What Should I Convey to Newcomers?

[charleshoskinson]

Working with several members of this community, we are going to redo my core lectures in the course over the next few weeks to better reflect a unified set of information that serves as the best summary of what Bitcoin is and why it is important- including legitimate criticisms. If you had six lectures to discuss all the high and low points of Bitcoin, then what would you emphasize? What should be mentioned? What should be left out of the discussion?

Please take the time to deeply think about these questions. I really do value your opinions. Also please do not debate the opinions of others in this thread. I want to collect everyone's ideas, not provoke a philosophical fight like the Matonis thread.

[proudhon]

Some time needs to be devoted to helping people understand what "wallet" refers to in the context of bitcoin.  Essentially, that "wallet" refers to a system that manages private keys, and that one must have control of the private key associated with a bitcoin address in order to dispense whatever value that address has associated with it.  Understanding that, I think, influences security decisions, and, I hope, rules out online wallets as safe wallets.  That, of course, emphasizes an important value of bitcoin -- namely, that it allows people to secure their own wealth.

I'm of the opinion right now that mainstream adoption of bitcoin is to some degree dependent on elevating the security education of the entire population of prospective users, because I think there's unlikely to be a safe and easy way to secure bitcoins for the foreseeable future.

[charleshoskinson]

Some time needs to be devoted to helping people understand what "wallet" refers to in the context of bitcoin.  Essentially, that "wallet" refers to a system that manages private keys, and that one must have control of the private key associated with a bitcoin address in order to dispense whatever value that address has associated with it.  Understanding that, I think, influences security decisions, and, I hope, rules out online wallets as safe wallets.  That, of course, emphasizes an important value of bitcoin -- namely, that it allows people to secure their own wealth.

I'm of the opinion right now that mainstream adoption of bitcoin is to some degree dependent on elevating the security education of the entire population of prospective users, because I think there's unlikely to be a safe and easy way to secure bitcoins for the foreseeable future.

• Should the course be wallet neutral or adopt a particular client and invest resources in educating students how to use it?
• How deep should we go in discussing transactions?

[Birdy]

Some time needs to be devoted to helping people understand what "wallet" refers to in the context of bitcoin.  Essentially, that "wallet" refers to a system that manages private keys, and that one must have control of the private key associated with a bitcoin address in order to dispense whatever value that address has associated with it.  Understanding that, I think, influences security decisions, and, I hope, rules out online wallets as safe wallets.  That, of course, emphasizes an important value of bitcoin -- namely, that it allows people to secure their own wealth.

I'm of the opinion right now that mainstream adoption of bitcoin is to some degree dependent on elevating the security education of the entire population of prospective users, because I think there's unlikely to be a safe and easy way to secure bitcoins for the foreseeable future.

• Should the course be wallet neutral or adopt a particular client and invest resources in educating students how to use it?
• How deep should we go in discussing transactions?

Maybe you could offer a fast explanation that's enough to understand what you have to know to use it and have an additional advanced stuff section for those who want to know how it works exactly.

[charleshoskinson]

Maybe you could offer a fast explanation that's enough to understand what you have to know to use it and have an additional advanced stuff section for those who want to know how it works exactly.

That's the current configuration of the course with a series of four optional advanced lectures corresponding to each major wallet client (Qt, Armory, Electrum, Multibit). I've contacted the leads of Armory and Qt to assist in vetting all the technical information conveyed is correct. If we choose to preserve this approach, then what are the absolutely essential security facts that have to be shared to users?

[proudhon]

Some time needs to be devoted to helping people understand what "wallet" refers to in the context of bitcoin.  Essentially, that "wallet" refers to a system that manages private keys, and that one must have control of the private key associated with a bitcoin address in order to dispense whatever value that address has associated with it.  Understanding that, I think, influences security decisions, and, I hope, rules out online wallets as safe wallets.  That, of course, emphasizes an important value of bitcoin -- namely, that it allows people to secure their own wealth.

I'm of the opinion right now that mainstream adoption of bitcoin is to some degree dependent on elevating the security education of the entire population of prospective users, because I think there's unlikely to be a safe and easy way to secure bitcoins for the foreseeable future.

• Should the course be wallet neutral or adopt a particular client and invest resources in educating students how to use it?
• How deep should we go in discussing transactions?

I think it should aim to be wallet neutral and try to convey something like wallet-theory.  I don't think you need to get very technical at all, and I think you can convey the right ideas in a way that most moderately intelligent internet users can understand.  I made a very brief attempt to offer a non-technical introduction to the meaning of "wallet" as it applies to bitcoin, in addition to some basic security habits.  I was aiming at those people whose security habits are really poor, and who don't understand on a very basic level what they've bought into, and who would be very unlikely to secure their bitcoins with an offline air-gapped system.  Here's the little blurb I had about the wallet jargon as it applies to bitcoin:

To access your bitcoins and transact with the network you're going to use a wallet. This will either be a piece of software you install on your computer or an online wallet service like blockchain.info. The wallet jargon is just a convenient way to refer to what's going on under the hood. Every Bitcoin address has an associated private key, and the private key is really just a string of numbers and letters. You can only spend bitcoins at addresses for which you also have the associated private key. If you happen to find somebody else's private key, then you can import it into other Bitcoin clients or online wallets and then you have the ability to spend any coins associated with that private key's addresses.

