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NikolaTesla

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Kind of reminds me of:

Customer: "But using it, I'm loosing money on every purchase." Vendor: "Don't worry, buy more, you'll make it up on volume."

I think what is missing or lost in all of these Bitcoin articles is they are reaction to a fatally flawed central banking system. Of course, anyone who says things like that is immediately labelled a gold bug or belonging to the tin-foil hat club.

Any currency that isn't backed by (value derived from) a hard asset is a fiat currency.

(I'm not a gold bug, I could care less about gold, if gold offends, substitute some other tangible commodity)

That's my point that Bitcoin is more of a commodity currency and is not (at present) a fiat currency. The fact that the electricity is gone doesn't make any difference. Mining gold requires fuel and labor which is gone, used up, and what remains is gold. This expense is what limits the production of and correlates the commodity to the underlying economy.

What is really interesting is your assertion that the value derives from confidence and not assets. I would argue that value derives from the fact that its supply is limited by the use of resources and labor.

If mining additional Bitcoins at present is not economically viable than Bitcoins are not (currently) a fiat currency. The cost for the fed to increase the money supply is $0, the cost to produce a Bitcoin is equal to the cost of the hardware and electricity to produce it. I'm not sure if the definition would change once the maximum limit of Bitcoins is reached.

Interesting that the mere mention of "fiat currency" invokes tin-foil hat. Whether Bitcoins can survive the volatility is indeterminate. If it does survive, however, and becomes an alternative to (avert your eyes) fiat currencies, the impact will be far greater than another obscure fiat currency suddenly being used.

The real danger of Bitcoins is not its volatility, but its potential to illustrate the downside of all fiat based currency when compared with something like Bitcoins whose money supply does not fluctuate based upon the needs of a few. If that fact ever reaches the consciousness of enough people worldwide, watch out.

Pencil 13 years ago

All I want is a tablet that has the line fidelity of a pen or pencil, not a crayon. If I can record my writing/drawing with voice-over, even better.

I would say it's a euphemism for debasing just enough to keep a small minority enriched without the masses discovering it via overt price inflation and/or without the masses outside the US realizing that the value of their goods and services are being debased for the same reason.

First, it looks great.

When I went to install the app the permissions were kind of onerous: Modify your contacts, Read phone status and identity, reroute outgoing calls, etc. Can you give some color as to why these are necessary?

[dead] 13 years ago

I have to respectfully disagree with your approach.

I feel as though everyone is leaving out a huge part of why the web has won. For the most part it's free. The world developed muscle memory that 'installed' cost money and web access was free. Not the only reason it won but a big one.