(It's been a long day. I'll try to contain my annoyance at Wales.)
In the reddit post, Jimmy Wales also says that he is planning on conversing with Wikimedia’s Foundation Board of Directors about whether or not Wikipedia should accept Bitcoin. Wales also mentions that one of the reasons for why they haven’t done so yet is because “the more payment options [they] give people, the less they donate.”
Really?
Here's a simple solution: drop some of the crappier options (I nominate stock donations and "Matching Gifts",) and replace them with Bitcoin.
Wales continues to say that instead of having a payment option for Bitcoin listed on Wikipedia, they could just set up an account on Coinbase and then simply advertise that through social media. This way they wouldn’t have to worry about incorporating Bitcoin into the donation screens.
....
In a response to a reddit user, Jimmy Wales explains the reason for being hesitant to putting up a sign on Wikipedia that says it’s accepting Bitcoin: Wales fears that people would think more of the benefit to Bitcoin rather than to Wikipedia.
As much as they've been begging for donations recently, you'd think they'd be less concerned about Wikipedia's public mindshare in relation to Bitcoin and more about just getting some funding. It's not like anyone's going to care about the Wikimedia Foundation once it goes under.
Another user asked Jimmy Wales what he thought about Bitcoin. Wales responded by saying that he is “cautiously pessimistic” about the digital currency. He says,
“What I mean by that is that I’m loving the idea but I see a lot of real problems. One of my concerns is that the complexity of it all will hinder adoption.”
And what in the world does that have to do with just putting up a QR code and letting those who ALREADY KNOW HOW TO USE IT make donations?
Lame, lame, lame excuses. Oh well. Might as well just wait another year (or two) and see if they're still putting it off then, folks.
