On Bitcoin and old-timers

[deisik]

Crypto in general by far isn't user friendly or secure enough for the average user-- hardware wallets close that gap where possible and it resulted in way fewer cases of theft and coin loss

Not user-friendly compared to what exactly?

If you mean things like payment cards (credit or otherwise), that's mostly true, at least as far as using them is concerned. But you still have to top up these cards somehow at the end of the day, and this is where the tables get massively turned. All things considered, I don't actually think that cryptocurrencies are somehow less user-friendly overall (unless we are talking about full-fledged vanilla wallets, of course)

Regarding the security side of things, I mostly agree. However, if you stick with a cash option, you can get robbed. With a bank card, your identity can be stolen. So even in this department the difference is not that great at all

Most old people really are just not that interested with bitcoin so yeah, they could learn it but they choose not to.

This is the thing with advanced age as such. Old farts typically don't want to learn something new, that's true indeed. On the other hand, even mid-aged people don't want to learn anything beyond their scope of interest

[bitcoindusts]

You are probably pertaining to older people when you said old-timers and not old-timers in bitcoin. The oldies are quite conservative. They always think how hard they earned their money so I think this is one of the reasons why they are always reluctant to put their hands in crypto while the millennials are more easy go lucky. They are more risk takers. The oldies listen to rumors they hear and most of them are close-minded too and also the computer issue as it been mentioned above already.

[kaya11]

Well in our case, my father is nearing his 60 years of age and he is fond of me making an investment in crypto currencies. He even told me one time that if possible he can learn from me and invest on his own. I told him that even myself lacks deep knowledge about this kind of investments, but the important thing is I earn from and that's all that matters, knowledge about it is a bonus for me and he totally agrees with me. He is now nearing his retirement and one of his plans is put some of his money to Bitcoin, because that is all he knows for now.

[xvids]

It is often said and then repeated that Bitcoin is not for the masses and definitely not for old-timers as it is too difficult to understand:

Well, I can't blame them for that. Americans had been told for years that Bitcoin is a bubble and that investing in it is insanity. Most of them had listened to the advice of "experts" and never invested in Bitcoin, but those who decided to take risks despite the persistent cautions, have made good money along the way.

And now, when BTC after dropping from almost $20k to almost $3k has started rising again instead of going to zero, as those experts predicted, people have decided to stop believing them. Quite a logical decision, if you ask me.

Except they don’t understand the technology of bitcoin fully because if they do, I am not sure that anyone will be able to talk them out of investing in bitcoin or using it as payment system when they know that the se of bitcoin fully protects the user again anyone knowing about the transaction. So, if they really had interest in it from the onset, then they should have already invested in it long time again when they had the chance

But how many of us actually understand how Bitcoin works internally, even partially?

I don't think that many. The truth is, it is not required to be a certified mechanical engineer (or whatever) to drive a car. In some cases you don't even need a driving license. For example, the British queen drives without one and she is an old-timer without reservations. Long story short, you don't need to understand the technology behind Bitcoin to invest in it, though you definitely should understand how the market works. But once you get the hang of it, you are no longer tied to, or constrained by, Bitcoin specifically (and its technology). In other words, everyone should be able to buy low and sell high (okay, invest profitably) these days, and there should be no exception for old-timers, and still less for those to become them one day (read, us)

For what it's worth it is true and I strongly agree we don't need to know too much on how things work in Bitcoin or crypto.
We just need to know how to use it and how to protect our funds to be honest when I started earning in cryptoI didn't have much knowledge about it, All I know is it is a money created in the internet and it could be used to earn Fiat.

[Janation]

The oldies of our generation are not that used to handheld technologies that is why usually they let their grandsons or daughters to do the typing, the finding amd them doing the talking.

I want people to use Bitcoin more, to know more about cryptocurrencies, that it is not just an escape route scammers used. But as I said, in my province, not all of the people are used to these kind of technologies. In fact my parents are so proud of me when I can just factory reset their phones which they forget their password or pin. Another thing is that we are not fond of investments, the popular investment we have in our province is Parents supporting their children to go to school.

