2012-05-15 forbes.com - Another Bitcoin Theft at Bitconia

[julz]

Another Bitcoin Theft at Bitconia [sic]

Tim Worstall
2012-05-15

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/05/15/another-bitcoin-theft-at-bitconia/


I’ve never been all that enthusiastic about Bitcoin: it seems to me to fail a number of the necessary prerequisites of a successful fiat currency.
...

[the joint]

Another Bitcoin Theft at Bitconia [sic]

Tim Worstall
2012-05-15

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/05/15/another-bitcoin-theft-at-bitconia/


I’ve never been all that enthusiastic about Bitcoin: it seems to me to fail a number of the necessary prerequisites of a successful fiat currency.
...

Fiat currency?  Is this guy retarded?

[PawShaker]

Yes, guy does not know what he is speaking about. He is mixing things like a kitchen hand.

More fireworks like "reducing the temptation of the issuing authority to inflate it". What "issuing authority" is he speaking about? And if there is no such "authority" then how there can be any "temptation".

Next paragraph contains "It’s also proving to be quite alarmingly insecure." How theft from some organisation makes the money "insecure"? If someone was counterfiting bitcoin that would make bitcoin insecure.

"So, if some robber were to make off with all of the cash that, say, JP Morgan had then all the depositors would be made good by the government deposit insurance as JP Morgan goes bust. Bitcoin, of course, does not have this back up." The existance of insurance is separate to money itself. And of course this insurance is not for free, in the end it is customer and taxpayer who foots the bill.

[tiptopgemdotcom]

There are a lot of comments on this article that attempt to straighten this guy out; that might be hard to do with someone so ignorant.  What a ridiculous fool this Tim Worstall fellow is. 

[SgtSpike]

We need a site to refer all press persons to (do it with some clever SEO).

In big, red letters, tell them to investigate Bitcoin for at least 6 months before writing a single word about it.

[the joint]

We need a site to refer all press persons to (do it with some clever SEO).

In big, red letters, tell them to investigate Bitcoin for at least 6 months before writing a single word about it.

At the same time, we as a community can learn something from this ignorance.  I'm sure he won't be, and equally sure he hasn't been, the only financial or technology analyst to completely miff the concept behind Bitcoin.

The question is, what can WE do to really make things more clear for people to help them understand more quickly and more accurately?

[SgtSpike]

We need a site to refer all press persons to (do it with some clever SEO).

In big, red letters, tell them to investigate Bitcoin for at least 6 months before writing a single word about it.

At the same time, we as a community can learn something from this ignorance.  I'm sure he won't be, and equally sure he hasn't been, the only financial or technology analyst to completely miff the concept behind Bitcoin.

The question is, what can WE do to really make things more clear for people to help them understand more quickly and more accurately?

Yes, putting my sarcastic comments aside, I would agree that this is a real problem that should be addressed.

Maybe on some of the more popular sites (weusecoins, for example), a link/page could be dedicated to "Press".  On said page, it bullet-points common misconceptions about Bitcoin that have been prevalent in the past.
- Bitcoin is not a fiat currency.
- Bitcoin rules cannot be changed at the whim of a single person.
- The Bitcoin system itself is secure and unhackable - it is the people who leave their servers/computers unsecured that are at fault.
- Etc, etc, etc.

[GroundRod]

The guys article really irritated me and that is the 2nd strike in 3 days I've heard about how worthless Forbes is as an information source.  Really makes one wonder about who was really behind the Bitcoinia hack/theft.  About as bad as the news out today over how Minnesota troopers are supplying weed to protesters at the Occupy movement, in exchange for favors...  In both cases, making themselves look really stupid.

[the joint]

We need a site to refer all press persons to (do it with some clever SEO).

In big, red letters, tell them to investigate Bitcoin for at least 6 months before writing a single word about it.

At the same time, we as a community can learn something from this ignorance.  I'm sure he won't be, and equally sure he hasn't been, the only financial or technology analyst to completely miff the concept behind Bitcoin.

The question is, what can WE do to really make things more clear for people to help them understand more quickly and more accurately?

Yes, putting my sarcastic comments aside, I would agree that this is a real problem that should be addressed.

Maybe on some of the more popular sites (weusecoins, for example), a link/page could be dedicated to "Press".  On said page, it bullet-points common misconceptions about Bitcoin that have been prevalent in the past.
- Bitcoin is not a fiat currency.
- Bitcoin rules cannot be changed at the whim of a single person.
- The Bitcoin system itself is secure and unhackable - it is the people who leave their servers/computers unsecured that are at fault.
- Etc, etc, etc.

I think this is a good place to start:  https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Myths

But, at the same time, I think this could use some updating, condensing, and articulating.  

Some ideas:

1)  What Bitcoin is versus what it is not
2)  Compare/contrast Bitcoin to other types of currencies (fiat, precious metals, other digital currency attempts)
3)  A Bitcoin Timeline highlighting significant events with concurrent explanations
4)  Links to press articles that got it dead wrong with concurrent explanations