How do we get Bitcoin awareness to Baby Boomers?

[cbeast]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=64578 shows that forum users here are mostly younger people. What will it take to get Baby Boomers to learn to appreciate how Bitcoin can benefit them?

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[DeathAndTaxes]

You likely don't.  However most Boomers will be dead within 20 years which is how long I think it will take Bitcoin to become as mainstream as Paypal, twitter, or ebay.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

You likely don't.  However most Boomers will be dead within 20 years which is how long I think it will take Bitcoin to become as mainstream as Paypal, twitter, or ebay.

I'm in luck, for I was born in 1960, one of the last years to be considered a boomer.

~Bruno~

[cbeast]

You likely don't.  However most Boomers will be dead within 20 years which is how long I think it will take Bitcoin to become as mainstream as Paypal, twitter, or ebay.

I don't understand. Those examples were nearly overnight successes. Why won't Bitcoin go viral as well?

[hazek]

Why won't Bitcoin go viral as well?

It's not as easy and safe to use just yet.

[DeathAndTaxes]

You likely don't.  However most Boomers will be dead within 20 years which is how long I think it will take Bitcoin to become as mainstream as Paypal, twitter, or ebay.

I don't understand. Those examples were nearly overnight successes. Why won't Bitcoin go viral as well?

None of those were mainstream overnight.  Lots of Boomers now use facebook, ebay, paypal now but those "technologies" are a decade old. Even facebook isn't revolutionary.  It is 8 years old but the road was paved with myspace and before that geocities and other failed social sites.  

Bitcoin is like alpha version of geocities circa 1990 right now.  Worse it involves not social networking but money.  I may be wrong but people who think Bitcoin will be adopted by the masses are likely a decade or two early.  If you want to make a difference convince teenagers they want to use Bitcoin because by the time Bitcoin hits mainstream they will be prime spending (and voting) demographic.

[arabianights]

You likely don't.  However most Boomers will be dead within 20 years which is how long I think it will take Bitcoin to become as mainstream as Paypal, twitter, or ebay.

twenty years!?!?

paypal took about five

[Phinnaeus Gage]

You likely don't.  However most Boomers will be dead within 20 years which is how long I think it will take Bitcoin to become as mainstream as Paypal, twitter, or ebay.

I don't understand. Those examples were nearly overnight successes. Why won't Bitcoin go viral as well?

None of those were mainstream overnight.  Lots of Boomers now use facebook, ebay, paypal now but those "technologies" are a decade old. Even facebook isn't revolutionary.  It is 8 years old but the road was paved with myspace and before that geocities and other failed social sites.  

Bitcoin is like alpha version of geocities circa 1990 right now.  Worse it involves not social networking but money.  I may be wrong but people who think Bitcoin will be adopted by the masses are likely a decade or two early.  If you want to make a difference convince teenagers they want to use Bitcoin because by the time Bitcoin hits mainstream they will be prime spending (and voting) demographic.

Wouldn't it be awesome to have a round table discussion with all teens or people in their very early twenties brainstorming to the nth degree after being presented Bitcoin for the very first time at the onset of the dialog?

What would it take to make this event happen? Also, would need to be recorded for prosperity.

~Bruno~

[hazek]

Wouldn't it be awesome to have a round table discussion with all teens or people in their very early twenties brainstorming to the nth degree after being presented Bitcoin for the very first time at the onset of the dialog?

What would it take to make this event happen? Also, would need to be recorded for prosperity.

~Bruno~

Like a focus group?

[Jon]

Most Baby Boomers have no reason to like Bitcoins. They spent their entire lives paying taxes, they are or are currently paying out huge college loans for their children and now they are ready to collect their social security.

They've served the system and they are not getting the time served back. They have no reason to want a change nor see a change in our monetary system. They just want their government entitlements and their retirement to pay out.

A monetary revolution gives no benefit towards that end. They don't want Bitcoins. They want you young people to get back to work so, again, their social security can pay out.

They depend on the system and nothing short of total collapse is going to break that dependence.

Bitcoins are for young people born into a society turned against them. The old have already had their spirits broken.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Wouldn't it be awesome to have a round table discussion with all teens or people in their very early twenties brainstorming to the nth degree after being presented Bitcoin for the very first time at the onset of the dialog?

What would it take to make this event happen? Also, would need to be recorded for prosperity.

~Bruno~

Like a focus group?

I would drop some coins towards that.  I would imagine developers would find that kind of information useful.

Getting perspective from completely new potential users.

[Nim]

I think the most useful method would be to pool BTC from people to hire an advertising or marketing firm and get professional help. I'm no expert on either of those fields and even I can see that most of the methods that people are trying here on this forum are doomed or worse (i.e. making people think LESS of bitcoin). People are simply trying to do stuff that is outside of their wheelhouse.

[hazek]

I think we could use a viral marketing scheme in which a vital part would be sending a few bitcoins to some good cause sort of like a Bitcoin Kony type of a rallying call for young people on youtube or something. Right now we're a perceived as this fringe bunch doing something weird most people don't even know how to begin to wrap their heads around. But if suddenly none of that mattered and it only mattered that they needed an account on an exchange and buy say 0.5BTC to send to some viral video or something it could really take a hold, especially if it was more like a trend instead of useful tool..

[hazek]

For example a viral video about this site if we could convince them to switch to Bitcoin: http://www.kiva.org/about  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpSNM625LFU

EDIT: Hmmm maybe not, this is in their FAQ(http://na3.salesforce.com/sol/public/solutionbrowser.jsp?cid=02n50000000DWzh&orgId=00D500000006svl):

When I pay through PayPal, is PayPal taking a fee?

Kiva is the first organization that PayPal has supported by providing free payment processing. This support saves Kiva up to one million dollars each year, which helps us to keep our operational expenses low and send 100% of your loan contributions to the field.

