A Better Store of Value

in #philosophy8 years ago (edited)

Light-emitting displays are terrible stores of value. By design, they're required to continuously consume electricity in order to serve up visuals, static or not. Now think about the likes of E-paper and the way it stores value for displaying information. Using a combination of material bistability and reflective surfaces, E-paper uses up 36x lesser power compared to LCD-displays.

From an engineering perspective, the energy efficiency of E-paper renders it a better store-of-value. The technology might not be able to handle your favourite family photo in full-colour HD, but you can at least look at them in grey-scale and remember the good times.

And here's the thing about E-paper. They really do look like paper with prints that last forever since the technology will only consume energy when the surface requires displaying a different set of values. Just like those table electronic calculators, add in a miniature solar-powered unit and the deal is done. Minimal maintenance. Long life. After all, a static store shouldn't consume all too much energy to maintain a stable state.

"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for every store-of-value drops to zero."
by Tyler Nakamoto

So in our case, the only way to ensure any digital store-of-value maintains integrity over the long-term is:-

  • Low power consumption.
  • Couple with renewable energy.

Taking the pessimistic realism of Tyler Nakamoto's quote at face value, there's just no way that power-hungry systems can last that long. Even renewable energy wouldn't be able to patch up fundamentally energetic systems. As problem-solving creatures, we should aim for constant improvements to displace the obsolete. Go for minimal bloat with smart and deliberate design. These qualities can produce longer-lasting protocols and confident lifetime investors. If we're to imagine societies that run on many layers of community protocols all around the world, practising the philosophy of E-paperism on cryptocurrencies seem to make the most sense, at least to me.

That said, I believe a great degree of decentralisation can be achieved through power minimalism as it also lowers the barrier for mainstream participation. It is with this foundation that we get to build out the the basic pillars of public networks that doesn't consume all too much energy and more descriptively, middleman fees. Scalability has many dimensions and that also includes a system's energy footprint. Stuff like Steem, EOS, IOTA, and Raiblocks come to mind.


This is not to be taken as financial advice.
Video from Pocketnow.

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Excited to see a phone with e-ink screen! Thanks for the update.

I've been using the Dasung Paperlike - a full 16-inch e-ink computer monitor - for the last couple of years. Couldn't use a computer without it. This e-ink monitor, coupled with the Pomodoro technique (take a 5-min rest every 25 minutes) solved all my eye problems that came from too much computer usage.

I don't see any reason why all electronic screens can't be e-ink. There's no harm to the eyes when looking at it. The problems of color and refresh rate can be solved and there has been good progress on them already. The health benefits to the general public would be staggering (kids today have eye problems at 9-10 years of age due to lots of playing of computer games), And the power consumption would go down tremendously.

Nice recommendation. I think more products like Dasung's should be encouraged and promoted. Just to share, recently I've been feeling uncomfortable and couldn't do much thinking / writing. Changed my habits recently and they seem to be making life better:-

  • Turn off 99% of notifications.
  • 100% e-ink display usage when reading / writing.

Dasung Paperlike with $1,399.00 it is still quite expensive. But the price might go down as it becomes more common.

Totally agree with your statement @kevinwong. I am very curious how all of this will develop. Projects based on DAGs might be more energy efficient than blockchains. To what extend there is more privacy, security etc. I don't know.

We all know that currently Bitcoin needs an awful amount of power. Of course there are improvements coming, but it still will be using a lot of electricity. And yes, the current financial system also uses an enormous amount of electricity, but Bitcoin hasn't taken over those tasks. When it will and the tech has not improved, we have a problem. If Bitcoin is a store of value, maybe it needs to be compared with the energy consumption of stores of value.

I believe eventually this new tech of blockchains, DAGs and other innovations will help us reduce the amount of electricity used by everything build with some form of intranet or internet at its base. Exciting times!

Keep up the good work with these interesting articles!

Exactly and cutting out the "middle man" is precisely what needs to be done as these middle men are the one's who gain control over our purses so to speak. It's beyond time to do away with them and let them earn their own keep. I believe this is an important part of the evolution we are involved in. It seems these middle men are everywhere. Enjoyed.

@kevinwong on an offnote, bought a Kindle device in 2013 (the entry level 6") and the one thing that struck me was that it lasted almost 4 weeks on a single recharge - it was undoubtedly the most energy efficient rechargeable electric device I have ever owned, thanks to the E-ink technology you have described in the article, and I've forever been fascinated by it.

Coming back what you mentioned, there is no doubt that power minimalism will ower the barrier for mainstream participation and store of value that requires only minimal power that can be obtained through renewable sources is the way to go. The amount of power consumed in mining is going to be Bitcoin's achillees heel in the future...

It's a sane advice. Power conservation is more important than producing power. Societies have to invent ways to save power and shift to less hungary power machines.

Thank you for sharing an important thing we all must do.

But they we can't show off how rich we are by wasting resources!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption

I got a Kindle Paperwhite last year. First e-reader. I don't know any other, but this thing is AMAZING. It really gave me a new passion for reading long novels and classics!

I really do think this is the way to go in books, for us who care more about the content, and not that much for the book as an object.

I use for a couple of years a nook paperwhite e-reader. Soo good! But still I love real books in my hands, the smell of new books, texture and design...

I am the proud Owner of a Kindle paperwhite and I must tell you it''s an amazing experience!
the kindle comes with a notice on his screen out of the box and I thought it is some kind of sticker that I have to peel off - that's how realistic it is! I am an heavy reader and yet I need to charge once i 2-3 weeks and my eyes aren't getting tired :) making them use reneable energy sources will make them even better :)

I really like the way you took this devices as a concept for a future way of life, it's not trivial and never occurred to me :)

thank you for widening my sight :)
Nati.

Imagine a world where all school textbooks where e-ink based?
The energy cost savings would be incredible. Plus you could rewrite history whenever you wanted to ;)
I've watched this interesting technology from the beginning and still wonder why it hasn't had mass adoption other than kindle etc.
The masses like bright shiny things and that is the sticking point apart from vested interests maintaining high consumption devices. There's a lot of money in generating electricity old school.
Short term profits trump sustainability for many current firms.
The binary state is the most efficient state so far devised and understood. Getting the masses onboard will take time or an energy crisis.

I am still hoping for a smart watch with E-ink display, touch enabled, and operating on Android wear! Maybe the last one won't happen but a man can dream.

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