Honey Boo Boo Asks,"WTF Is Bitcoin? Aint It Like Bacon?"

[serenitys]

Thought this would be better as a discussion and didn't want to hijack someone's thread...

I don't at all claim to be an expert, I'm just learning and overwhelmed by information overload...and I'm trying hard to get the gist of it but I recognize a lot of this is challenging for me to understand...and I've literally been absorbing information for 3 or 4 days straight...and I STILL have questions just on getting signed up and getting started, and the answers I'm getting help about 45% but leave HUGE gaps in what I need to know. That's because I genuinely desire to know and learn.

Joe Blow...not so much.

And it got me thinking about Mainstream America (or any population, but mainly ours because they're long on dumbass, short on connect the dots, with the attention span of a carrot)...and how this is going to happen.

How exactly is the mainstream public supposed to feel excited about bitcoin when they get handed this kind of information from tech and dev nerds on how to secure their money?

Mainstream public is used to "here's my card/scan/receipt/done" and an online account they can keep up with their purchase and balance...and a password...and somebody else to make sure their stuff is secure.

Downloading stuff and all this encryption and python talk isn't going to help BTC win popularity points. That is over the head of most of mainstream.

So, pretend Edith Bunker or Rose Nylund, or Anna Nichole Smith or Jessica Simpson or Ann Coulter or Sarah Palin or Kim Kardashian or Honey Boo Boo wants to start buying bitcoin...

Please share how you'd explain bitcoin and how to use it with them because that's about the mentality level of the ones who will make or break btc becoming a long term "thing" in life.

How would you handle it?

Say you encounter one of them, or your grandma, or someone who isn't much of a techno nerd and doesn't spend a lot of time online...please offer your easy 1-2-3 walkthrough that would help them go from zero knowledge to off and running with the rest of the "insiders" in the shortest amount of time - without expecting them to read anything more than the "terms of service" or whatever.

I see this as a huge barrier to mainstream use...even though I've pointed out the google glass and eaze app coming soon...might be a snap to nod twice and make a bitcoin transaction but I can see an instant breakdown when Joe Blow goes, "okay, wtf is bitcoin?"

Your walkthroughs are welcome...

[jonald_fyookball]

Bitcoin is evolving and becoming more user friendly.  It will happen fast as entrepreneurs rush to take advantage of the opportunities unfolding.

Part of the answer to making btc more user friendly will be apps, hardware wallets, etc. 

[Yogafan00000]

Your walkthroughs are welcome...   

You are still early.

Bitcoin is not ready for mainstream yet.  Everyone here can be considered still an early adopter or speculator.

Eventually we will have super secure hardware wallets that backup to your computer/cloud account.  We will have exchanges with good business practices and security that won't get knocked out by a mere hacker. We will have seamless payment system integration around the world.  Public won't need to know how anything works.  All that matters is the balance showing on your hardware wallet and knowing only you can unlock it with your fingerprint or voice command.  All of these things very smart people are beginning to work on now.  They should be ready in about 5 to 10 years.

We are all visionaries who can see the future.

Welcome!

[grifferz]

So, pretend Edith Bunker or Rose Nylund, or Anna Nichole Smith or Jessica Simpson or Ann Coulter or Sarah Palin or Kim Kardashian or Honey Boo Boo wants to start buying bitcoin...

Please share how you'd explain bitcoin and how to use it with them because that's about the mentality level of the ones who will make or break btc becoming a long term "thing" in life.

How would you handle it?

I think I'll need to search who Honey Boo Boo is.

To be honest I don't think I would recommend it right now to someone who wasn't willing to put in the effort to keep themselves secure and make good choices.

It does need to happen before Bitcoin can be considered a success, but it's going to take time and support by real companies with a real marketing budget.

What you're seeing now is like the early days of the Internet, with just academics on it, doing everything in complex text mode interfaces and talking gobbledegook. But worse than that even, because with Bitcoin you can send your funds instantly to someone else with no possibility of getting them returned.

Because it's so early, very few of us pioneers are good at marketing and training, but with greater adoption and promise of profit comes companies that can afford to hire that talent. You can already see it with companies like Bitpay and Coinbase. Look at this new Trezor hardware wallet that is shipping pre-orders now. It promises to be just this gizmo that makes things work in a simple way that a lot more people can understand.

