Why does the Slashdot crowd hate Bitcoin?

[iCEBREAKER]

Looking at the comments in the few articles about Bitcoin that appeared on Slashdot so far, it seems the Slahsdot crowd really hates Bitcoin. However I do not see an obvious reason for that? Any ideas why the Slashdot crowd hates Bitcoin?

Philipp

It’s a condition called Being a Cynical Asshole.

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[tnkflx]

Slashdot's only good for it's news, the comments are worthless...

[slaithe]

Looking at the comments in the few articles about Bitcoin that appeared on Slashdot so far, it seems the Slahsdot crowd really hates Bitcoin. However I do not see an obvious reason for that? Any ideas why the Slashdot crowd hates Bitcoin?

Philipp

It’s a condition called Being a Cynical Asshole.

Every generation has them.  While I'm cynical of buying and selling BTC, for now, I have no problem mining as long as I'm covering my electrical power costs.  However, the hate I see from some over BTC proves to me that some people are more about pissing all over everyone else's attempts rather than contributing energy and ideas to finding a solution.

[Webengers]

/. are a bunch of old fogeys that are slow to adopt new things (sometimes, anyway)

Haters gonna hate.

[Travis]

What's annoying about realizing the inherent meta-aspect of liberty the concept of bitcoin contains?  Centralized authorities have almost always had control over the monetary supply of the people and bitcoin is the first viable alternative.  I think when something as basic as currency can be shown to work effectively without control by a violent monopoly (the State), people may begin to explore that basic philosophy of liberty in other areas as well.

That. Just that.
"The gubbimint's bad, mkay?"
Bloody annoying is what it is.
Like the tech, hate the fanbois.

Then why don't you fess up with an argument shilling for the Fed if you don't like it.

And "fanboy" is hardly a justified term to use. If you are a "fanboy" for the present monetary system then put up an argument for it, instead of just calling others who are against the system "fanboys". People become "fanboys" for apple products and game consoles, not ideologies.  I don't imagine you would defend central banking, but I also must say it is very very easy to argue that the term "violent monopoly" applies to the government.

Anyways, to comment on the thread subject, it doesn't seem to be just the slashdot crowd that likes to bash bitcoin.

[JA37]

Slashdot's only good for it's news, the comments are worthless...

I wouldn't say worthless.
This guy is both spot on and quite funny while he's at it. 
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2251220&cid=36493684

[de_bert]

I wouldn't say worthless.
This guy is both spot on and quite funny while he's at it. 
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2251220&cid=36493684

first thing I noticed was "the marketing department at NVidia" - so much for spot on :-)
However I was also thinking that AMD is really profiting a lot off this...

[tnkflx]

Slashdot's only good for it's news, the comments are worthless...

I wouldn't say worthless.
This guy is both spot on and quite funny while he's at it. 
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2251220&cid=36493684

Slashdot's only good for it's news, most of the comments are worthless... ;-)

[Tasty Champa]

I look at /. once or more a day just to stay up with whatever crazy shit is going on in the world, quite often it is very interesting. The comments however have indeed downgraded because it's just not fun being surrounded by relentless bastards who do nothing but complain or target the OP.
So most people left to brighter more intellectually refined and delightful places to be.
Sometimes when I'm feeling happy I notice I haven't been there lately.
/. told me about bitcoins a long time ago back when cpu mining was fruitful.

[sodgi7]

Slashdot is filled with ignorant people who have no idea what they are talking about. Basically they are borrowing somebodies views and just blasting them everywhere in the forums without having any opinion of their own about the topic whatsoever.

[Technopope]

It may, btw, also have to do with the terribly inaccurate reporting on Slashdot:
http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/06/19/2125252/Bitcoin-Price-Crashes

The linked to article is completely accurate. The opinions in the comments are mixed, but many make interesting observations that ring true, even if they are negative..

Maybe it is us here are are biased ones...

[de_bert]

The linked to article is completely accurate. The opinions in the comments are mixed, but many make interesting observations that ring true, even if they are negative..

Maybe it is us here are are biased ones...

Yes, I admit, this is one of the more accurate summaries. It was just the title that set me off (I mean, the price did not just drop - someone bought out the whole Mt. Gox market, because he could, because he had illgotten coins at his disposal).

[Karen Palen]

I'm a slashdot guy and I don't hate bitcoin. I don't love it either though.
I do however find the rampant libertarianism that comes with bitcoin somewhat annoying.

I too am a Slashdotter who is pretty neutral about BitCoin!

Like Libertarianism itself Bitcoin is going through a transition from elegant theory to brutal reality.

To put that another way: "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, in practice there is!"

The Goddess of Libertarianism and "Objectivism" (Ayn Rand) was happy to collect her (gasp) government Social Security checks for many years. Her great prophet Alan Greenspan was the (government) person who Nationalized the US banking system in 2008.

Likewise the great and noble idea of a totally abstract form of money is starting to attract some serious crooks of various types. Up until a month ago all we saw were amateurs, now there is enough money (however you define it) to attract some serious thieves - not just script kiddies and small time con artists.

