1994: "Today Show": "What is the Internet, Anyway?"

Here is one of my favorite videos from the early days of the web. Two popular morning television hosts discuss the at-symbol and ask "what is internet, anyway?" ▶ this video

in “Are You Ready for the Internet? (1994) [video]” · View on HN

Well, that sounds exactly like what people said about all the other technologies that were "on a computer". Watch this exchange, for instance, between Bill Gates and David Letterman... about "this internet thing" [link] Or the Today show wondering what the point is: ▶ this video Technology empowers individuals and smaller communities. That's what it does throughout history. Personal computers. Personal printers. Now you can send email instead of relying on a centralized post office. VOIP disrupted Ma Bell monopolies in our lifetimes, instead of $3 a minute phone calls you can now do full videoonferencing for free. The Web instead of gatekeepers at radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, etc. In all of those cases, you could question why "on a computer" matters. Who needs email when there are phonecalls? Who needs the Web anyway when there is email? Who needs online dating sites when there are matchmakers? Nathan Myrhvold at Microsoft told people at Excite that "search is not a business". Economist Paul Krugman wrote that by 2005, it would become clear that the Internet's effect on the economy is no greater than the fax machine's. Well, these smart contracts are programmable, and you program against one widespread platform, like JVM or in this case EVM. That's a huge benefit. You can have programmable money, programmable elections, without having to deal with thousands of APIs, or as you are saying "normal" physical currency. Governments in fact also want to phase out cash, and even bank

in “Chief scientist of major corporation can’t handle criticism of the work he hypes” · View on HN

> This perspective is far from universal. It doesn't need to be universal. The need for personal computers wasn't universal when Steve Jobs was running around Silicon Valley selling the Apple I in the 70s. They didn't even understand email in the 90s: ▶ this video . Look at us now. > The vast majority of the general population is nowhere near this level of technical proficiency. Right. Just like all technology, that's our responsibility as "the nerds." We take something that's complex and distill it down into something that's easily digested by people with limited or no technical aptitude. --- I find it deeply alarming that the supposed technical elite that wander this site are so averse to something that can liberate and help so many people, worldwide. Even if they have the capacity to understand it, it's clear that many here haven't done their homework and are relying on second or third-hand knowledge (or at best, outdated information) to form their opinions. Despite their hubris and narcissism, they're no better than "the general population" on understanding this.

in “Major crypto lender Celsius freezes withdrawals as markets tumble” · View on HN

Maker already has thousands of vaults, so clearly people do know what it is. I've never had an online loan application work, always had to go to their branch or call them which is a lot more work than installing one browser extension called MetaMask. A lot of these complaints remind me of the time when all the newspapers were writing about how internet is never gonna succeed because x, y, z[1]. There was a time where email was a "complex" thing, you can find out videos of news anchors trying to understand the "@" [2]. 1: [link] 2: ▶ this video

in “Ask HN: How aware are you about building decentralised software on blockchain?” · View on HN

Internet was pretty complicated in the 90s as well, example: "What is the internet, anyway?"[1]. Things are becoming more and more intuitive by the day and I expect that to continue. 1: ▶ this video

in “Police search cryptocurrency trading firm after Turks say they were scammed” · View on HN

You managed to cram so much wrong into a post it's unbelievable. Let's start with your 'off by one' address scare tactic. Bitcoin addresses contain a built-in check code, so it's generally not possible to send Bitcoins to a mistyped address. [link] Ecological concerns? A global, nacent value exchange system uses a little more than the total electricity of holiday lights. In fact many miners use cheap unused energy that would be otherwise costly to build infrastructure to sell normally. [link] Too confusing? Seems familiar. Here's a video from 1994 with some talk show hosts confused about 'internet'. Just watch this, please. ▶ this video

in “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (2008) [pdf]” · View on HN