How would you allocate 1 million USD?

[Pawski]

A lot of people aren't going to invest that much time to figure out whether something is worth looking even further into or not.

 
Absolutely right.
We are in the process of fixing this.
The first step is putting a list on the website of practical aspects of BitShares and some screen-shots of the GUI to illustrate them.

If we don't improve the website, the most common reaction will always be this: "nice features but still I have no idea how they relate to my needs".

Well I appreciate the reply. By no means was I trying to be an ass with my post - it was more just trying to provide some insight from a newbie.

On a different note - I did purchase some bitshares over the last 24 hours. Figured I'd invest now, learn what the hell I'm holding later. It's usually how I roll =)

[jakub]

A lot of people aren't going to invest that much time to figure out whether something is worth looking even further into or not.

 
Absolutely right.
We are in the process of fixing this.
The first step is putting a list on the website of practical aspects of BitShares and some screen-shots of the GUI to illustrate them.

If we don't improve the website, the most common reaction will always be this: "nice features but still I have no idea how they relate to my needs".

[Pawski]

A new user posted a message on the forum the other day that i thought was revealing. He basically said its the concept is confusing, the website isnt doing a good job of explaining things.

I'm beginning to think our website and application isnt user-friendly or intuitive enough. I dont think there is anything wrong with the technology, i just think we struggle with the presentation. For example, look at ethereums home page and even DASH - both have videos for the users showing you HOW to use it. Wheres ours? We have a lot of text. If we're pushing MAS then everything needs to be easy to use.

Just my 2 cents.

Hello,

New user here. I created an account on your site just to add my 2 cents to this point. I'm new to BitShares and very confused =p I've actually been in bitcoin since 2012 and alts since 2013 but due to the vast amount of alt coins am not able to follow them all. I certainly have heard of BitShares and have know about them since they hit the scene but never took the time to figured out what's going on.

I've spent maybe the last 60-90 minutes on a combination of this site, bitshare's homesite and reddit/r/bitshares and yeah can't really put it all together. I get bits and pieces of it but I feel like I know 2% of what's going on. So yeah - thought I'd share that.

Well I don't know about you, but when I got in to Bitcoin (in 2011) I spent week after week, morning till night, reading everything I could about it.

And BitShares is a lot more advanced and capable of much more than Bitcoin. it's worth a little of your time 

Oh I totally get that and agree. I assure you I've spent countless hours learning on both the technical side as well as the investment side - yet there is always more to learn. Really you can't even keep up with the information fast enough.

I was just agreeing with the original post that I read where they were saying from a new user POV it was a little difficult to grasp what was going on. I totally get that there is a lot and that it takes more than a few hours to grasp the whole concept but a lot of people aren't going to invest that much time to figure out whether something is worth looking even further into or not. That is all

[onceuponatime]

A new user posted a message on the forum the other day that i thought was revealing. He basically said its the concept is confusing, the website isnt doing a good job of explaining things.

I'm beginning to think our website and application isnt user-friendly or intuitive enough. I dont think there is anything wrong with the technology, i just think we struggle with the presentation. For example, look at ethereums home page and even DASH - both have videos for the users showing you HOW to use it. Wheres ours? We have a lot of text. If we're pushing MAS then everything needs to be easy to use.

Just my 2 cents.

Hello,

New user here. I created an account on your site just to add my 2 cents to this point. I'm new to BitShares and very confused =p I've actually been in bitcoin since 2012 and alts since 2013 but due to the vast amount of alt coins am not able to follow them all. I certainly have heard of BitShares and have know about them since they hit the scene but never took the time to figured out what's going on.

I've spent maybe the last 60-90 minutes on a combination of this site, bitshare's homesite and reddit/r/bitshares and yeah can't really put it all together. I get bits and pieces of it but I feel like I know 2% of what's going on. So yeah - thought I'd share that.

Well I don't know about you, but when I got in to Bitcoin (in 2011) I spent week after week, morning till night, reading everything I could about it.

And BitShares is a lot more advanced and capable of much more than Bitcoin. it's worth a little of your time 

[Pawski]

A new user posted a message on the forum the other day that i thought was revealing. He basically said its the concept is confusing, the website isnt doing a good job of explaining things.

I'm beginning to think our website and application isnt user-friendly or intuitive enough. I dont think there is anything wrong with the technology, i just think we struggle with the presentation. For example, look at ethereums home page and even DASH - both have videos for the users showing you HOW to use it. Wheres ours? We have a lot of text. If we're pushing MAS then everything needs to be easy to use.

Just my 2 cents.

Hello,

New user here. I created an account on your site just to add my 2 cents to this point. I'm new to BitShares and very confused =p I've actually been in bitcoin since 2012 and alts since 2013 but due to the vast amount of alt coins am not able to follow them all. I certainly have heard of BitShares and have know about them since they hit the scene but never took the time to figured out what's going on.

