Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream • Hacker News Board

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#21

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 04, 2017, 2:28 AM UTC

zippergz wrote: post #18

Jasper_ wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even taking your (IMO incorrect) assumption that the web only became mainstream when Facebook launched at face value... > When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. That was 1996. > When I could post on Twitter and Facebook it was starting to feel like it was mainstream. That was 2004. So roughly a gap of 8 years. Bitcoin started in 2009. It's now 2017. A g…

Ask your parents to explain cryptocurrency. It's not about wall clock time. It's about milestones.

[deleted]

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#22

Post by CPLX » Fri, Aug 04, 2017, 2:30 AM UTC

dcw303 wrote: post #7

We're a long way off mainstream. Take the Web as an example: When my university lab computer got trumpet winsock and Netscape installed, it wasn't mainstream. When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. When I learned html and javascript from reading Webmonkey posts it wasn't mainstream. When I switched to this new upstart called Google it wasn't mainstream.…

But with Google your Mom can find out when the store is open and where it is. Facebook lets grandparents see photos of grandchildren. Reading a blog replaces reading the gossip column in the daily paper. You could finally buy plane tickets without driving somewhere.

And so on. The early web was really fucking useful as it started to mature. It solved a lot of real problems.

What is cryptocurrency going to help these people do that they can't do already today?

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#23

Post by wil421 » Fri, Aug 04, 2017, 2:36 AM UTC

bdamm wrote: post #19

wil421 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The web was mainstream when I was like 10 on AOL doing who knows what with all my classmates. My grandparents even got into it and sent me emails and chatrooms. Geocities was more or less main stream and kinda like pre-social media. Those communities were a little different. I can also remember using Altavista and Lycos before I ever heard of a Google. My mom introduced me to google to help me research papers for sch…

Your mom is an outlier.

Probably for using Google early but not search engines. Vaguely remember school computer labs with various search engine in late 90s.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#24

Post by tootie » Fri, Aug 04, 2017, 2:43 AM UTC

mattdeboard wrote: post #11

2017 is the year of Linux on the desktop

ChromeOS put Linux on the desktop and no one noticed.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#25

Post by stronglikedan » Fri, Aug 04, 2017, 2:47 AM UTC

Regardless of whether it will ever go mainstream in the near future, and as a newbie to cryptocurrency, is it expected that, whenever it goes mainstream, the value will?

  1) Dramatically rise
  2) Rise
  3) Behave as usual (depending on current trend)
  4) Fall
  5) Dramatically fall

I just curious. I dabble because some eTailors give discounts for Bitcoin, but I can also invest a bit at any time (just not enough to seriously get involved in the day-to-day).

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#26

Post by Swizec » Fri, Aug 04, 2017, 2:48 AM UTC

CPLX wrote: post #22

dcw303 wrote: post #7

We're a long way off mainstream. Take the Web as an example: When my university lab computer got trumpet winsock and Netscape installed, it wasn't mainstream. When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. When I learned html and javascript from reading Webmonkey posts it wasn't mainstream. When I switched to this new upstart called Google it wasn't mainstream.…

But with Google your Mom can find out when the store is open and where it is. Facebook lets grandparents see photos of grandchildren. Reading a blog replaces reading the gossip column in the daily paper. You could finally buy plane tickets without driving somewhere. And so on. The early web was really fucking useful as it started to mature. It solved a lot of real problems. What is cryptocurrency going to help these…

> What is cryptocurrency going to help these people do that they can't do already today?

"I want to play investor and get filthy rich but don't have enough money to be an accredited investor, playing stocks feels too hard, and angel investing seems too risky."

It's solving that problem.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#27

Post by Jasper_ » Fri, Aug 04, 2017, 2:49 AM UTC

zippergz wrote: post #18

Jasper_ wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even taking your (IMO incorrect) assumption that the web only became mainstream when Facebook launched at face value... > When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. That was 1996. > When I could post on Twitter and Facebook it was starting to feel like it was mainstream. That was 2004. So roughly a gap of 8 years. Bitcoin started in 2009. It's now 2017. A g…

Ask your parents to explain cryptocurrency. It's not about wall clock time. It's about milestones.

My point isn't "it's been eight years, so it must be ready", it's "it's been eight years, so you can stop comparing it to the early internet now".

I've been following Bitcoin for five years now, and I've seen this "it's the early Internet, success doesn't happen overnight" attitude that gets more and more false every year.

Bitcoin and the ecosystem around has barely changed since it was released.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#28

Post by dcw303 » Fri, Aug 04, 2017, 2:51 AM UTC

Jasper_ wrote: post #16

dcw303 wrote: post #7

We're a long way off mainstream. Take the Web as an example: When my university lab computer got trumpet winsock and Netscape installed, it wasn't mainstream. When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. When I learned html and javascript from reading Webmonkey posts it wasn't mainstream. When I switched to this new upstart called Google it wasn't mainstream.…

Even taking your (IMO incorrect) assumption that the web only became mainstream when Facebook launched at face value... > When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. That was 1996. > When I could post on Twitter and Facebook it was starting to feel like it was mainstream. That was 2004. So roughly a gap of 8 years. Bitcoin started in 2009. It's now 2017. A g…

I don't know.

The Web and Bitcoin are operating on different time scales. One of the major factors with the Web's speed of success was that it was able to disrupt traditional media industries because it wasn't recognized as a threat until it was too late.

I don't think the Finance industry is going to let the same thing happen with Bitcoin, hence things like R3 and the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#29

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 04, 2017, 2:54 AM UTC

bdamm wrote: post #19

wil421 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The web was mainstream when I was like 10 on AOL doing who knows what with all my classmates. My grandparents even got into it and sent me emails and chatrooms. Geocities was more or less main stream and kinda like pre-social media. Those communities were a little different. I can also remember using Altavista and Lycos before I ever heard of a Google. My mom introduced me to google to help me research papers for sch…

Your mom is an outlier.

[deleted]

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#30

Post by mrb » Fri, Aug 04, 2017, 2:55 AM UTC

CPLX wrote: post #22

dcw303 wrote: post #7

We're a long way off mainstream. Take the Web as an example: When my university lab computer got trumpet winsock and Netscape installed, it wasn't mainstream. When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. When I learned html and javascript from reading Webmonkey posts it wasn't mainstream. When I switched to this new upstart called Google it wasn't mainstream.…

But with Google your Mom can find out when the store is open and where it is. Facebook lets grandparents see photos of grandchildren. Reading a blog replaces reading the gossip column in the daily paper. You could finally buy plane tickets without driving somewhere. And so on. The early web was really fucking useful as it started to mature. It solved a lot of real problems. What is cryptocurrency going to help these…

"What is cryptocurrency going to help these people do that they can't do already today?"

International payments confirmed and spendable in minutes not days. Escaping inflation in Venezuela/Argentina/whoeverisnext. Sending remittance to family overseas without 10% wasted in fees. Receiving monetary donations for organizations that might be victim of oppressive censorship. Participating in modern e-commerce for the unbanked/underbanked. Allowing merchants to save 2% in credit card fees (which doubles their profit margin if it was 2% to begin with). Allowing merchants to sell in industries prone to credit card fraud. Etc.

Gosh it's so easy to find many benefits in cryptocurrencies.