In case you have forgot how the general public sees Bitcoin, or maybe thought they have forgot. Also, I find it amusing the writers ensure you know to email them (see the page this is on, they have the email link right next to their name, like..
hey, write to me). Full article is actually decent in length, so I am only copy and pasting the most extreme quotes for lulz, but it honestly isn't all terrible.
Updated: Aug 06, 2011 10:26 AM EDT
By Tom Ensey - email
tensey@wsfa.comBy Kimberly Schupp - email
kschupp@raycommedia.comMuch like Amazon, SilkRoad offers a broad array of items for sale and buyers and sellers are ranked by the quality of their products and transactions. But instead of books, MP3s and video games, SilkRoad offers drugs ranging from prescription pills like Adderall, to marijuana and black tar heroin.
But to access the site, you'll need to download TOR; an Internet engine that few people have heard of and even fewer have the technical expertise to configure.
One Bitcoin is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 to $12, and the prices fluctuate rapidly, but most customers seem happy to pay a premium for the convenience and privacy of the transactions. The currency rate fluctuates - just like the value of a U.S. dollar.
Some have said that there are scammers on SilkRoad, but most customers seem pleased by the products they receive.
"Three hits and one of my friends (urinated in) his pants. I'm pretty sure it's good," said one customer.
Zachary Lewis, a video game developer from Huntsville, AL, said it was a quick, simple process to download the software enabling him to take Bitcoin in payment for his services.
"Thinking of Bitcoins as an alternative to cash is like thinking of euros as an alternative to cash," he said. "Yes, it only exists digitally, but it isn't another form of the dollar like PayPal and credit cards are."
"The security in place is very strong," he said. "It is much harder for someone to steal your identity, since each user has an encrypted, public-private key pair for each transaction, specific to that transaction."
It is hard to create – so counterfeiting is unlikely if not impossible. It is decentralized and not backed by any commodity, such as gold, whose price could fluctuate. There will not be more than 21 million units at any time, no new units would ever be created, which gives the currency more stability than national currencies.
"I would ask those that allege Bitcoin is only an outlaw currency how they feel about U.S. dollars being used to buy drugs, murder, child prostitutes and more all over the world every day," said Michael Boyd, who owns and operates BitVapes.com, a website that sells e-cigarettes and accepts Bitcoin.
"The problem you face with monopolized payment systems, PayPal and credit card companies can shut you down whenever they want," he said. "If they don't like what you are selling due to political pressure, they will not allow you to conduct business."
"Whether Bitcoin succeeds is neither here nor there," he said. "If not Bitcoin, it's going to be something else that doesn't have a central intermediary that can either print money or be shut down."
Full article at
http://www.wtol.com/story/15209359/bitcoin-future-of-global-commerce-or-internet-fad
