I am not that old and still I remember Ring networks (before ethernet), they were highly impractical and rudimentary, but they filled a purpose at their time.

I am not that old and still I remember Ring networks (before ethernet), they were highly impractical and rudimentary, but they filled a purpose at their time. Then Ethernet came. Anyone remembers the dumb hubs? when a computer wanted to send a message, the hub actually broadcasted it to all computers in the network... so inefficient, and yet, it served its purpose. Later, came the network protocols. There was this protocol used for discussion groups/news, remember NNTP? wasteful, because nodes had to download / replicate the full history of posts. But still... served its purpose for its time. Then came a messaging protocol, SMTP, very useful for sending "electronic mail", very convenient. But people started sending binary data files on it... by converting it to text (UUEncoding anyone?) so wasteful and inefficient. But it is still being used. So, bitcoin for me is just that early system, that early test that shows a way to do decentralized, censorship-resistant, digital currency. Humanity will find more efficient ways to do it (and maybe they won't be used, as with Email) or at some point in the distant future, the power side of the equation won't be relevant (renewable energy? nuclear? who knows). But for me, that does not change the fact that bitcoin proposition is a stepping stone for society that sooner or later will change the way people transfer value.