The Legitimization and Inevitability of Bitcoin

[cypherdoc]

i'll bet its per post isn't it?

Yeah. I'm freelancing atm, but I've heard there are a couple of salaried trolling positions opening up soon... they really don't like bitcoins! The pay is definitely nothing special but the benefits are great (full health+dental). Way better than my last gig trolling homeopathic forums on behalf of pfizer

i'd ask them for a per post fee as well as an hourly rate.  that way you don't get screwed over for your study time trying to understand what you're arguing against.  its only fair. 

oh, and i'd ask them for a raise also.  given the momentous nature, or i should say disruptive nature, of what this means to their trillion dollar franchise you should be getting top dollar.  or maybe you should ask them to pay you in bitcoin.  now that would get them to sit up.

[evoorhees]

Dude... nobody is getting paid to troll bitcoin forums lol. If I'm wrong please present evidence.

[cypherdoc]

Dude... nobody is getting paid to troll bitcoin forums lol. If I'm wrong please present evidence.

Surawit, you've been arguing with this guy all nite.  this is your chance to set him straight.  will you please?

[netrin]

Smartcards displaying a balance on eInk, perhaps a keypad on the device itself. One can carry one or numerous smart cards and exchange the physical card itself without trace.

[memvola]

Bitcoin is too complicated for the average person. It needs to be made simpler to get any kind of widespread adoption. Mainstream financial institutions wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. They constantly change their systems to meet the expections of "Joe idiot on the street."

Free software, decentralization and free market does that to a project -- in order to taste "free" anything, we need to get through this. Bitcoin is the Linux of currency. Look at how many years and how many failed attempts it took to get Linux into mainstream, it's almost painful to think about. And it still doesn't dominate the Desktop. For something to be "easy to use", it's not enough for it to be easy to use, you must acknowledge that it is so and that you are dumb if you can't do it. Most people need an authority to suggest that. That's why Android is a success. Bitcoin will have its Android but it will take a long time. So long that trolling Bitcoin forums will be considered lame.

[GoWest]

It's just too hard to explain to people. I tell them how great it is and that I'm mining for Bitcoins and buy things with them. Then I need to go through this whole process of trying to make them understand. What a pain in the ass. There is no way banks would ever go through that cost. There is no upside for them to do it. Give me an argument I can use to tell people i'm not crazy, one thing that Bitcoin can do/buy that a Visa card can't. No fair using Silk Road my grandmother doesn't shop there anyway. Don't use hide from the IRS either she would think that's wrong.

Here: http://bitcoin-trader.blogspot.com/2011/09/14-things-you-can-do-with-bitcoin-that.html

[FreeMonies]

deleted. Making a thread instead.

[memvola]

It's just too hard to explain to people. I tell them how great it is and that I'm mining for Bitcoins and buy things with them. Then I need to go through this whole process of trying to make them understand. What a pain in the ass. There is no way banks would ever go through that cost. There is no upside for them to do it. Give me an argument I can use to tell people i'm not crazy, one thing that Bitcoin can do/buy that a Visa card can't. No fair using Silk Road my grandmother doesn't shop there anyway. Don't use hide from the IRS either she would think that's wrong.

Established banks wouldn't want it to succeed, let alone support it. Luckily for us, we don't need banks, we need software developers. Consider how Bitcoin would grow if it was integrated to eBay. It would be better for eBay too, because they would be the escrow service, and wouldn't have to worry about external entities, fees and chargebacks. It would also be better for sellers and buyers for similar reasons. Plus, you would trust their wallet service so it would be instant and "easy to use".

Anyway, why do you yourself think it's a good idea? I think you should begin with that. Yet, again like Linux, it can be hard to explain. I use Linux because I want the whole control of my system, I want it to do my bidding to the extend it can. I can't explain this to an ordinary Windows user, you have to experience the need first. You need to know what you can do with a computer and it must be worth your time. Usually it isn't, because you've already invested time on learning a different system which in the meantime taught you what you want to do with it. Pretty similar to our dominant monetary system, don't you think?

Society gets stuck like this. IMO, online bank accounts are much more complicated than Bitcoin. And they don't have a standardized interface. Yet, people use them because they have to. Credit cards aren't inherently easy either. People need to see "someone else use it" and imitate, that's how Bitcoin will go mainstream. We need a payment method that reptilian brains can imitate. I think foolproof standardized smartphone POS interfaces would suffice.

All in all, I'd try the "when there is frictionless value transfer globally, possibilities are endless" approach.

[memvola]

I guess if I was a Linux user I'd understand. Your right I'm a Windows user because the ramp up is just too time consuming. I'm not a dinosaur. I do like trying new things but i have a job, kids, bla bla. When I sit at a computer I just want to use it not go back to school. I guess over time it could become something everybody can use but I think that's a long way off. Just like a Linux machine in every home is a long way off. In both cases (Linux & Bitcoin) the establishment is really big and it will take a very talented Samson to knock down either Goliath.

That's why I said Android. Replacing what you already have can be costly but it was easy to introduce Linux in something you'd have to learn from scratch anyway.

[netrin]

Smartcards displaying a balance on eInk, perhaps a keypad on the device itself. One can carry one or numerous smart cards and exchange the physical card itself without trace.

If the cards are disposible how would the smart card know that the transaction is valid for $1.35. The frigin card would be

I'm not sure if disposable means the same thing to you as to me. Gramma may use a smartcard at the grocery store just as she uses a debit card today. If she can't do that, she can't use bitcoin. The card accepts the pruned merkel tree, sends signed transactions, and displays the balance on the card itself. She can plug it into her grandson's laptop if it doesn't have some wireless interface.

I guess over time it could become something everybody can use but I think that's a long way off. Just like a Linux machine in every home is a long way off. In both cases (Linux & Bitcoin) the establishment is really big and it will take a very talented Samson to knock down either Goliath.

Momentum and fear of the unknown are powerful forces. The trick is to introduce technology so that people don't notice. I installed Ubuntu on my ex-girlfriends computer who uses a Mac at work. Granted, I did all the configs, backup, and security upgrades, but she used Ubuntu just about every day for two weeks and didn't realize it wasn't Windows. I think Android is a better example though. Linux is everywhere, you just don't see it. Bitcoin is rough today, but when people don't see the difference between a credit card and bitcoin is when it's mainstream. Within the year we'll have an app on a smartphone, a dialog window will pop up on screen and ask, "Purchase pack of gum .08 BTC from ABC Shop? [Send] [Cancel]" Will you use very often? Probably not yet. But the tech is already here today.