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You've entirely missed the point. News is bad because it focuses on the sensational and misses the actionable. Ie bitcoin articles focus on the speculative as

by base698 13y ago

You've entirely missed the point. News is bad because it focuses on the sensational and misses the actionable. Ie bitcoin articles focus on the speculative aspect and not that it's a more useful, less friction method of payment. Business shows focus on day to day movement instead of broad sweeping trends that are game changers. The medium is partly the problem.

tokenadult 13y ago
News is bad because it focuses on the sensational and misses the actionable. I think you've missed the point of my comment, which is that I actively disregard sources that have that defect, and look for sources that tell me about verified, actionable information. (I have been wondering about the pattern of upvotes and downvotes on my comment, and if this is what people think I am saying, that I like the sensational, they are badly misreading my comment.)
- MoosePlissken 13y ago
  I think there's some misunderstanding over the meaning of the word "news" here. The author of the article uses the word "news" when referring to "sensational, bite sized news articles" (because it makes for a better headline). He doesn't think all journalism is bad. The article concludes with this thought: "Society needs journalism – but in a different way. Investigative journalism is always relevant. We need reporting that polices our institutions and uncovers truth. But important findings don't have to arrive in the form of news. Long journal articles and in-depth books are good, too." You and the author seem to mostly agree in that respect.
steveklabnik 13y ago
> Ie bitcoin articles focus on the speculative aspect and not that it's a more useful, less friction method of payment. ... what if bitcoin, currently, _is_ only about the speculative aspect, and is not actually more useful with less friction?
- base698 13y ago
  If that is the case, then I used a bad example, but I really don't think I did. Off topic, but... I recently bought a days usage from put.io with bitcoin. They got their money instantly, I don't have to worry about a hacker getting my credit card info or using more bitcoins in my wallet than I gave. I didn't have to enter a bunch of personal information to prove my identity.
  - marcosdumay 13y ago
    > I didn't have to enter a bunch of personal information to prove my identity. You are wrong here. You did exactly that (a bitcoin transaction is that), just in a way you are not used to.
    - base698 13y ago
      Yes, but I didn't have to fill out a two page form, I clicked send in my bitcoin client.
  - mynewwork 13y ago
    When a hacker gets your credit card info, you're liable for $50 and have the hassle of a few days without your card until you get new one. When a hacker gets your bitcoin wallet, they can empty out your entire account.
    - base698 13y ago
      That's why you have multiple wallets, which you can create with a click of a button. It's effortless to create as many wallets as required for you to feel safe.
    - pfisch 13y ago
      It is just sooo much easier to get credit card information though. You literally give all of it to everyone any time you use it. I don't really know why credit cards don't have a public/private key situation but they don't, so people are just stealing them constantly or applying for them with a bunch of stolen personal information and then running up your credit in ways that are pretty difficult to detect. A lot of the fraud that is occurring today is because the systems we are using to transmit wealth digitally are inherently very insecure.
zobzu 13y ago
Oh man. News that focuses on actionable. Utopia ! I actually believe this renewed news spam (brought by ourselves through the internet) probably makes us all dumber as a whole, over time.
blei 13y ago
Tangential comment: News is bad because it focuses on the sensational and misses the actionable. That's actually what frustrates me most about this article. For people who do plan to continue following news (likely including most readers of the article), the article isn't very actionable. I would love to see a few smart people work together, look through the author's points, and outline a few ways to mitigate the legitimate problems summarized in each point. The article might be useful for other people who haven't considered these points before, but in its current state of merely spreading awareness, it's not very useful for me.

by base698 13y ago

tokenadult 13y ago

News is bad because it focuses on the sensational and misses the actionable. I think you've missed the point of my comment, which is that I actively disregard sources that have that defect, and look for sources that tell me about verified, actionable information. (I have been wondering about the pattern of upvotes and downvotes on my comment, and if this is what people think I am saying, that I like the sensational, they are badly misreading my comment.)

MoosePlissken 13y ago
I think there's some misunderstanding over the meaning of the word "news" here. The author of the article uses the word "news" when referring to "sensational, bite sized news articles" (because it makes for a better headline). He doesn't think all journalism is bad. The article concludes with this thought: "Society needs journalism – but in a different way. Investigative journalism is always relevant. We need reporting that polices our institutions and uncovers truth. But important findings don't have to arrive in the form of news. Long journal articles and in-depth books are good, too." You and the author seem to mostly agree in that respect.

steveklabnik 13y ago

> Ie bitcoin articles focus on the speculative aspect and not that it's a more useful, less friction method of payment. ... what if bitcoin, currently, _is_ only about the speculative aspect, and is not actually more useful with less friction?

base698 13y ago
If that is the case, then I used a bad example, but I really don't think I did. Off topic, but... I recently bought a days usage from put.io with bitcoin. They got their money instantly, I don't have to worry about a hacker getting my credit card info or using more bitcoins in my wallet than I gave. I didn't have to enter a bunch of personal information to prove my identity.
- marcosdumay 13y ago
  > I didn't have to enter a bunch of personal information to prove my identity. You are wrong here. You did exactly that (a bitcoin transaction is that), just in a way you are not used to.
  - base698 13y ago
    Yes, but I didn't have to fill out a two page form, I clicked send in my bitcoin client.
- mynewwork 13y ago
  When a hacker gets your credit card info, you're liable for $50 and have the hassle of a few days without your card until you get new one. When a hacker gets your bitcoin wallet, they can empty out your entire account.
  - base698 13y ago
    That's why you have multiple wallets, which you can create with a click of a button. It's effortless to create as many wallets as required for you to feel safe.
  - pfisch 13y ago
    It is just sooo much easier to get credit card information though. You literally give all of it to everyone any time you use it. I don't really know why credit cards don't have a public/private key situation but they don't, so people are just stealing them constantly or applying for them with a bunch of stolen personal information and then running up your credit in ways that are pretty difficult to detect. A lot of the fraud that is occurring today is because the systems we are using to transmit wealth digitally are inherently very insecure.

zobzu 13y ago

Oh man. News that focuses on actionable. Utopia ! I actually believe this renewed news spam (brought by ourselves through the internet) probably makes us all dumber as a whole, over time.

blei 13y ago

Tangential comment: News is bad because it focuses on the sensational and misses the actionable. That's actually what frustrates me most about this article. For people who do plan to continue following news (likely including most readers of the article), the article isn't very actionable. I would love to see a few smart people work together, look through the author's points, and outline a few ways to mitigate the legitimate problems summarized in each point. The article might be useful for other people who haven't considered these points before, but in its current state of merely spreading awareness, it's not very useful for me.