So right now I think I would limit my explanations of Bitcoin to what it is and how it works, but stress that if they want to get involved at this stage they will need to do some learning and that isn't for everyone.

[lynn_402]

People did not trust fiat currencies at first, but the person behind them managed very well to get them accepted by the populace.
Also, services like Coinbase are actually very simple and secure (they keep 97% of their Bitcoins in cold storage, and they were recently audited).

But even if Bitcoin never gets mainstream adoption, there's a bright future for it. It still represents quite less than 1% of the world economy, and I'm sure that a considerably bigger percentage than that has the intelligence and interest in economy needed to realize the value that is Bitcoin; how flawed fiat is, and how cryptocurrencies offers an easy way out of that system.

I think I'll need to search who Honey Boo Boo is.

Don't. If you want to keep a parcel of faith in humanity

[serenitys]

That would be spawn of this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yatEoutYoww and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzt7oCFN3ek (I don't care what anyone says, they're all products of incest, inbreeding or bestiality one...) that this country thought needed to have their own tv show.

Related somewhere in a short line to this guy - the one with the actual talent 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzae_SqbmDE

and as disturbing as it is, they're the sub level mainstream america (embarrassing as it is). I have no fear that they'll ever end up on this forum, but they'll end up in walmart as a second home...

[jonald_fyookball]

People did not trust fiat currencies at first, but the person behind them managed very well to get them accepted by the populace.
Also, services like Coinbase are actually very simple and secure (they keep 97% of their Bitcoins in cold storage, and they were recently audited).

But even if Bitcoin never gets mainstream adoption, there's a bright future for it. It still represents quite less than 1% of the world economy, and I'm sure that a considerably bigger percentage than that has the intelligence and interest in economy needed to realize the value that is Bitcoin; how flawed fiat is, and how cryptocurrencies offers an easy way out of that system.

I think I'll need to search who Honey Boo Boo is.

Don't. If you want to keep a parcel of faith in humanity

if bitcoin replaces 1% of world's fiat, each coin would be worth about $70,000

[DannyHamilton]

Explaining bitcoin to "Joe Blow" today would be like trying to explain the internet to "Joe Blow" in the 1980's.  They aren't going to get it, it's going to go over their head, and it's going to seem like a "techie" thing for "geeks" and "nerds".  Of course, a few decades later and now even the most simpleton of individuals seems to have figured out how to post updates on Facebook, and twitter.  Many jocks get their sports information from the internet, the online retail marketplace is huge, and email has all but replaced the post office.

Bitcoin is in its infancy as a technology protocol.  There will be many layers of usability built on top of the current protocol.

[zx81]

I reckon it depends how financially literate a person is. If they can handle a bank account number and transferring money between accounts, then they should be able to relate to bitcoin addresses, transfers and transactions fees. If they can handle the idea of foreign exchange markets and rates, then btc's price in relation to other currencies should be okay.

The problem is with people who don't really understand about bank accounts, and have never dealt with currency transactions. "What? the price of bitcoin changes? every day? My money is going a number? what?"

[Bit_Happy]

Did Honey Boo poo really say something about btc?  

[The Avenger]

Electronic money, a bit like paypal, but no fees. You can pay for everything from your phone and it's very secure. <insert idiot rapper name here> uses it all the time.


DONE

[grifferz]

I reckon it depends how financially literate a person is. If they can handle a bank account number and transferring money between accounts, then they should be able to relate to bitcoin addresses, transfers and transactions fees. If they can handle the idea of foreign exchange markets and rates, then btc's price in relation to other currencies should be okay.

I'm not really convinced. I have a relative who is extremely smart - a member of Mensa, financially literate, would never fall for a financial scam etc. … But they are from the pre-Internet age and are just not confident nor competent with computers, and can't seem to apply their skills and logical reasoning from others areas into that one.

As a result they do stupid things online. They are irrationally scared when their computer does or tells them something unexpected, and they are inappropriately trusting of things that they see online that on the surface sound convincing. Their computer has been infected by malware several times.

