The purpose here is to emphasize that Bitcoin is a easy to use micropayment system across multiple website.
I think of Bitcoin as a tool that has enormous enormous potential and already plenty of good uses.
I think so.
If you take a hammer to someone and explain how it pounds nails and how people are going to be able to use it to make cabins and tables and so much more they aren't usually going to care much. But if you know they need a picture hung, there's your chance.
It is exactly the point of this campaign: Teach them how to use Bitcoin. And even better, when they spend Bitcoin, it can give chance to their friends to try. It may result more people have hand on experience of Bitcoin. I am sure 80% of them will not touch Bitcoin anymore in the same year.
But suppose they face a problem later, then they will take Bitcoin as a possible solution. In your example, if both hammer or skew driver can solve a problem. I am pretty sure they will choose hammer because they already know how to use it.
If you can solve problems with it and offer it at the right time in the right way I predict big success. People are trained to ignore campaigns and new money stuff so you are really fight an uphill battle unless you can help them somehow.
Yes, but in most case the problem is only one facet of the whole picture. It is just like
* Paypal chargeback my money! Ok, I move to Google Checkout because they are much fair.
* Bank take too much time to process my transfer! Ok, I use credit card for it instead.
* Identity theft of credit card! Ok, I move back to Paypal.
* Bitcoin take much lower fee than paypal? You are lying. The exchange fee is very significant for small payments unless I earn it directly.
* Bitcoin allow transfer of any amount across border instantly! Well, unless you never exchange it back to the currency.
Bitcoin does solve multiple problems at the same time, but the chance that a single persion encounter more than two of them is vanishingly small. We have to admitted that most of the benefit are only for the people who already have Bitcoin. Buying Bitcoin in exchange just cause them the same trouble.
A very unique feature is that Bitcoin can be used across multiple website easily. Again, the premise is that they own Bitcoin. Again, no one will buy Bitcoin for this purpose only. Now, there are way for them to earn Bitcoin such as Feedzebird. What I want to do is to bootstrap such usage pattern, and then refer them to earn those Bitcent if they are interested.
I disagree. There's no need to explain cryptography and blockchains to people, but they will have some preconceptions from Paypal. You need to explain these things or they'll end up angry and never want to touch Bitcoins again:
If anyone give me few Twollar of Twitter, or facebook credit, etc, for free. I will just spend all of them. I dont understand them and I dont want to learn any details unless I decide to put real money in it.
Our focus is the micropayment aspect across website, so casual user need not care any details as well as it work! It is just like the business model for most free flash game, they attract many people to play it but only a tiny of them will take it serious and pay money. Bitcoin need a large amount of casual user and some will take it seriously because it solve their problem.
That is why I do not recommend any friends to buy Bitcoin.