People would use and/or invest in it now in order to take the bet that it will increase dramatically in value over time, or else because they have an inherent distrust of government-backed currencies. A few years from now (presuming that it is successful in getting more people & businesses to adopt it), folks will probably use it because it will easy to buy things online with them.
The “must have a cable subscription” requirement mean that this won’t solve the problem. I don’t get it – if you’ll put it over the airwaves for free, why not stream it the same way? Why include that idiotic restriction?
Paul, I’ve followed your articles with interest over this last year. I appreciate the combination of insight and self-deprecation that you bring with you. It seems like you see yourself clearly and don’t mind sharing that unvarnished truth with others. It’s painful, and it’s awesome.
sermon alert – pontification ahead
But I think you’re too hard on yourself. (I’d say you’re your own greatest critic, but on the Internet, that will never be true.) You sound defeated by what you’ve taken away from this last year, and I don’t think you should be. The deeper truth of things is that failure doesn’t even exist – there is only experience. Sometimes those experiences match up with our goals and expectations, and sometimes they don’t. Either of those outcomes can teach us and make us more than we were before. It might just take a little while for you to realize exactly what it was that you learned, or how it helps you. If nothing else, you have shared experiences of growth, change, faith, success, and failure with a huge group of readers, and you’ll never know how deep an impact you may have made. In my eyes, you have succeeded magnificently.
/sermon *
I’m glad you’re writing on the Verge, and welcome back to the ’Net.
