I have tried using the phrase, "Bitcoin, with a built-in exchange between internal assets," to explain Bitshares. That doesn't cover everything, but a good chunk of the core tech can be touched on through this theme.
I like to see BitShares as a platform for smart contracts. So OS metaphor works pretty well here, but it's not necessary have to be narrowed down to financial applications.
The Origin of BitShares
Part 9
What is a SuperDAC?(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/tinkerbb/1932%20hoods/superduck.jpg)QuoteSuperDAC - noun - soup-er-dakThe need to merge our various DACs into a single "SuperDAC" was based on the realization that they all needed a whole bunch of common services that are much less effective if they aren't common services:
A Decentralized Autonomous Company (DAC) providing common services that support layering of other DAC business models onto a common public ledger for the sake of shared network effect.New business developers (DAC engineers) shouldn't want to reinvent these things any more than I would want to reinvent my computer's device drivers and operating system. And what sense would it make to have different competing operating systems, each with a subset of drivers and services?
- A unified basket of stable, robust global currencies (bitAssets)
- A unified set of well compensated, best-of-breed delegates.
- A unified name system.
- A unified secure messaging system.
- A unified set of on and off ramps - portals to the fiat world.
- A unified marketing message.
- A unified consensus-based governing system.
- A unified family of tools and wallets.
- A unified way for newcomers to make instant friends with everyone already there.
- A built-in venture capital system where you can compete for start-up funds - democratically.
Gee, I sure wish I could go back in time and invest in MS-DOS.
Rats.
An opportunity like that will never come around again.
BitShares took the whole ecosystem into one DAC friendly free-trade zone with all the services that benefit from network effect already in place.
Any developer who wants to build a business would be crazy to stay on the outside and try to replicate that. Even if they can pick up the toolkit and get all the functions - the network effect doesn't come with the toolkit! You get that by joining the club. You still run your own business with its own custom storefront and Internet presence. You just skipped a year or two of trying to get traffic to stop by!
Bitshares the BusinessOS. Just add some ERP,CRM, and SAP modules.
A metaphor is an important tool used to convey complicated ideas to the general public. Since the beginning of Bitcoin (and especially Bitshares) we've had a very hard time coming up with a simple way to convey the core essence of what is being created here. Is it a company, community, bank or a government? The truth is, Bitshares has the potential to be all of these things. So what do all of these things have in common? What is their essence?
ANSWER: They can all be described as types of operating systems.
I'd like to conduct a fun little experiment. Pretend like you're chatting with a relatively tech savvy person and he asks you "what is bitshares?" In your own words, describe Bitshares using the FinancialOS metaphor as your foundation.
P2P FOREX / COMEX
Here, ELI5 to these guys:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1078009.0;all
Bitshares the BusinessOS. Just add some ERP,CRM, and SAP modules.
bOS. Nice.
Bitshares the BusinessOS. Just add some ERP,CRM, and SAP modules.
bOS. Nice.
BitOS?
Bitshares the BusinessOS. Just add some ERP,CRM, and SAP modules.Hodor ... ehm .. odoo?
I like to see BitShares as a platform for smart contracts. So OS metaphor works pretty well here, but it's not necessary have to be narrowed down to financial applications.
I definitely see your point. Why limit Bitshares to a single niche? But is it really wise to attempt creating an OS that does everything or is it better to focus on a niche? If Bitshares were architected from the ground up to cater toward finance, I think that would offer us a significant competitive advantage.
So what do you think about "platform"? In a lot of cases it's used as synonym to OS.
A metaphor is an important tool used to convey complicated ideas to the general public. Since the beginning of Bitcoin (and especially Bitshares) we've had a very hard time coming up with a simple way to convey the core essence of what is being created here. Is it a company, community, bank or a government? The truth is, Bitshares has the potential to be all of these things. So what do all of these things have in common? What is their essence?
ANSWER: They can all be described as types of operating systems.
I'd like to conduct a fun little experiment. Pretend like you're chatting with a relatively tech savvy person and he asks you "what is bitshares?" In your own words, describe Bitshares using the FinancialOS metaphor as your foundation.
Stan is probably got the best answer, it depends on what works best for your target audience.
Your ANSWER is lost on the audience you defined in your first sentence. I interface with the general public as a computer expert offering tech services and training in my local community. I can tell you that even those at the 90th percentile of tech knowledge around here don't grasp what an operating system does, anymore than a typical housewife understands the role of an air conditioning compressor in her car or home.
"Tech Savvy" is actually a fairly broad term. To all but a very, very small few members of this community, "operating system" is a highly descriptive analogy, a metaphor that fits well.