[danherbias07]

With this post I remember only one guy who also started a thread here then just vanished.

He bought 2 bitcoins and put all the details in a memory card. Left it somewhere in their garden buried under soils.
I forgot the year but it was never thousands of dollars which is equivalent to 1 bitcoin.
I am now intrigued how is he now. Did he withdrew already or still just doing his everyday life without knowing he had 20k USD already.

Those are examples of guys who dont give a shit. But, he did have faith with bitcoin.
It is like he knew it will valued someday and still risked money for it.
That is for old timers by now.

Newbies tend to go greedy. They cannot wait. They want money back and profit in just a couple of minutes.

[buwaytress]

Deisik, you seem to be a slightly different person from the poster I recall in 2017 but maybe we all sound different after passing through each period of Bitcoin's (hopefully) neverending cycle...

I always think there's a huge underestimation when we talk about old timers and tech. Old timers were the ones who created the tech we take for granted. New timers merely find ways to innovate on tech.

Bitcoin almost certainly was created by old timers while new timers were busy using facebook money and finding new ways to use paypal.

Just me thoughts is all.

[deisik]

Newbies tend to go greedy. They cannot wait. They want money back and profit in just a couple of minutes

I don't think it is so much about newbies versus old-timers (old-timers as in early adopters)

I'd rather say it is more about price then (i.e. almost 10 years ago) like a few cents per bitcoin (or whatever) and now, more like many thousands of dollars per exactly same bitcoin. When something is literally not worth a dime, you wouldn't expect people to care a lot about it. On the other hand, you wouldn't really expect anyone to as literally bury something worth as much as Bitcoin is today, either. It is the price which is the great divider here, not patience or its lack between different generations of Bitcoin adopters (old-timers vs newbies)

Deisik, you seem to be a slightly different person from the poster I recall in 2017 but maybe we all sound different after passing through each period of Bitcoin's (hopefully) neverending cycle

Well, that's an interesting turn, but you can be damn sure I'm that person (with two extra years, naturally)

I always think there's a huge underestimation when we talk about old timers and tech. Old timers were the ones who created the tech we take for granted. New timers merely find ways to innovate on tech

Isn't it the same story as the grass greener, the sky bluer, and the climate better back in the day?

[serjent05]

It is often said and then repeated that Bitcoin is not for the masses and definitely not for old-timers as it is too difficult to understand:

Well, I can't blame them for that. Americans had been told for years that Bitcoin is a bubble and that investing in it is insanity. Most of them had listened to the advice of "experts" and never invested in Bitcoin, but those who decided to take risks despite the persistent cautions, have made good money along the way.

And now, when BTC after dropping from almost $20k to almost $3k has started rising again instead of going to zero, as those experts predicted, people have decided to stop believing them. Quite a logical decision, if you ask me.

Except they don’t understand the technology of bitcoin fully because if they do, I am not sure that anyone will be able to talk them out of investing in bitcoin or using it as payment system when they know that the se of bitcoin fully protects the user again anyone knowing about the transaction. So, if they really had interest in it from the onset, then they should have already invested in it long time again when they had the chance

But how many of us actually understand how Bitcoin works internally, even partially?

I don't think that many. The truth is, it is not required to be a certified mechanical engineer (or whatever) to drive a car. In some cases you don't even need a driving license. For example, the British queen drives without one and she is an old-timer without reservations. Long story short, you don't need to understand the technology behind Bitcoin to invest in it, though you definitely should understand how the market works. But once you get the hang of it, you are no longer tied to, or constrained by, Bitcoin specifically (and its technology). In other words, everyone should be able to buy low and sell high (okay, invest profitably) these days, and there should be no exception for old-timers, and still less for those to become them one day (read, us)

I agree with you, people don't really need to have an indepth knowledge about Bitcoin.  All we have have to know is the basic of Bitcoin, its uses, how to create a wallet, transfer funds and securing our holdings.  Aside from that, there are lots of 3rd party application and company that enable us to use Bitcoin easily.  This way, even an old timer can easily transact (buy and sell/ convert ) Bitcoin and even use it to pay for services and goods.