Lenders outside the United States may be charged a fee to convert their local currency into U.S. dollars, Kiva's working currency.

[finway]

Every BabyBoomer should hold some coins.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Most Baby Boomers have no reason to like Bitcoins. They spent their entire lives paying taxes, they are or are currently paying out huge college loans for their children and now they are ready to collect their social security.

They've served the system and they are not getting the time served back. They have no reason to want a change nor see a change in our monetary system. They just want their government entitlements and their retirement to pay out.

A monetary revolution gives no benefit towards that end. They don't want Bitcoins. They want you young people to get back to work so, again, their social security can pay out.

They depend on the system and nothing short of total collapse is going to break that dependence.

Bitcoins are for young people born into a society turned against them. The old have already had their spirits broken.

Must be the new math! Is 25% the new most?

In 1970, 55 percent of the US population over age 25 had completed high school or some college and 11 percent had completed 4 or more years of college; by 1999, those figures had reached 83 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Did somebody break into my spirits cabinet?

The old have already had their spirits broken.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I think we could use a viral marketing scheme in which a vital part would be sending a few bitcoins to some good cause sort of like a Bitcoin Kony type of a rallying call for young people on youtube or something. Right now we're a perceived as this fringe bunch doing something weird most people don't even know how to begin to wrap their heads around. But if suddenly none of that mattered and it only mattered that they needed an account on an exchange and buy say 0.5BTC to send to some viral video or something it could really take a hold, especially if it was more like a trend instead of useful tool..

I'm working on such a scheme, where nobody will have to join an exchange to acquire coins--bitviews.com. BitViews will be loosely based on hitviews.com's business plan, but everybody will be able to join with very few hurdles to jump. Everybody gets paid BTC once a week, unless the user stipulates otherwise. Advertisers can pay for spots with either Bitcoin or fiat, and their rates will be lower than most other placements. That's why I desire NaNa as the spokesperson, for if she can profit from it, anybody can.

~Bruno~

[ArticMine]

You likely don't.  However most Boomers will be dead within 20 years which is how long I think it will take Bitcoin to become as mainstream as Paypal, twitter, or ebay.

I would like to see your source on the life expectancy of baby boomers. A more realistic figure for the average life expectancy of a baby boomer is 30 years. That also means that a significant portion of the baby boomers will live well past age 80.

As to why a baby boomer should hold Bitcoin. Very simple. Holding a small portion of their retirement savings say even under 1% in Bitcoin can mean the difference between a comfortable retirement and retiring in poverty particularly should the stock market drop significantly.

By the way I am a baby boomer
I am not planning my retirement on the basis of dying in the next 20 years
I do hold Bitcoin

... and by the way I also backed up my wallet.dat among other places on a 5.25in floppy disk. A technology that was obsolete before most of the members of this forum were born!

[Phinnaeus Gage]

You likely don't.  However most Boomers will be dead within 20 years which is how long I think it will take Bitcoin to become as mainstream as Paypal, twitter, or ebay.

I would like to see your source on the life expectancy of baby boomers. A more realistic figure for the average life expectancy of a baby boomer is 30 years. That also means that a significant portion of the baby boomers will live well past age 80.

As to why a baby boomer should hold Bitcoin. Very simple. Holding a small portion of their retirement savings say even under 1% in Bitcoin can mean the difference between a comfortable retirement and retiring in poverty particularly should the stock market drop significantly.

By the way I am a baby boomer
I am not planning my retirement on the basis of dying in the next 20 years
I do hold Bitcoin

... and by the way I also backed up my wallet.dat among other places on a 5.25in floppy disk. A technology that was obsolete before most of the members of this forum were born!

Well, I got mine on an 8" floppy disc, Sonny. Seriously, there currently are about 65 million of us boomers still around. Imagine only a fraction of them converting 1% of their savings into Bitcoin. The way I figure it, that'll be the ultimate hedge against inflation. Fuck gold! $1,700 worth of gold today, buys you $1,700 worth of stuff. Twenty years from now, if gold is at $5,000/oz, you'll be able to buy...wait for it...$5,000 worth of the exact same stuff.



~Bruno~

[legolouman]

You likely don't.  However most Boomers will be dead within 20 years which is how long I think it will take Bitcoin to become as mainstream as Paypal, twitter, or ebay.

I would like to see your source on the life expectancy of baby boomers. A more realistic figure for the average life expectancy of a baby boomer is 30 years. That also means that a significant portion of the baby boomers will live well past age 80.

As to why a baby boomer should hold Bitcoin. Very simple. Holding a small portion of their retirement savings say even under 1% in Bitcoin can mean the difference between a comfortable retirement and retiring in poverty particularly should the stock market drop significantly.

By the way I am a baby boomer
I am not planning my retirement on the basis of dying in the next 20 years
I do hold Bitcoin

... and by the way I also backed up my wallet.dat among other places on a 5.25in floppy disk. A technology that was obsolete before most of the members of this forum were born!

Well, I got mine on an 8" floppy disc, Sonny. Seriously, there currently are about 65 million of us boomers still around. Imagine only a fraction of them converting 1% of their savings into Bitcoin. The way I figure it, that'll be the ultimate hedge against inflation. Fuck gold! $1,700 worth of gold today, buys you $1,700 worth of stuff. Twenty years from now, if gold is at $5,000/oz, you'll be able to buy...wait for it...$5,000 worth of the exact same stuff.



~Bruno~

Floppies? It wasn't profitable to run the devices to access them. USB is more efficient. If Bitcoin has done anything to you, if forces you to budget your electricity usage.

Budgeting and gauging electricity usage is certainly helpful to the boomers. I think it should be integrated in every retirement plan to have AT LEAST 1GH/s running.