damn it, why does the pseudo-intellectual FUD troll have to share my name!?
Anyways, one doesnt really have to be a tech technician to know how to use bitcoin. One only has to a simple set of rules:
a) encrypt and back up your wallet (it's really easy to do in bitcoin core, IDK about other wallets)
b) always be careful who you send to
always check the address more than once.c) always be careful how much you send
always check the amount more than once!d) always use escrow (there's a ton of websites that are cheap and easy to use for this service).
e)
ALWAYS check the reputation of the person/business you're giving your coins to.
f) follow any rule applicant to money.
g) paper wallets are safest, so long as they remain unspent. Never use the same paper wallet twice (paper wallet tutorials are super easy).But since "any kid with a laptop can duplicate their bitcoin". That's no problem at all.
(Before you scream "21 million": that bitcoin limit is "guaranteed" only by fuzzy arguments about a complicated economic game, not "by math", and could be changed if the right players agreed to it. Moreover, any kid can duplicate the amount of bitcoins in existence by creating a hard fork of the blockchain and starting to mine it on his laptotp. Anyone who has bitcoins will gain an equal amount of those "series B" bitcoins, accessible through the same private keys, and could trade them independently of his old bitcoins by duplicating his wallet and downloading the kids's client software. Whether those "series B" bitcoins will get a significant market value is a market(ing) question, not a technical one. And, of course, there are the altcoins.)