Crypto in 2017 is like email in 1997: HALF OF ONE PERCENT of people have used it!

in #bitcoin7 years ago

I want to expand on a "meme" I saw recently, which compared email in 1997 to cryptocurrencies in 2017 -- both having around 0.5% user adoption at that respective point in time. (I can't find the meme image; I think I saw it here, a few days ago perhaps?)

While letting this write-up percolate, I read this which seems to rhyme: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-12/think-people-got-rich-bitcoin-we-havent-seen-anything-yet

My thoughts are also based on this analysis I learned years ago: the invention of the telephone not only made communications more rapid -- it changed the very nature of communications!

Previously, people wrote letters and had to wait days, weeks, even sometimes months for a response. With the telephone, a sentence could be spoken, and then immediately responded to -- something that letters carried via post just cannot do!

Similarly, email allowed us to write letters "at telephone speed" and thus changed the nature of those communications, as well. Not as drastic as the telephone did, but with far-reaching effects -- one can do banking and bill paying over email now!

So, that fed into the "light bulb going off" when I saw the email/crypto comparison "meme" image.

Doing some "simple" math on the figures -- once 50% of the people have used it, we will have experienced a 100x increase in terms of users, from today. Will the price experience a similar increase? I don't know; however, I have a feeling that it will increase even more, since the utility of it increases much more as each person is added -- i.e., it's not additive, it's at least geometric; the "network effect" like why Facebook overtook MySpace (and why it's less likely for a competitor to overtake them -- except they're doing a lot of foot-aiming lately...).

The "network effect" is somewhat like brain neurons. I read last year that there used to be a lot more oxygen in the air, which scientists determined by examining air pockets trapped with insects encased in amber (not the Elric/Corwin version :) ).

Currently we have around 23% O2 in the air; previously, there was 31% or so, which is about 50% more. It also included that babies' brains start with around 200 billion neurons, and in the third trimester about half of them die off because the mother cannot provide enough O2 to the developing baby.

It concluded with, imagine if we had twice as many neurons as we currently do. Would we be twice as smart? Not hardly! We would be hundreds, perhaps millions of times smarter -- or more! Why? Because each neuron connects to around 10,000 other neurons, and the number of connections seems to have something to do with increased intelligence.

So, the connections would be doubled with just a few more percent of neurons -- thus, an additional 100% of them would allow us to think thoughts we're currently unable to think. Which is a really, really wild thing, for me to think. :) (Note that I tried doing the math and failed; I think perhaps what I read also said that with more oxygen, not only would more neurons survive but that they'd also have a larger number of connections than 10,000 -- which would help to make my attempt at math work better, but oh well...)

At any rate -- I think huge things are in store. "HODL" on tight!!!

Enjoy!

Oh, and here's a better image than the first "steemitboard.com" footer image as the thumbnail, LOL! This one's titled "Waterfall", and fits in here since that was one of the first methods of generating electricity. That, and, my honeymoon with @countrylover was at Niagara Falls! :)

Waterfall+c.png




Sort:  

But I still hope future generations will have cash as well. Somehow I find it important to have both options.

Yeah, after what happened in Cyprus I expect them to try to bring that here. Cash and cryptos help one avoid tyranny.

yes you are completely right @libertyteeth

time to hold it tight for 2018 that's true

Most everyone fights change but once we have had it for awhile people realize how good it is and how it improved how we do things. Most people won't want to get into crypto but from what little I know it seems like a train that will not be stopped! Hopefully I will be able to take as much advantage as I can!

It is a much better gamble than Vegas!

That's for sure! :)

its a philosophy about life and bitcoin, impresive with that.

so expect some more price rises ;)

I don't think bitcoin can take that many users. I think the final winner in cryptocurrency will have to be something much more scalable than any coin available today.

Bitcoin has changed since it started. I think the alts help by being "testing platforms" for features to be incorporated into Bitcoin. I could be wrong, but I foresee BTC keeping both top-coin-price as well as marketshare, at least for some time.

I agree. I feel good about it for the next 5 years. I am unsure about how it will do in 20 years, however.

i see the link u give people think how rich with btc and i see a coin in coinmarket have more price value from btc .russian. but mostly of people trade and exchage with btc what happened if btc dogged to all poeples

yeah this is technology but now crypto is look more fast from all other i fear maybe its fisnish all paper currencies but is it a protect way if the only crypto use in whole world @libertyteeth

this looks familiar

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.17
TRX 0.24
JST 0.034
BTC 96627.07
ETH 2769.68
SBD 0.65