Sorry folks "I calls them as I sees them".

[dan_a]

Slashdot's only good for it's news, the comments are worthless...

The news is mostly days old, but quite often I learn things from the comments.
Personally I prefer lwn.net where the news is up to a week old but has fantastic analysis with it.

[Bleak Morn]

Looking at the comments in the few articles about Bitcoin that appeared on Slashdot so far, it seems the Slahsdot crowd really hates Bitcoin. However I do not see an obvious reason for that? Any ideas why the Slashdot crowd hates Bitcoin?

Philipp

Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not YET sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favour; a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason. - Thomas Paine, "Common Sense" (1776)

Full text here (great read!): http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Common_Sense

[Bleak Morn]

Like Libertarianism itself Bitcoin is going through a transition from elegant theory to brutal reality.

Mainly the brutal reality that people would rather burn different ideas at the stake than give them a try.

The crux of Libertarianism is nothing more than "the ethic of reciprocity" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Rule) - what's novel is the idea that we should hold governments to the same standards as individuals when it comes to stealing, enslaving, and murdering.

Similar view on Bitcoin as well. Simple idea - no middle-men meddling in your monetary exchanges. When it comes to that, Bitcoin works great "in reality".

Seems pathetic to take the position that these ideals shouldn't be persued "in reality". From where I stand, only a sociopath would stand against them.

[bitsalame]

The strength of the bitcoin currency lies on the weakness of the current economic system.
If Greece crashes, if the US crashes, if the world goes to hell, suddenly the value of alternate economic systems will raise.
Even bartering becomes attractive, and it was very evident in the Argentine economic crisis in 2001.

The history of humanity is plagued with examples like this, it is in our human nature.

The difference with these alternative "backup" systems, the bitcoin can become a strong foundation and a currency by itself.
This is something quite unique in the history of humanity, this uniqueness is due to the advancement of technology.

Definitely, it will NOT just stay within the hackers circle.

[Bleak Morn]

Definitely, it will NOT just stay within the hackers circle.

For now it fails the "Mom" test.

When my Mom can figure out how to use it to buy an antique lamp on eBay, it can go mainstream. For now, even techies I know are having trouble getting their heads around the concept.

The main thing between them and using bitcoin is the economic decision to invest time in understanding it. Current assessment for most? "Why bother?"

[Karen Palen]

Like Libertarianism itself Bitcoin is going through a transition from elegant theory to brutal reality.

Similar view on Bitcoin as well. Simple idea - no middle-men meddling in your monetary exchanges. When it comes to that, Bitcoin works great "in reality".

We are seeing just how well the Bitcoin world works as the more competent hackers and thieves (i.e. beyond script kiddies) decide to play.

This is essentially what banking and currency were until about 200-300 years ago the current set of crazy banking rules developed because thieves at every level forced the regulations.

My family lived in Arizona when it was still a territory and have some real horror stories about banks that simply disappeared with everyone's savings.

At least now the crooks have to get creative (Worldcom, Enron)

I suspect that if ever Bitcoin becomes widespread it will in fact look very much like any other bank/exchange (PayPal, Western Union, etc.)

[iCEBREAKER]

I'm a slashdot guy and I don't hate bitcoin. I don't love it either though.
I do however find the rampant libertarianism that comes with bitcoin somewhat annoying.

I too am a Slashdotter who is pretty neutral about BitCoin!

Like Libertarianism itself Bitcoin is going through a transition from elegant theory to brutal reality.

To put that another way: "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, in practice there is!"

The Goddess of Libertarianism and "Objectivism" (Ayn Rand) was happy to collect her (gasp) government Social Security checks for many years. Her great prophet Alan Greenspan was the (government) person who Nationalized the US banking system in 2008.

Likewise the great and noble idea of a totally abstract form of money is starting to attract some serious crooks of various types. Up until a month ago all we saw were amateurs, now there is enough money (however you define it) to attract some serious thieves - not just script kiddies and small time con artists.

Sorry folks "I calls them as I sees them".

You certainly are a good representative of the typical trendy socialist /.'r  Why?

-  You love to bash libertarians, but have a terrible command of the relevant facts.  EG, Greenspan left office in 2006.  And the Federal Reserve Act nationalized the banking system long ago, in 1913.

-  Your catty, emotional dislike of "all-time" bestselling author "Ayn Rand" makes you expose your ridiculous penchant for overusing the "Look@me, I'm being sooo snarky and sarcastic" quotation marks.

- You get your worldview mostly from Viacom's corporate liberal entertainment complex (Mahar, Maddow, Stewart, Olbermann, etc.) and parrot it without the benefit of critical thought or even cursory fact-checking.

- You think that Democrats are like, cool, and stuff.  Or at least you did in 2008, when you voted for Obama.

Sorry dumbo, but you're not the only one who ""calls them as I sees them"."

And Ayn Rand had every right to reclaim the money stolen from her at gunpoint, under pretext of 'social security.'