[Spaffin]

Guys, I think there is no need to argue on this topic, because the prospects for cryptocurrency and bitcoin in the future can not be compared with which of the people can use all this.  If we are talking about the elderly, then there should not be any debate, because today not all older people can even use a computer or even a smartphone.  In certain countries, getting a pension using a bank card is a problem for many.  I am not talking about the old people who live in the United States of America, since this country has long gone ahead in its development and there the elderly are much more advanced than those who live in the countries of Asia.

[buwaytress]

Deisik, you seem to be a slightly different person from the poster I recall in 2017 but maybe we all sound different after passing through each period of Bitcoin's (hopefully) neverending cycle

Well, that's an interesting turn, but you can be damn sure I'm that person (with two extra years, naturally)

I always think there's a huge underestimation when we talk about old timers and tech. Old timers were the ones who created the tech we take for granted. New timers merely find ways to innovate on tech

Isn't it the same story as the grass greener, the sky bluer, and the climate better back in the day?

Glad to hear, it's weird to see my old posts too, from two years ago. Probably even weirder if I could even find my original account from 2015, I'd demerit most of the posts from THAT one.

And yeah, probably the same story about old timers, but it's that longing for better times (perceived, never mind if actually true) that motivates them to bring something better, something new. Or is it? What Bitcoin promised -- and maybe to some extent, is delivering -- wasn't really ever something we had before. So, hey, got to credit the old timers for solving one of the oldest problems of trust!

[deisik]

And yeah, probably the same story about old timers, but it's that longing for better times (perceived, never mind if actually true) that motivates them to bring something better, something new. Or is it? What Bitcoin promised -- and maybe to some extent, is delivering -- wasn't really ever something we had before

But that's the thing with the older generation

They want all the credit for what the younger generation is currently using (pretty much like "new timers merely find ways to innovate on tech"). But how much these old-timers actually did and how much the new-timers don't? Such story is truly lost in centuries as all generations contribute more or less equally to the progress, while each one pretending to be the most helpful and valuable since the beginning of times, ever. In reality, though, there's no one particular generation that did all the dirty job for the entire history of humankind

So, hey, got to credit the old timers for solving one of the oldest problems of trust!

They were standing on the shoulders of giants

[darewaller]

people don't really need to have an indepth knowledge about Bitcoin.  All we have have to know is the basic of Bitcoin, its uses, how to create a wallet, transfer funds and securing our holdings.  Aside from that, there are lots of 3rd party application and company that enable us to use Bitcoin easily.  This way, even an old timer can easily transact (buy and sell/ convert ) Bitcoin and even use it to pay for services and goods.

I don’t think there is anything that in-depth about bitcoin, there is nothing that needs to be known about bitcoin other than those simple things that you mentioned there, the only thing that is just missing is the history of bitcoin which I think many people would definitely want to have a hint of too before accepting the system.

Blockchain technology is what is actually required to have in-depth knowledge of, and that is when anyone interested is going deep into knowing how to use it and then apply it to his own company project . Bitcoin has already been simplified by the inventor satoshi to the extent of it being understood even by a secondary school child, so anyone would understand its technology easily when being introduced to.

[Reid]

Correct.

I actually forced myself to understand everything behind bitcoin and all those programming that is used to it.
But nothing happened. I guess you really need some deep lessons to learn it.
But as bitcoin now. It is easy to understand.
For me, it is a currency/commodity and I bet anyone in the right age could understand that quickly.
Currency which is used daily and commodity as gold for a better example.

With that, it is easy to think on what should be done. Those who are into investing will just have the heads up.

[guoyu78]

Correct.

