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I don’t know about the rest of what you’re saying, but I buy stuff with it. Have for the last decade or so... Take that for what it’s worth, but yeah, you’re w

by _eht 7y ago

I don’t know about the rest of what you’re saying, but I buy stuff with it. Have for the last decade or so... Take that for what it’s worth, but yeah, you’re wrong.

the_gastropod 7y ago
People buy stuff with Chuck E. Cheese tokens too (and I suspect more goods are bought with _them_ than Bitcoin). It's still a pretty rare phenomenon.
mundo 7y ago
"Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize."
- _eht 7y ago
  Not criticizing, just letting you know that the fact you stated is false.
- LMYahooTFY 7y ago
  If you're going to reference the rules, you might put more effort into articulating the nuances rather than stating it as an absolute, as what you stated is clearly false.
  - mundo 7y ago
    Alice: "You can't buy stuff with it." Bob: "That's technically false! The truth is you mostly can't buy stuff with it." Whatever; the point stands. Separate from that, you might put some thought in to why the HN guidelines say "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation" instead of "Please try to phrase your comments so carefully that there is only one possible interpretation."
    - LMYahooTFY 7y ago
      This is, frankly, ridiculously dismissive, and you violated both guidelines. If you've never heard of Bitpay, I'd suggest looking it up. I can purchase software on Microsoft's store, hardware on Newegg, a phone line from AT&T, whatever from Overstock, I can travel via Expedia among other travel brokers, I mean seriously... "You can't buy stuff with it" has no obvious interpretation. Did you mean specifically in some part of the world? Specifically from Amazon or Target?
      - mundo 7y ago
        I phrased it vaguely because I meant it that way. Is there one specific thing keeping Bitcoin from being widely used? No, there are a bunch of challenges. Why do you think I should've listed them? Don't you pretty much know what they are? Is it not safe to assume that the other people this deep in a HN thread on the subject do too? Sure, I should've said, "...enough stuff" or "...easily enough" or some other minimizing qualifier, to keep uncharitable readers from mentally inserting a maximizing one. (I would've edited it in, but the edit button was already gone) But I also don't think anyone involved had any genuine trouble figuring out that it was implied. I mean, it's common enough to merit its own bullet point on the HN Guidelines list.
root_axis 7y ago
Outliers exist, but in practice it can't be used to buy much. I can't use it to pay medical bills, tuition, insurance, cell phone, daycare, car payment, taxes, uber or pretty much anything besides a few online services or beer in a very small selection of local bars.
- _eht 7y ago
  I really think you should do more research into your viewpoint. There is a significant ecosystem supported by crypto that makes these copy pasta statements very much outdated.
  - root_axis 7y ago
    What did I write specifically that's wrong?
UncleMeat 7y ago
In the last month I've spent money on mostly just these things: * bills * amazon purchases * some art bought online from a small dealer * grocery store purchases * local restaurant purchases * some plane tickets, hotel reservations * some hobby purchases * some pet supplies I'm pretty sure zero of these businesses let me pay in bitcoin.

by _eht 7y ago

I don’t know about the rest of what you’re saying, but I buy stuff with it. Have for the last decade or so... Take that for what it’s worth, but yeah, you’re wrong.

the_gastropod 7y ago

People buy stuff with Chuck E. Cheese tokens too (and I suspect more goods are bought with _them_ than Bitcoin). It's still a pretty rare phenomenon.

mundo 7y ago

"Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize."

_eht 7y ago
Not criticizing, just letting you know that the fact you stated is false.
LMYahooTFY 7y ago
If you're going to reference the rules, you might put more effort into articulating the nuances rather than stating it as an absolute, as what you stated is clearly false.
- mundo 7y ago
  Alice: "You can't buy stuff with it." Bob: "That's technically false! The truth is you mostly can't buy stuff with it." Whatever; the point stands. Separate from that, you might put some thought in to why the HN guidelines say "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation" instead of "Please try to phrase your comments so carefully that there is only one possible interpretation."
  - LMYahooTFY 7y ago
    This is, frankly, ridiculously dismissive, and you violated both guidelines. If you've never heard of Bitpay, I'd suggest looking it up. I can purchase software on Microsoft's store, hardware on Newegg, a phone line from AT&T, whatever from Overstock, I can travel via Expedia among other travel brokers, I mean seriously... "You can't buy stuff with it" has no obvious interpretation. Did you mean specifically in some part of the world? Specifically from Amazon or Target?
    - mundo 7y ago
      I phrased it vaguely because I meant it that way. Is there one specific thing keeping Bitcoin from being widely used? No, there are a bunch of challenges. Why do you think I should've listed them? Don't you pretty much know what they are? Is it not safe to assume that the other people this deep in a HN thread on the subject do too? Sure, I should've said, "...enough stuff" or "...easily enough" or some other minimizing qualifier, to keep uncharitable readers from mentally inserting a maximizing one. (I would've edited it in, but the edit button was already gone) But I also don't think anyone involved had any genuine trouble figuring out that it was implied. I mean, it's common enough to merit its own bullet point on the HN Guidelines list.

root_axis 7y ago

Outliers exist, but in practice it can't be used to buy much. I can't use it to pay medical bills, tuition, insurance, cell phone, daycare, car payment, taxes, uber or pretty much anything besides a few online services or beer in a very small selection of local bars.

_eht 7y ago
I really think you should do more research into your viewpoint. There is a significant ecosystem supported by crypto that makes these copy pasta statements very much outdated.
- root_axis 7y ago
  What did I write specifically that's wrong?

UncleMeat 7y ago

In the last month I've spent money on mostly just these things: * bills * amazon purchases * some art bought online from a small dealer * grocery store purchases * local restaurant purchases * some plane tickets, hotel reservations * some hobby purchases * some pet supplies I'm pretty sure zero of these businesses let me pay in bitcoin.