[libertine]

from a leymans point of view which I am, to fellow leymans. describing a wallet should be described as simple as possible. use metaphors lots and lots of everyday examples of things they use. like chip and pin cards, nobody would give their keys out to stranger or their email passwords. nor would they give their wallet keys out.

metaphors with things people already know are the way forward, relate to things people already use.

[charleshoskinson]

Have you guys seen my current explanation in the course? Is it in the zone or if not where does it need to go?

[Birdy]

Maybe you could offer a fast explanation that's enough to understand what you have to know to use it and have an additional advanced stuff section for those who want to know how it works exactly.

That's the current configuration of the course with a series of four optional advanced lectures corresponding to each major wallet client (Qt, Armory, Electrum, Multibit). I've contacted the leads of Armory and Qt to assist in vetting all the technical information conveyed is correct. If we choose to preserve this approach, then what are the absolutely essential security facts that have to be shared to users?

- transaction are irreversible
- the wallet stores the information to access your money, you should have a backup
- don't store really big amounts on online wallets
(advanced: - the private key is the important part)

Have you guys seen my current explanation in the course? Is it in the zone or if not where does it need to go?

Got an url for us?

[charleshoskinson]

Lol, and here I thought everyone was getting sick of seeing this:

https://www.udemy.com/bitcoin-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-crypto/

[Birdy]

I'm already put off when I have to register to watch a video (and I guess a lot of people think so).
Yes the video might very well be worth it (I see there is a lot of work put into there with 50 min+ video), but it will scare away a lot of people anyway.

[charleshoskinson]

I do not own Udemy and am just an approved instructor. Bandwidth, dashboards, good software and 24/7 uptime cost money. Udemy needs to recover it somehow. Over time and with the help of community donations, I hope we can create our own dedicated platform that is both free and registration optional

[libertine]

ok ive heard of bitcoin for 1 week.

3 low points to include:

1.drugs sites or illegal activity! say how you DO NOT want btc to be used for this. this isn't what btc is about totally use this as number 1 low point NOBODY wants to end up in prison because of btc. hopefully this will get stamped out in the near furture.
2.safety is number 2 point for me.
3.simplification. make everything 100% obvious to people who aren't even computer literate let alone basic users like me. think 70 plus year old people who know how to use chip and pin cards, maybe mobile phones or basic email.

3 plus points:
1. technology is changing the world, bitcoin is a faster, cheaper, safer more convienient way to send money
2. btc isn't competing with the banks or governments its helping them merge togerther for a safer faster healthier economy. 2008 depression helped nobody, btc could.
3. if the online community used btc worldwide thered be less paper, oil, resources wasteage and this is a big world wide problem. why waste resources when currency HAS been proven to work online i.e btc.

[charleshoskinson]

Thanks libertine

[jbreher]

I've been playing your tutorials while browsing the forum. A couple comments:

- The pink/purple link text on a medium grey background is flat out illegible at my current monitor settings - which seem to be fine for photo enhancement work. They should probably be changed.

- I tried to leave you a note to this effect on the 'Questions' portion of the courseware. I don't think the [Ask] button did anything. Firefox 20.0 on OS X 10.7.5.

- While informative, they are quite long. If the target audience are the tire-kickers, you need to edit, edit, edit. Perhaps do two on each topic - a highlights with the most crucial 15% of the material, and the current length as an 'in depth' session.

- More color & movement would help maintain focus as well.

- Personally, I disagree with libertine on the mix of 'licit'/'illicit' use. Why draw attention to something seen as a negative - at least something that carries no operational risk. (And with the name of 'libertine', I wonder if perhaps there may be an element of reverse psychology happening here

[Elwar]

I would emphasize Bitcoin as a currency to be spent as opposed to a stock to buy and sell.

Some people are put off by Bitcoin's volatility as compared to government currency but you can show that with unit cost averaging, over time the price is stable and if they use it as a currency instead of holding government currency then their purchasing power grows over time as opposed to shrinking.

[charleshoskinson]

've been playing your tutorials while browsing the forum. A couple comments:

- The pink/purple link text on a medium grey background is flat out illegible at my current monitor settings - which seem to be fine for photo enhancement work. They should probably be changed.

- I tried to leave you a note to this effect on the 'Questions' portion of the courseware. I don't think the [Ask] button did anything. Firefox 20.0 on OS X 10.7.5.

- While informative, they are quite long. If the target audience are the tire-kickers, you need to edit, edit, edit. Perhaps do two on each topic - a highlights with the most crucial 15% of the material, and the current length as an 'in depth' session.

- More color & movement would help maintain focus as well.

- Personally, I disagree with libertine on the mix of 'licit'/'illicit' use. Why draw attention to something seen as a negative - at least something that carries no operational risk. (And with the name of 'libertine', I wonder if perhaps there may be an element of reverse psychology happening here

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to start very broad and deep and then edit and refine down to something far more pure. Do you think I should add more graphics, tables, etc?

I might break the videos down to 15 minute blocks. What do you think?

[nebulus]

They need to know the basics. For example, how to calculate ROI if they are mining, or that mining does not end when all 21 mill are mined out?

[Birdy]

Afaik this is also an advantage that is rarely named:
You can prove that you have made a transaction/own a adress (due to the transaction history being stored for everyone)

Or am I wrong on this one?