I actually forced myself to understand everything behind bitcoin and all those programming that is used to it.
But nothing happened. I guess you really need some deep lessons to learn it.
But as bitcoin now. It is easy to understand.
For me, it is a currency/commodity and I bet anyone in the right age could understand that quickly.
Currency which is used daily and commodity as gold for a better example.

With that, it is easy to think on what should be done. Those who are into investing will just have the heads up.

Learning the full programming or detail about bitcoin is not what will help you make money through it, it is only when you understand how to really apply its usage and then trade it, when it comes to its full programming and some technological know how about it, I think you are more like going deep into the blockchain technology already, because bitcoin is a product of the blockchain technology and if you are to understand the technology of blockchain, you must have been looking at developing your own cryptocurrency or looking at having a project that is going to be laid on blockchain, and that is why people higher blockchain developers. But to make money through it is exchange, I think that you only need how to trade it in the exchange market.

[el kaka22]

I think it is on contrary becoming more and more user friendly considering we are moving to a digital world.

People do not realize this but the people who are on their 30's and younger are mo inclined to use their mobile apps to pay for stuff then people older, which means technology is actually a big part of our lives in this generation and younger and we are fine with us having an app that we would read the QR code of the shop we are buying stuff to pay for the things we bought and that is not a highly tech thing we can't manage to work, its actually easier than having a debit card that you give and then punch in your pin code and then wait for a paper to come out etc.

Of course someone in his 60's and older will not even understand that, hell people above 80 have hard time using debit cards so of course they won't find bitcoin user friendly but in 20-30 years it will be the norm for sure.

[carter34]

Talking about old timers, one major issue or problem they are having with digital payment is inability to adapt. Although, the adaptability is not excluded from education and illiteracy. In other words, most of them are not educated formally.

So, is not to say that they don't like modern living.

[Finestream]

Talking about old timers, one major issue or problem they are having with digital payment is inability to adapt. Although, the adaptability is not excluded from education and illiteracy. In other words, most of them are not educated formally.

So, is not to say that they don't like modern living.

In addition to that,most of the old-timers are not inclined to new technologies since they are only using books before for their education.Very different from millenials today who are more focused on new technologies so no wonder,they come to understand bitcoin easily.But i still believe that bitcoin is not for everyone,it's only for those people who has high patience to keep on learning day by day because that would eventually develop their own skills in bitcoin and make them profitable in the latter part.

[deisik]

But i still believe that bitcoin is not for everyone,it's only for those people who has high patience to keep on learning day by day because that would eventually develop their own skills in bitcoin and make them profitable in the latter part

Bitcoin may not be for everyone

But for entirely different reasons. As far as its user-friendliness is concerned (otherwise known as user experience), Bitcoin is already quite on par with other financial and payment tools (at least, as long as you don't try to get under the hood, which mostly refers to vanilla wallets anyway). It is not for everyone because it is simply not a payment tool and not because it lacks such capacity but because no one uses it for payments (well, some definitely do, of course, but not en masse). Bitcoin is an investment instrument and speculative vehicle but not everyone wants to get involved in this field as it is just too risky (read, many have burned their fingers already)

[fullhdpixel]

Talking about old timers, one major issue or problem they are having with digital payment is inability to adapt. Although, the adaptability is not excluded from education and illiteracy. In other words, most of them are not educated formally.

So, is not to say that they don't like modern living.

Do you really think that it is the inability to adapt that is the issue or lack of interest? For you to be able to use something, I think you must first have interest in it and I think we have too many people that lack interest in digital payment naturally, except maybe they impose it on them, I could remember in my country when the Central bank saw that printing of money was becoming too expensive for them, and they feel that they need to reduce the way paper currencies flows in the country by encouraging cashless policy.

Many financial institutions did everything possible to get people on cashless policy until they got tired because they kept meeting less interest of people, and those who picked interest found it easy to adapt to the system. To me, there is nothing too difficult to adapt to in the system of crypto, it is just lack of interest that I see.