First and foremost I want to state that I'm very impressed with the dev teams efforts to date and they genuinely have my utmost respect.
I've been an avid fan of PND since I got interested in crypto about 3 months ago and I just wanted to relate my experiences, thoughts and hopefully add some useful feedback for the Dev team.
Crypto Crash CourseIt was obvious from the first viewing that a lot of real thought and effort had gone into the
http://pandacoinpnd.org/ website and someone (LMP I suspect) has gone to great lengths to simplfy what are for many difficult technical concepts. I still have difficulty in understanding the blockchain and how PoS operates even after reading the crypto crash course I think it would be useful to have some infographics in the guide similar this one .
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--os0a1g1U--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/ayn5lkolza8khylf9rsz.pngpandacoinpnd.orgNeeds more languages otherwise it's "Cryptocurrency for the masses if you speak English or Mandarin"
The charities section is a good idea but how about keeping the theme "for the masses" allow PND'rs to nominate and represent charities, maybe have a lotto with paid for entries and distribute determined on votes, charities and reps would have to validate but the grass roots charities can actually save lives with as little as 1m PND i.e buys a lot of mosquito nets or deworming tablets.
IRCI had never used IRC before but it is heavily promoted here and on PandacoinPND.org but signing up is a PIA, it would be nice to have to ability for non tecchie users to sign-up (register their nick) and revisit via a simple form on PandacoinPND.org. Unfortunately I don't believe the masses are willing or able to go through the "/msg nickserv register $password" rigmarole without assistance. Also it would be useful to have a link to some recommended IRC clients with setup instructions.
I eventually downloaded Hexachat managed to register my nick and join #pandacoinPND, observed for a while and felt like the real know-nothing noob I was but I was determined give it a go and really glad I did as there is a really friendly, fun, helpful community spirit there. The biggest barrier for me was the crypto lingo, sats, lits, sluttydrops, etc, however the best fun I've had on IRC is with the varied topics that come up which have nothing to do with PND, you should let people know about that, everything from cooking to quantum physics is welcomed.
The Dev TeamWithout breaching anonymity (if required) it would nice to have a little intro the the dev team and more reassuring for those new to crypto coin. A really radical suggestion, a declaration of PND holdings by the dev team, personally I don't care if it's 2bn each but even a collective statement would inspire confidence.
Panda BankUnless I've missed it a way to annotate transactions is needed, I understand that it would be wallet only and not on the blockchain (would be nice on the blockchain) but really as long as there's been currency and barter people want to account for it and record it. I believe this could be huge insomuch that I could code each of my transactions, export to CSV and import to an accounting system or spreadsheet without too much effort.
Also I cannot find any information on Sign Message and Verify Message options in PandaPank, looks like it could be useful but not what it is and intended uses.
BuyPNDI brought my first big (for me) amount of PND from Jommy99 at buypnd.com via PayPal, the rates were fair reletive to the PND/USD price on Bleutrade so I made 2 more purchases, with my plan being to purchase a little each week as my funds allowed. Unfortunately my understanding is that people started to abuse the site and were charging back after they'd received their PND and as a result the PND exchange rates went sky high to reflect the risk. BuyPND.com is an essential piece of the puzzle in getting the masses to adopt PND, it has the lowest amount of friction for getting into PND for the average user. It is difficult for me to get BTC even though we have a BTC/Fiat exchange in my country I am not comfortable with the amount of data they need to collect and report to the powers that be, that left me to venture into cloud mining which was an unmitigated loss making disaster. As I stated I was/am still fairly green in the crypto currency world but I did luck out with PND, much of the other stuff going on out there is a shark infested cesspool.
The only fix for this I can think of is a delayed staking payout run by buyPND which is a massive development compared to what they have now. Essentially if you use buyPND you are committing your fiat for 40 days (PayPal chargeback period I think), the money goes into a buyPND wallet and is staked after 40 days it is sent to you with staking interest. This is not a good solution for short termers but long termers should not be too worried. From my dealings with Jommy99 and buyPND I would say he is genuine and as trustworthy if not more so than any other internet store selling goods. Regardless we need some brainpower on this if we want to get PND out to the masses. In reality not much different from a time locked high interest account.
