBC crowd in early 2013. By late 2013, it was on major network television in places like China, Russia, India, etc. You can't be a Wall Street Journal reader or a Google Finance reader without having read about bitcoin. It's been on the front page multiple times.

The next push won't be expanding into a new demographic. It will have to be on the strength of the technology itself.

I heard of Bitcoin years before I even cared to actually use it. "Hearing about Bitcoin" in some vague headline doesn't mean understanding what the fuck is Bitcoin and why you are literally retarded if you aren't getting in at specially the current mega low price. But you know what? People that chose to ignore Bitcoin don't deserve benefiting from it, so fuck them, they'll be late and sorry, we'll be sooner and celebrating.

[torrentheaven]

I think there are many  people who have heard about the bitcoins but don't know the actual functioning of bitcoin. So i dont agree with the above thread that everyone has heard about the bitcoin. Hearing about a bitcoin n knowing it thats make a vast difference.

[alani123]

I think there are many  people who have heard about the bitcoins but don't know the actual functioning of bitcoin. So i dont agree with the above thread that everyone has heard about the bitcoin. Hearing about a bitcoin n knowing it thats make a vast difference.

I'll have to agree. I've stumbled upon several people that have heard the word but have no idea what bitcoin is. And to be honest, the whole concept sounds too good to be true at start. When I try to introduce it to friends they struggle to believe that you can use it to transfer money anywhere, at any time with close to zero costs and no restrictions at all. More people will learn how to use it day by day, I'm just hoping that the pace this keeps happening ramps up.

But hey, there are middle-aged people that refuse to use the internet still, why would we would they use bitcoin just by hearing about it?

[Pro_Crypto_Marty]

I think we still have a ways to go, we need more big companies under our belt to be able to really reach the layperson. I believe Overstock is currently the biggest retailer we have which is really awesome, it's just a bit of a shame that they don't seem to have Bitcoin mentioned anywhere on their front page, it's only when you go to pay that you get the option. People need to be able to see the Bitcoin logo more places online, if the word Bitcoin is always popping up, eventually some will try to learn more about it.

I've seen the PerfectMoney, Webmoney, and other logos about 10,000 times. I've never felt the desire to learn more about them. Why? Because I'm doing fine with the things I'm using now. I won't start using something new unless I get a big discount. It might be the same with most people and bitcoin.

As most people on this thread have pointed out, knowing about Bitcoin, has no relation to knowing what Bitcoin is, or why it's useful. I had heard of Bitcoin 2 or 3 years before actually looking up more information on what it was. As soon as I understood what it was, I was hooked.

As jehst said, people may have seen the word Bitcoin or heard it mentioned, but they don't go looking for information on what it is.

IMHO, for a large population of people to understand what it is, there needs to be a specialized nationwide commercial in each country about what is wrong with fiat money, and why Bitcoin solves those problems. Play it enough, and you'd have a LOT of new interested people.

I also wouldn't neglect the power of word-of-mouth. I've done some street-campaigning for charities like Doctors Without Borders. When this type of solicitation first began, many people had no idea what some of these charities were, even though they're pretty big. Now, I stop people on the street and most of them know what I'm talking about and had even learned about it from another person like me.

It might be difficult to apply that strategy to Bitcoin but I feel like combining media exposure with person to person interaction with informed people would make a big difference.

[gadman2]

My daughter is 1 month old today and she hasn't heard about it. But she will.

[digicoinuser]

There is still people who don't know what Bitcoin is that could benefit from its use.