I fear this would have a lot of consequences. I'd rather we did this slowly, from 10 to 8, from 8 to 6 or 5, over the years.
I agree, abrupt changes is not recommended.... This way we can asses the affects of the change.
Agreed! That's why I voted to keep at 10 minutes. Changes should only be done (unless something is flat out broken) after a lengthy period of debate and discussion. And they should only be done to keep Bitcoin working well for its intended purpose. I want Bitcoin to be as fixed and immutable as possible. Otherwise we are just trading a bunch of central bankers manipulating the money supply for a bunch of miners manipulating the money supply, which is no improvement.
The discussion about 20 Mb. blocks is a case in point. People have been going at it hammers & tongs for a while now, but only a few days ago did I see Gavin acknowledge the 20 Mb. proposal probably brings with it a big problem with the UTXO database/memory requirements. That reinforces my desire to have everything thought out very slowly and carefully (while planning changes with enough lead time that we don't get ourselves in a bind.)
I have a lot of respect for Gavin and think he's doing a great job. But he's not infallible either.