The key to using any analogy is it's suitability to the target audience. I have had to explain computer issues to a very wide range of people, and when I do I often have to find the right analogy until I see the light bulb go on over their head. Car analogies work well with most men, but for women it's much harder to come up with common examples of systems they are familiar with. If car / mechanical analogies don't click with them, I usually think about churches, institutions or some type of group organization and the control points in them and how things get done or resources managed. Things work well for men, groups work better for women.
Platform works. That's what ethereum is calling themselves and I just wanted to differentiate bitshares a little. I would suggest sticking to finance though. I see no point in trying to be a better version of ethereum. The trick seems to be specializing to get initial market share. In the 80s, Microsoft focused on businesses while Apple focused on the individual consumer. Microsoft destroyed Apple because the end user wasn't ready for personal computing (sound familiar?). Businesses were eating up Microsoft's tech because it saved money and gave them a competitive edge.+5% +5% +5%
In our case, Bitshares can be the Microsoft of blockchains and laser focus on solving the financial sector's problems. Let Etherium [try to] appeal to the common user. They will fail until much later, when this tech is maturure and people are actually ready to use it on their own. Until then, solving the financial industry's problems will take us to where we need to be. We can appeal to "everybody" when the time is appropriate.
I find this a persuasive argument for initial specialisation, although that could be for business or retail. To integrate with business, we may need the bitShares "business" to be regulated in some form to have any credibility with big players. As long as we have the ability to change (or remove) jurisdiction at some later point.So what do you think about "platform"? In a lot of cases it's used as synonym to OS.
Platform works. That's what ethereum is calling themselves and I just wanted to differentiate bitshares a little. I would suggest sticking to finance though. I see no point in trying to be a better version of ethereum. The trick seems to be specializing to get initial market share. In the 80s, Microsoft focused on businesses while Apple focused on the individual consumer. Microsoft destroyed Apple because the end user wasn't ready for personal computing (sound familiar?). Businesses were eating up Microsoft's tech because it saved money and gave them a competitive edge.
In our case, Bitshares can be the Microsoft of blockchains and laser focus on solving the financial sector's problems. Let Etherium [try to] appeal to the common user. They will fail until much later, when this tech is maturure and people are actually ready to use it on their own. Until then, solving the financial industry's problems will take us to where we need to be. We can appeal to "everybody" when the time is appropriate.
Edit: Same dynamic was true for Blackberry. They went straight for businesses and became massively popular in their day. Only problem with both Blackberry and Microsoft is they failed (are failing) at appealing to average users when the time came.
+5%So what do you think about "platform"? In a lot of cases it's used as synonym to OS.
Platform works. That's what ethereum is calling themselves and I just wanted to differentiate bitshares a little. I would suggest sticking to finance though. I see no point in trying to be a better version of ethereum. The trick seems to be specializing to get initial market share. In the 80s, Microsoft focused on businesses while Apple focused on the individual consumer. Microsoft destroyed Apple because the end user wasn't ready for personal computing (sound familiar?). Businesses were eating up Microsoft's tech because it saved money and gave them a competitive edge.
In our case, Bitshares can be the Microsoft of blockchains and laser focus on solving the financial sector's problems. Let Etherium [try to] appeal to the common user. They will fail until much later, when this tech is maturure and people are actually ready to use it on their own. Until then, solving the financial industry's problems will take us to where we need to be. We can appeal to "everybody" when the time is appropriate.
Edit: Same dynamic was true for Blackberry. They went straight for businesses and became massively popular in their day. Only problem with both Blackberry and Microsoft is they failed (are failing) at appealing to average users when the time came.
I've had success explaining it to people already savvy enough to know what a video game emulator, and bittorrent is.
BitShares is like an emulator for real world currencies, commodities, and stocks but it runs on a network like torrents do.
Bitshares is an Open & Independent Financial Universe.+5%
The winner is always the most user-friendly one, not the most powerful one.
I like to see BitShares as a platform for smart contracts. So OS metaphor works pretty well here, but it's not necessary have to be narrowed down to financial applications.
I definitely see your point. Why limit Bitshares to a single niche? But is it really wise to attempt creating an OS that does everything or is it better to focus on a niche? If Bitshares were architected from the ground up to cater toward finance, I think that would offer us a significant competitive advantage.
I agree focusing on a single niche has a lot of benefits.
So what do you think about "platform"? In a lot of cases it's used as synonym to OS. If you followed startup ecosystem, there were a lot of debates - platform vs. product vs service, and it looks like platform is investors' favorite. Look at biggest companies (e.g. Google, Facebook, Microsoft) they all try to position themselves as platform.
Another reason I like word platform over OS is because OS sounds a little bit as closed ecosystem and platform is an open one.
Nonetheless OS is a good metaphor. I believe inability to explain what is Bitshares (e.g. "BitShares has layers" http://bytemaster.bitshares.org/update/2014/12/18/What-is-BitShares/ was a good but not successful attempt) made it really hard to market and good metaphor can really help to solve this issue.