Quote from: GoWest on September 05, 2011, 08:48:44 PM

http://bitcoin-trader.blogspot.com/2011/09/14-things-you-can-do-with-bitcoin-that.html

Addressing my thoughts on this.

1) Tip your favourite blogger ten cents with a near-zero transaction fee (less than a penny).

Understood, though 10 cents seems a bit more of an insult then a tip. A dollar or two for no transaction fees is fine.

2) Write a book, create artwork, play a song, upload it, and sell it, now. No shopping carts, no publishers, no distributers, no PayPal, no credit cards, no addresses

I've actually looked into this, before I heard about Bitcoin. In this day and age it's actually pretty easy to setup a merchant site, or work with something like amazon's publishing service.Joe average can do it, if not as well as an expert. Bitcoin may make it a little easier. Oh the other hand, this is what also makes Bitcoin attractive to scammers.

3) Send a dollar to someone half a world away for less than a penny.

4) Send ten thousand dollars to someone half a world away for less than a penny.

These points could just be one point- which also is the same as the first point. Bitcoin offers cheap money transactions. If i had contacts, I could almost see starting a Western Union style service. On the other hand, i'm hearing mixed things about the speed of Bitcoin transfers, and at this moment in time I'd have to turn around and exchange that money for local currency which in some places could be a three step process with more associated fees. (also, Id have to trust every single node involved to not take the money and run, or give false information as I took in applications to open branches)
It's one of Bitcoins better selling points, but it still need maturing for the public at large.

5) Maintain a savings account without paying someone else to hold your money or give it back to you.

My first thought at this question was "well, I could just stuff all my cash in a safe for the same benefit." Then I reread.
I have three bank accounts. None of them cost me money. My savings account earns money- not much, but it's still money they give me for keeping my money there. My checking accounts are free. For one checking account, I did have to pay a small onetime fee for a debt card, but that is the only fee involved. I've never had to pay ATM fees either- There's a slight, ever so slight inconvenience in that I have to keep track of where a branch ATM is if I need money, but I pass two of them on the way two and from work every day. I realize this may be a case where I'm not as much Joe Average- but There are decent banks out there.

6) Withdraw your winnings from an online casino - all of it - and get it instantly. Do it without anyone knowing your name or where you live.

7) Playing poker at your buddy's place? Don't worry about stopping at an ATM to get cash. Settle your winnings at the end of the night without trying to figure out how to make change.

Online poker I can see. But playing poker with your buddies- This isn't something I personally do, but if I did, I'd bring the cash I was planning on spending with me. Maybe I just don't get it.

Eating out at a restaurant and the waitress won't split the bill? Let someone else pay and give them the exact amount you owe, to the penny. No need to carry cash.

9) Running out from the office to buy lunch for your co-workers? No need to collect the money in advance. Send them the payment address and they can pay their share without leaving their desks.

These hinge on the same thing that 7) does. I would need my buddies/coworkers to use Bitcoins. And if I wanted to get them to use Bitcoins, Their first question would be "Why".. which is what I'm asking right in this thread. Sure, paying debts back and forth via BTC might be simpler, but it's going to take a lot more then that to convince the people I associate with- especially when most of them have a low level of technical knowledge- to put a significant amount of money into BTC.

10) Set up an online store in minutes. No shopping carts, no payment processors, no fees.

11) Receive a payment and not worry about a chargeback from the credit card company or from PayPal. All payments are final.

10) is pretty much Identical to 2). It's incredibly easy to setup a Bitcoin business. From what I've seen, there isn't much hassle involved in becoming a Paypal business. I'm actually kinda uneasy about being so easy to setup a business- In the course of writing this, I realized not only does it invite scams, but it also requires less dedication on the part of the merchant. If I am serious about selling widgets online, I can spend time setting up a website and dealing with paypal. If that much is too hard, How do I expect to keep up if my shop becomes popular?

For that matter, I could sell things on ebay, or even just go to the communities I frequent and trade paypal information.

12) Send money to any organization. No middle-man can stop you from supporting a cause.

This contains a link to news about wikileaks. I applaud the ideal. I also am not comfortable bringing my politics into this- I want a reasoned debate, not a flaming. The thing is, Wikileak's politics aside - The reason a middleman would stop you, in every scenario I can think of, is illegality. As I responded to thefighter - This is not a reason for me to get into BTC. This is not the main reason to advertise BTC. This is a reason that any established business looking at accepting BTC would hesitate to associate with. Ideals are fine, I support you there. But if the primary drive of Bitcoin is to get money to business that paypal, mastercard, or banks won't touch because of legal concerns, the future of Bitcoin is not so bright.

13) Protect your wealth from your country's unsustainable financial policies without destroying the environment or native land.

Link to a discussion about the environmental damage of gold-mining. Without an economy background, I can't comment on 'unsustainable financial policies' (although also a bit confused. I thought a lot of nations were no longer on the gold standard?). I can ask about the impact of Bitcoin mining though. It probably is not be as bad, but I'd like to see the numbers.

14) Travel to another country. Cover your expenses without exchanging currencies (coming soon).

Well, let me know more about that when it's happened.