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The DuckDuckGo comparison is a perfect one. The average user has demonstrated they do not care about whatever creepy/evil thing Google is doing that we talk abo
by kkielhofner 4y ago
The DuckDuckGo comparison is a perfect one. The average user has demonstrated they do not care about whatever creepy/evil thing Google is doing that we talk about here. They just want to lookup the hours of a restaurant as quickly, reliably, and easily as possible so they can eat and move on with their lives. Ditto use cases for Twitter, Facebook, etc, etc.
Why (and when) will average users suddenly care "because blockchain"? They don't and won't (the usage numbers reflect this). They just want to get an answer to a question in seconds, Tweet their musings, endlessly scroll pictures on Facebook/Instagram/etc, or watch Youtube videos of cats, glitter bombs, or whatever. For free. As ridiculous as it is to me and most of HN the average person is even willing to have their TV and streaming services show them endless ads. They just like that they bought that 60" TV for $400 on Black Friday.
Even the censorship/de-platforming argument falls flat. It's been demonstrated that people (as a whole), going back to our tribal roots, prefer to engage with like-minded others. It is fundamental human nature and there have been multiple studies conducted that show it's wired in to our reward circuitry.
Trump gets booted off Twitter? Enter Truth, Parler, whatever where many millions of users moved in near record time. When it comes down to it people like echo chambers and they like free. Platform for free speech? Create a Truth account and start wandering in to flame wars that go against the political leanings there. You will get booted just as Trump got booted from Twitter.
This is where I think blockchain and lack of censorship is also fundamentally flawed. They don't want to pay XYZ in some random coin to make a social media post. They also don't want to bump in to child pornography or some other universally objectionable content (in the case of true to the mantra decentralized blockchain platforms without any form of "censorship").
The same argument goes for money. Almost no one cares - they want to swipe their credit card a few times a day and move on with their lives. They do not care about transaction fees, final settlement times, etc. It's invisible. Other than credit cards and cash the average person interacts with more complicated levels of the financial and banking systems a few times in their lives. They do not care if a lifetime of home ownership (as one example) cost them $50 in wire fees. They likely have no idea (and again don't care) how the 401(k) their employer set them up with actually works.
They also don't want to discover that their wallet has been hacked, their exchange collapsed, the value of their money dropped 20% overnight, or any of the other number of ways funds go "poof" with blockchain.