I cannot imagine this person successfully and safely using Bitcoin as it stands today, and while I have been able to explain Bitcoin to them and I believe they do have a good grasp of how it works in theory, I would never suggest that they get involved until the point when they don't need to think about it to be involved, because everyone is involved.

[Bit_Happy]

Electronic money, a bit like paypal, but no fees. You can pay for everything from your phone and it's very secure. <insert idiot rapper name here> uses it all the time.


DONE

There are fees:
"Really low fees, especially for large transactions" is much more accurate.

[The Avenger]

Electronic money, a bit like paypal, but no fees. You can pay for everything from your phone and it's very secure. <insert idiot rapper name here> uses it all the time.


DONE

There are fees:
"Really low fees, especially for large transactions" is much more accurate.

Don't overcomplicate it for "accuracy". That is where everyone goes wrong when they try to explain bitcoin.

When your idiot uncle buys a laptop and asks how the internet works, do you explain low level programming, networks, protocols etc? No, you tell him to double click on that thing, type in google.com and he is on the internet.

People's elevator pitch for bitcoin should be on the same level if they want people to get it.

[Bit_Happy]

Electronic money, a bit like paypal, but no fees. You can pay for everything from your phone and it's very secure. <insert idiot rapper name here> uses it all the time.


DONE

There are fees:
"Really low fees, especially for large transactions" is much more accurate.

Don't overcomplicate it for "accuracy". That is where everyone goes wrong when they try to explain bitcoin.

When your idiot uncle buys a laptop and asks how the internet works, do you explain low level programming, networks, protocols etc? No, you tell him to double click on that thing, type in google.com and he is on the internet.

People's elevator pitch for bitcoin should be on the same level if they want people to get it.

Fine, then say "low fees".
Same number of words, without the gross inaccuracy.

[The Avenger]

Electronic money, a bit like paypal, but no fees. You can pay for everything from your phone and it's very secure. <insert idiot rapper name here> uses it all the time.


DONE

There are fees:
"Really low fees, especially for large transactions" is much more accurate.

Don't overcomplicate it for "accuracy". That is where everyone goes wrong when they try to explain bitcoin.

When your idiot uncle buys a laptop and asks how the internet works, do you explain low level programming, networks, protocols etc? No, you tell him to double click on that thing, type in google.com and he is on the internet.

People's elevator pitch for bitcoin should be on the same level if they want people to get it.

Fine, then say "low fees".
Same number of words, without the gross inaccuracy.

Electronic money, a bit like paypal, but much lower fees. You can pay for everything from your phone and it's very secure. <insert idiot rapper name here> uses it all the time.

DONE

There, go forth and spread the (abbreviated) word of bitcoin to the masses.

[master-P]

I'd suggest they read about bitcoin, then ask any questions they have, then read again, and have someone walk them through how to use and secure bitcoin. Even then BTC may not be suitable at this stage for laymen. It's probably for the best too, as they might end up losing them, and lead to more negative publicity.

[LAMarcellus]

TTsssssttt
And here I thought you had actual video of Honey...
 

[Elwar]

I would start by asking them to explain the bank routing system as well as how debit transfers work and how your transaction is secured.

You know...just so you have a starting point.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

That would be spawn of this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yatEoutYoww and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzt7oCFN3ek (I don't care what anyone says, they're all products of incest, inbreeding or bestiality one...) that this country thought needed to have their own tv show.

Related somewhere in a short line to this guy - the one with the actual talent  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzae_SqbmDE

and as disturbing as it is, they're the sub level mainstream america (embarrassing as it is). I have no fear that they'll ever end up on this forum, but they'll end up in walmart as a second home...

In re. the first video link: If a person figures out how to market Bitcoin to its 1,140,595 viewers, they, and their family, would never have to work another day in their life, for they've uncovered the nirvana marketing secret.

Then again, it could be just as simple as convincing Honey Boo Boo to embrace Bitcoin, then discuss it to her viewership. But, Honey Boo Boo doesn't hold a candle to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3ROsVTKVDw with her 24,323,618 views.

I think that paying $1,000 USD via BTC to a hundred Honey Boo Boos (only $100,000 USD total would have to be outlaid), Bitcoin users would explode to tens of millions of active users, some of which losing said precious without any way to retrieve them.