Bit by bit, it's become clear that it's a bit much to worry even a little bit that overloading the word "bit" would be every bit as bad as a two bit horse with the bit between it's teeth that bit the hand that feeds it, or a drill bit broken to bits after just a bit of use.
Aaron There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you -- Will Rodgers On Sat, May 3, 2014 at 10:18 PM, Drak <d...@zikula.org> wrote: > +1 > > On 4 May 2014 02:06, "Chris Pacia" <ctpa...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Absent a concerted effort to move to something else other than 'bits', I >> would be willing to bet the nomenclature moves in that direction anyway. >> 'Bits' is just a shorten word for 'millibits' (or microbits, if you >> will). It's easier to say and my guess is people would tend to use it >> naturally own their own. Kind of like 'bucks' for dollars. >> >> The other synergies are: >> -bit is part of the word Bitcoin. The currency unit bit is part of a >> whole bitcoin. >> -bit symbolically represents the tech nature of the bitcoin. >> -bit used to be a unit of money way back when. This largely reclaims it. >> -when used as money bit when in references to a precession metal coin. >> The name 'bitcoin' references that as well as the mimicking of the gold >> standard in the protocol rules. >> >> All around I don't think there is a better fit. I doubt people will get >> confused by it. The context it's used in will distinguish it from other >> uses of the word. >> >> On 05/03/2014 12:27 PM, Mike Caldwell wrote: >> > I agree with the sentiment that most people don't understand either >> > computer science or Bitcoin. The goal of getting people to understand >> > enough about Bitcoin to use it is achievable and a goal that is "in scope" >> > of our efforts. Getting them to understand computer science at large at the >> > same time, less so. >> > >> > The fact that people routinely confuse RAM and hard drive sizes has much >> > to do with the fact that the average lay person has little need to >> > prioritize this as something to keep in the forefront. They don't get >> > "horribly" confused, they just simply don't get worked up over what looks >> > to >> > them like a rounding error, much to the dismay of anyone who believes that >> > everyone should be an expert at computer science. The average joe may >> > assess (accurately from his perspective) that the distinction isn't >> > important enough to merit significant mental resources and he is justified >> > in not expending them that way even if someone else thinks he should. >> > >> > Poor understanding is precisely what a proper effort to name this would >> > be to avoid. It is not frill or aesthetics, it is a planned targeting of >> > language to achieve the clearest communication to the widest possible >> > target >> > audience using the language most likely to be understood by them in light >> > of >> > our objectives. It's marketing. >> > >> > Mike >> > >> > Sent from my iPhone >> > >> >> On May 3, 2014, at 9:49 AM, "Christophe Biocca" >> >> <christophe.bio...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> Context as a disambiguator works fine when the interlocutors >> >> understand the topics they're talking about. >> >> Not a day goes by without me seeing "neurotypical people" get horribly >> >> confused between RAM and Hard Drive sizes, because they share the same >> >> units (not that that can be helped, as the units are supposed to be >> >> the same, base 1000 vs 1024 notwithstanding). >> >> >> >> Bit (as a unit) is already really confusing for anyone who doesn't >> >> deal with it on a regular basis. I think people who don't see an issue >> >> are making an assumption based on their own lack of confusion. We >> >> understand computer science AND Bitcoin. Most people have zero >> >> understanding of either. >> >> >> >> Bitcoin already has a ton of issues with terrible names for things: >> >> >> >> - Mining (for transaction validation). >> >> - Addresses (which are meant to be one-time use, and don't even really >> >> exist at the network level). >> >> - Wallets (which don't hold your bitcoins, can be copied, and all >> >> backups can be stolen from equally). >> >> >> >> I end up having to make the distinctions obvious every time I explain >> >> Bitcoin to someone new to it. There's an acceptable tradeoff here, >> >> because there were arguably no better words to assign to these >> >> concepts (although I'd argue mining is a really awful metaphor, and is >> >> the one that prompts the most questions from people). Then add to the >> >> pile a bunch of third parties naming themselves after parts of the >> >> protocol (Coinbase,Blockchain.info). Not blaming them for it, but I've >> >> definitiely seen average people get confused between "the blockchain" >> >> and "blockchain.info" (not so much Coinbase, because that name doesn't >> >> come up in beginner explanations). >> >> >> >> It seems downright masochistic to add >> >> yet-another-word-that-doesn't-mean-what-you-think-it-means to the pile >> >> for no reason other than aesthetics. Are we actively trying to confuse >> >> people? >> > >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> > "Accelerate Dev Cycles with Automated Cross-Browser Testing - For FREE >> > Instantly run your Selenium tests across 300+ browser/OS combos. Get >> > unparalleled scalability from the best Selenium testing platform >> > available. >> > Simple to use. Nothing to install. Get started now for free." >> > http://p.sf.net/sfu/SauceLabs >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Bitcoin-development mailing list >> > Bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net >> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bitcoin-development >> > >> >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> "Accelerate Dev Cycles with Automated Cross-Browser Testing - For FREE >> Instantly run your Selenium tests across 300+ browser/OS combos. Get >> unparalleled scalability from the best Selenium testing platform >> available. >> Simple to use. Nothing to install. Get started now for free." >> http://p.sf.net/sfu/SauceLabs >> _______________________________________________ >> Bitcoin-development mailing list >> Bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bitcoin-development > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > "Accelerate Dev Cycles with Automated Cross-Browser Testing - For FREE > Instantly run your Selenium tests across 300+ browser/OS combos. Get > unparalleled scalability from the best Selenium testing platform available. > Simple to use. Nothing to install. Get started now for free." > http://p.sf.net/sfu/SauceLabs > _______________________________________________ > Bitcoin-development mailing list > Bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bitcoin-development > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Accelerate Dev Cycles with Automated Cross-Browser Testing - For FREE Instantly run your Selenium tests across 300+ browser/OS combos. Get unparalleled scalability from the best Selenium testing platform available. Simple to use. Nothing to install. Get started now for free." http://p.sf.net/sfu/SauceLabs _______________________________________________ Bitcoin-development mailing list Bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bitcoin-development
