Penny Arcade explains bitcoin....

[MoonShadow]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic

I think they actually did a fair job.

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[MoonShadow]

Really?  No comments at all?

[Mike Christ]

Really?  No comments at all?

I wasn't really impressed by the comic and was equally unimpressed by the comments   Bitcoin is not hard to understand to a person who is willing to understand it, the latter half of that statement being the core issue: selective understanding as a mechanism of defense, e.g. "Someone associated it with libertarianism/pyramid/ponzi ergo it's evil and stupid and deserves none of my time except to ridicule what little I know about it."

I don't read PA much tho, specifically because I don't find them funny, so I don't know much what a fan would think of it.

[MoonShadow]

 

[vehementchrome]

Well, the comic suits their style of humor and presentation, so it's nothing to be too surprised by. They didn't slam it. If anything, it seemed an affectionate explanation. I'd really rather the existence of bitcoin mentioned and spread rather than not, and so this comic would fall under that. 

[tkbx]

This is why there's so much misinformation. People take half of the information they hear, add their own "facts", and pass it on.

PersonB: "Hey PersonA, do you know about Bitcoin?"
PersonA: "Yes"
PersonB: "How's it work?"
PersonA: "Bitcoins don't work like traditional currencies. Instead of actually transferring an item like dollars, or an idea of an item like the idea of dollars with a debit card, it works like a bank balance where you only have the balance and nothing to withdraw. Your address is like your account number - anyone with your address can send you Bitcoin. In order to use the Bitcoin in your address, you use your private key - a secret number stored on your computer - to authorize a transaction. The transaction is heard by other Bitcoin users all over the world, until every other computer running Bitcoin hears about it. If someone tries to spend from your account without your private key, it won't work and your balance stays safe. Because you're authorizing the transactions yourself and sending them to other computers, you don't need any kind of bank to transfer the money for you."
PersonB: "Cool, I guess"
------
PersonC: "Hey PersonB, do you know about Bitcoin?"
PersonB: "Yes"
PersonC: "How's it work?"
PersonB: "Bitcoins don't work like traditional currencies. Instead of sending money, you're really sending an allowance of money. You've got an address the you use to send the money, and people also send money to that address. You send that address to everyone who uses Bitcoin, and then they can send you money. Also, if you tell them it's okay, they can take money out of that address. Because there's no bank for bitcoins to go through, you can just send bitcoins."
PersonC: "Uhh... Ok."
------
PersonD: "Hey PersonC, do you know about Bitcoin?"
PersonC: "Yes"
PersonD: "How's it work?"
PersonC: "Bitcoins are stored in a number. That number is like a credit card number, you use it to spend your bitcoins. In order to spend your bitcoins, you just send that number to someone else, they send the bitcoins and then send your number to someone else, then they spend your bitcoins too. In order to send you bitcoins, you have to give people your number. Also there's no bank, so it's like having cash, except anyone with your number can send bitcoins from your account."
------
PersonA: "Her PersonD, have you heard of Bitcoin?"
PersonD: "Yes, and I'll have you know that if you use Bitcoin, there is simply no hope for you. You have to be truly mentally retarded to send your credit card number out to millions of hackers."
PersonA: "That's actually why Bitcoin was invented. While credit cards only have one number, Bitcon you have two diff-"
PersonD: "Don't want to hear it, I'm not falling for your scam. Go fuck yourself."