MobileAndroid app was nice to see but the high transfer fee was ambiguous and off putting as it wasn't overtly declared. Weekdays Mobile space is my world, PC time is late nights and weekends, I feel this is being ignored or de-prioritised but PND portability on Android and IOS is a big win. The bounties for mobile development are not exactly enticing for a quality app.
SummaryI wrote the above with one of my thoughts being of how would I get my friends (a majority of whom are in their fifties with high liquidity) to take a little punt on PND and what are the barriers at this point in time? Rightly or wrongly I am of the opinion that it is not easy for the dev team to distance themselves from their own intimate understanding of PND although it is clear they have made an effort to when communicating to us. The tagline "Easy to use, buy, mine and understand" currently is not accurate "Easier to use, buy, mine and understand" is more apt for now.
I maybe totally off base but given the response of the community I suspect that there is a percentage of PND long term holders who would be happy to help contribute in terms of services and support i.e I would be happy to do a basic English language IRC windows tutorial for new users or help with a Thai translation of the website.
Finally a big Thank You to Linux_Mint_Pal, Cadexn, Jorri, War_Panda, Jommy99 and the rest of the IRC regulars.
First and foremost would like to thank you for your support and feedback PhiPhi. I would like to address multiple points raised in your thoughtful and detailed post.
The current infrastructure that you see today is just the start. Like any start up company, a foundation is required to be built in order to initially acquire marketshare and users by positioning themselves with key product differentiation (Easy to use, mine, buy and understand) in a highly competitive market.
Our approach to developments consists of a mixture of reactive listening to (certain) feedback from our community, mixed in with our own internal analysis of the current space, and anticipation/projection of upcoming trends in regards to the direction that the entire digital decentralized currency space is heading overall.
What you see existing today is just the tip of the iceberg, and the existing infrastructure will be continually improved in the direction that we have marketed - simplicity and ease of use, without sacrificing being behind in core technologies (ie dogecoin and bitcoin's stagnation in technological improvements). Our motive is to solve existing and future problems for the end user that usually saturates any new and developing space. We had chosen strategically to develop certain projects first and in a certain chronological order with intention to have Pandacoin as a more marketable 'product' by focusing on making it easy for the average Joe's and Jane's to get acquainted with the exciting world of cryptocurrencies.
That being said, we have the following remarks as per your feedback -
Crypto Crash Course - This is where a short video series will be produced, in order to summarzie and simplify the commonly perceived difficult technical concepts in approximately 2-3 mins each. A visual medium backed by graphics is superior to text based explanations.
Pandacoin Homepage Language support - We already are working on Spanish, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese translation and support of the homepage, along with ALL of the Crypto Crash Course materials, and PandaBank. This is a continual work in progress, and all major language supports will be added over time.
IRC - The very nature of having usage of IRC by our community is due to the nature of most early adopters of cryptocurrencies - they are more tech inclined and savvy. We have intentions to grow and cultivate our communities in social mediums that are more mainstream. These include - Reddit, Facebook, Twitter and our very own forum that will be released along with the crowdsourcing platform where users will be able to interact with the development team and suggest ideas for projects to host on the platform.
PandaBank - Your suggestion is in our development roadmap ahead. Again as previously stated, we have so many projects to work on, but we have to remain disciplined and do it in the strategic order as decided by the team that will benefit the community the most, bring in new users and position ourselves as thought leaders in the space.
Sign Message and Verify - Please elaborate, as in the uses of it are not clearly defined from the user's perspective?
BuyPND - We are aware of the issues of with it. Options are being investigated to make it easier for new comers to obtain PNDs. We agree that it is an essential piece of the puzzle, and rest assured that we are taking this very seriously to ensure that new users don't have to go through the complicated process of obtaining their PND via exchanges. Though looking at sales data for BuyPND, sales are still very strong, with a 67% growth in sales volume compared to the month before. Most overlook the fact that a LARGE majority of the volume is being transacted there currently, which speaks volumes (pun unintended) about the type of users that we are starting to get into.
I repeat - we will do something about this, and this is classed as a high priority concern for our team.
Mobile - The future of cryptocurrency is going to be battled out on the mobile platform, when purchases with cryptocurrencies occur at brick and mortar stores become common place. We are hyper-aware of this, and we have very interesting world first developments to pursue later down the track regarding mobile applications and how future users can interact with Pandacoin when they are out and about. Again I would like to refer to my previous statement of having a strategic development order to pursue.
