Bitcoin. Thanks, but no thanks.
A brief history of disruption.
“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” — Helen Keller
2900–1800 BC.
Over 4,500 years ago the late Neolithic-early Bronze Age people — the Beaker Folk, came and settled in England from the Iberian peninsula.
Bringing with them their distinctive pottery beakers and teaching us how to drink liquid out of small vessels later known as cups. Scientists and Archaeologists have said the arrival of the Beaker Folk changed Great Britain forever.
But why? We were quite content cupping the water up with our hands and licking it up like a cat.
Thanks, but no thanks Beaker folk.
1896.
Henry Ford spent long, gruelling hours working away at his home in Detroit, Michigan building something he called a quadricycle.
Automobiles already existed previously but were complicated machines that required a chauffer and only affordable to the super rich. Henry wanted to make it affordable for every purse.
The Model T was created, mass produced on production lines and the common man was able to afford his first automobile.
Henry Ford had produced one of the modern world’s most important innovations and revolutionized American society and later, the whole world.
It would never last they said. We didn’t need those ghastly oil guzzling automobiles, we were quite happy gallivanting around on our horses and buggies.
Thanks, but no thanks Henry.
1971.
American computer engineer Ray Tomlinson was working with his team on the development of an early computer operating system and he created two programs called SNDMSG and READMAIL.
It wasn’t until 1971 that the first files were copied over the network and what was known as Electronic Mail, later E-mail — was born.
The Postmaster General of the United States was famously quoted as saying — “Electronic mail will never be useful and certainly won’t replace the postal service”.
We simply did not need this new electronic mail stuff. We had our onion skin letter paper, feather fountain pens and our wax seal stamp.
Thanks, but no thanks Ray.
1976.
5 years later in the Californian spring, Steve Wozniaki and Steve Jobs built 50 basic computers in Jobs’ parents’ house.
We know computers have existed since around World War Two but they had been extremely large and expensive and possessed about the same computing power as a Nokia 3310.
This was personal.
Steve Jobs, a modern day visionary imagined a future in which every home had a personal computer and Apple Computer, Inc. was established.
But why? We had schools, offices and workplaces functioning across the globe with typewriters since the 14th century. We’d even reengineered them in that 600 years from big, clunky Victorian desk top typewriters to portable manual typewriters.
The last thing we needed was a couple of college dropouts making our lives easier, more efficient and laying the fundamental foundations for children of the next generation and beyond.
Thanks, but no thanks Steve.
1990.
It’s Christmas day and an exhausted Sir Tim Berners-Lee sits down with a cup of the finest English tea and sets up the very first successful communication between a Web browser and server via the Internet.
This was preceded by several years of strenuous campaigning by Sir Tim, now 62, to persuade professors, convince students, urge programmers and computer enthusiasts to create and build more servers and web browsers.
Sir Tim tirelessly begged for many years for what would soon come to create entire industries, inspire unprecedented innovation, disrupt traditional industries such as music, retail, travel, publishing, transport and change the world of human communication forever.
But why? We were plodding along just fine weren’t we? We’d existed wonderfully for hundreds of years without the single most important technology of the 21st century coming along and creating all this new opportunity.
Thanks, but no thanks Tim.
2008.
November 1st, 2008. Satoshi Nakamoto, an anonymous computer programmer produced and published a paper on a cryptography mailing list. Detailing the ideas and fundamental foundations for ‘A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’ and what the world now knows as — Bitcoin.
The technology wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, it’s essentially just computer code and the culmination of two decades of research and development by cryptographers and cypherpunks. But this time it was different. None had ever managed to solve all of the problems Satoshi did.
To this day the whereabouts of Satoshi Nakamoto are unknown. His last communication to the outside world was a private email sent to a programmer on April 23, 2011 stating: “I’ve moved on to other things. It’s in good hands with Gavin and everyone.”
Many theories have been discussed as to why Satoshi proposed this new currency alternative and one that stands out particularly is that it’s a response to the global financial crisis — owing to the note Satoshi left hardcoded in the genesis block (see below). Which was a reference to the front cover of The Times newspaper. Possibly suggesting Satoshi Nakamoto may have lived in the United Kingdom.
But why? Why should we consider abandoning a hundreds of years old financial system, in favour of this Bitcoin thingy. We’re doing just fine thank you very much.
Our banks allow us to store our money safely, they control it, well it’s ours but they use it, at their discretion. It’s safely controlled by a single authority whereas Bitcoin has no central authority. What’s it even backed by? Does it even have any intrinsic value?
I can transfer my money to around 23 countries within a few days, if I call my bank for permission first, of course. The rest of the world don’t have modern banking systems and in most cases no access to any form of bank account. Didn’t want to send it there anyway, I suppose.
If Wall Street implodes and there is another global financial crisis like 2008? Cyprus 2013? Or there’s an economic recession like the previous 47 in US history alone? Or the economy needs stimulating? Relax, it’s no problem — the federal reserve can just print some more fiat currency, increase liquidity and solve the issue. Just like Venezuela (see below) or the hyper inflation in Zimbabwe.
There’s simply no need for a sound, hard money that’s mathematically backed, decentralised and deflationary in this digital age.
One that can be divided into millionths of units and accessed by every human being on Earth.
Rebuild free market capitalism?
Thanks, but no thanks Satoshi.
