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I really hate that crypto currency enthusiasts are tring to hijack the word "crypto" for their ventures when they are actually only operating in a very narrow f
by foepys 9y ago
I really hate that crypto currency enthusiasts are tring to hijack the word "crypto" for their ventures when they are actually only operating in a very narrow field of cryptography.
Don't let this speak infest HN, please.
- cscurmudgeon 9y agoNow you know how people in AI outside of deep learning feel :)
- 1337biz 9y agoIt is fascinating seeing words' interpretation change and shift. For crypto this process seems almost already over.
- beaner 9y agoIt's not a hijack, it's just how trends and language work. If you want "crypto" to be used for something else, you have to make that something else. Crypto communication, crypto news, etc. If "crypto currency" is the only common term to start with "crypto" that most people know about, it's going to be shortened, and represent that one thing. Crypto currency is more top-of-mind to the population at large, than cryptography as a general category. If there are more specific implementations of useful crypto that average people use as a product (like currency, not, say, SSL), then crypto will be detached from the concepts and come to represent all of them (cryptography) again.
- coldtea 9y ago>It's not a hijack, it's just how trends and language work. Not all trends and language changes are good. N-word was trending once too, to give an extreme example.
- loup-vaillant 9y ago> If there are more specific implementations of useful crypto that average people use as a product Except that encryption is rarely used explicitly. We see this greed padlock, maybe. But encryption is rarely a product. It's part of other products (web browsers, messengers…). I doubt cryptography will become more visible through that venue. People need some level of education to even notice they're using encryption, signatures, and certificates pretty much all the time.
- murftown 9y agoThis. Only reason I read these comments was to see if someone would say this. The word "crypto" is too important to be lost this way. Any ideas how we can get people to knock this off?
- jey 9y agoI think it's too late. People aren't going to stop calling wireless headsets "Bluetooths" either.
- akvadrako 9y agoI consider it a doubleplusungood attack on my thinking, so I'm also interested in some way to fight against it. All I can come up with is to consistently interpret it as cryptography and force people to reexplain themselves if they say nonsense.
- marcosdumay 9y agoI do honestly interpret it as cryptography every time I read it. I was expecting an article about a digital identity system.
- tstactplsignore 9y agoOh thank god I'm not the only one who thinks this. It drives me crazy!
- brndnmtthws 9y agoLanguages evolve. And cryptocurrencies are one of the most important applications of cryptography. Better get used to it.
- zenlikethat 9y agoEye roll. Yes, securing our Internet traffic and protecting our sensitive data is nothing compared to technologies that allow us to pay for drugs online or print get-rich-quick coins out of thin air for ICOs.
- brndnmtthws 9y agoYou sound very resentful. You're upset because you didn't invest and now you feel left out? Why not take out your anger on random internet people you don't even know.
- rm_-rf_slash 9y agoI don’t think this line of commenting is helpful or appropriate for the community of Hacker News.
- brndnmtthws 9y agoExactly my thoughts about the parent.
- mtgx 9y agoOn the other hand, maybe if Switzerland becomes the "crypto-nation," its citizens and politicians will support anything related to "crypto" and deny any anti-encryption bans, too. I'm actually starting to believe that the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies will forever seal the fate of encryption backdoors and any such ideas from politicians/law enforcement. No one will dare to make such comments 10 years from now, if 30% of the U.S. economy will be based on encryption-using cryptocurrencies.
- bonzini 9y agoCryptocurrencies do not really use encryption for anything, do they?
- icebraining 9y agoThey use digital signatures, which involves encrypting the hash of the message (in this case, the transaction) with a private key.
- baby 9y agoI wouldn't call that encryption. It's a distinct primitive.
- icebraining 9y agoThe process is literally encryption; the distinction comes only from how that encryption is used.
- baby 9y agoIt is definitely not encryption. I believe it initially came from non-interactive zero knowledge protocols. See for example Schnorr signatures: https://cryptologie.net/article/193/schnorrs-signature-and-non-interactive-protocols/ https://cryptologie.net/article/193/schnorrs-signature-and-n...
- zodiac 9y agoI normally am in favour of using precise language, but there's no way to argue that "crypto" should mean "cryptography" rather than "cryptocurrencies" other than "it's what was popular" - the crypto- prefix can be applied to many things. https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/crypto-#Prefix https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/crypto-#Prefix
- baby 9y agoExactly. Www.cryptoisnotcryptocurrency.com Please change the title mods
- cerved 9y agoYou can't tell me and my crypto quantun AI blockchain startup what to do!
- mirimir 9y agoMy first thought, seeing the title, was about Swiss banks caving to IRS/FBI over secret bank accounts. So why would anyone trust them? But then, I get that this has nothing to do with privacy.