i HAD heard of Bytecoin many years earlier.
What you heard of was probably the original Bitcoin-clone Bytecoin (BTE), not BCN. Different coin.
yeah its like the difference between smooth and smoothie
when they hear of ByteCoin(BTE) (launched by maria) they confuse it with ByteCoin(BCN) which was the cryptonote version.
People need to research and get their facts straight before mouthing off. It's like a mental illness/epidemic around here.