I've spent maybe the last 60-90 minutes on a combination of this site, bitshare's homesite and reddit/r/bitshares and yeah can't really put it all together. I get bits and pieces of it but I feel like I know 2% of what's going on. So yeah - thought I'd share that.

[mike623317]

First priority for me would be hiring a couple of developers to work on the graphene core to fix the outstanding bugs. The issue list is up to 150+ and it takes months to get a response..
Second I'd find some more ui developers, and finally I'd sponsor some liquidity initiatives.

1. First priority for me would be hiring a couple of developers to work on the graphene core to fix the outstanding bugs. The issue list is up to 150+ and it takes months to get a response..

2. Second I'd find some more ui developers

3. finally I'd sponsor some liquidity initiatives.

 

[svk]

First priority for me would be hiring a couple of developers to work on the graphene core to fix the outstanding bugs. The issue list is up to 150+ and it takes months to get a response..

Second I'd find some more ui developers, and finally I'd sponsor some liquidity initiatives.

[Ben Mason]

Add in global university with the objective of migrating the majority of IP to joint ownership, improving quality of science, globally verified scientific database, increasing the potential to educate everyone, unleash innovation and productivity, solve more human problems, increase data sets, rebuild trust via trustless tech.

[Stan]

I agree, we should have a section that actually shows what we have and offer. A video on the index page and a few screenshots. Then maybe later videos with use cases similar to the ones made by Factom that really get users to understand what they could do with the tech with examples. It's easier for them to have the "aha moment"

I posted a response from a brand new user earlier on this forum. He advocated two websites - one for revs and techies and another for the average joe with videoed and even a wizard. When you look at etheteum and dash scroll it's easy to understand if you haven't seen it before.
As for our dex I think we should put some explanatory text next to certain field to make it easier to know what the field is (TD Ameritrade do that and it saves me ever having to use the help menu). If new users are posting they're confused, there's some clarity that needs to be done imo.

Just look what @Empirical1.2 has created.
For me this is exactly the type of information we are badly missing on our website.

I would probably approach it more like this... 

BitShares  The Home Of SmartCoins

What is BitShares?
BitShares is a decentralized platform that runs on a blockchain like Bitcoin but with MUCH higher performance.
Our core invention is Price Stable SmartCoins which since inception in 2014 have successfully allowed users to hold the value of currencies & commodities on the blockchain. Over the next few years this technology will completely transform the world as you know it and here's why...


Global Payments  (See you later PayPal!)
Stable BitShares SmartCurrencies like BitUSD let you make & receive payments globally for 0.1% which is up to 35x cheaper than leading centralized competitors.

Spread Trading Platform (Short IG Index & CMC!)
Trade popular SmartStocks and SmartIndexes on the BitShares blockchain at a fraction of the cost of leading spread trading platforms and without KYC. BitShares already offers the popular Nasdaq and Shenzen indexes.

Online MarketPlace (Asta la Vista Amazon!)
List & sell products directly & privately on the blockchain & in stable currencies like BitUSD for less than 0.1% in fees.

The Blockchain Economy
Due to volatility & tight margins, merchants have to convert Bitcoin payments directly to fiat. SmartCurrencies like BitUSD let merchants keep more of their proceeds on the blockchain, creating the potential to have entire supply chains & a blockchain economy that is independent of the traditional banking system. 

Crypto Exchange (Arrivederci Coinbase!)
Traditional Bitcoin exchanges have high risks of thefts, seizures and shutdowns. BitShares lets you trade Bitcoin and other popular crypto-currency Smartcoins directly on the BitShares blockchain.

Digital Gold & Silver Vault
Physical gold has high storage costs, is difficult to move internationally and has historically been confiscated. Centralized derivatives like GLD have a high risk of default when there is a run on physical. BitGold & Silver lets you keep some of your portfolio on the blockchain free from those risks.

Subscription Services (Hello NetFlix!)
BitShares has recurring payment functionality which combined with SmartCurrencies bring the $30 Billion Subscription Market to the blockchain.

Transparent Crowdfunding (Nice Knowing you Kickstarter!)
Want to start a company doing anything you want and attract global investors without the red tape and high fees? BitShares lets you list, fund and trade on it's blockchain without the 3% processing fee charged by centralized competitors.

Global Remittance (So long Western Union!)
Due to Bitcoin volatility and slow confirmation times, Bitcoin has struggled to penetrate the $500 billion global remittance market. SmartCurrencies like BitUSD with their low fees and 3 second transaction times change this.

True Private Banking (At least Switzerland will still have watches and chocolate!)
BitShares allows anonymous global transactions and the ability to hold deposits in multiple SmartCurrencies, accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Your blockchain funds cannot be seized or scrutinized and are not affected by local or global banking crises.

Social Tipping & The Gift Economy
Social tipping is a new phenomenon which allows users on social media sites like Twitter, Reddit & Facebook to give a tip to content they appreciate and companies like ShareBits.io have already been integrated with the BitShares platform to take advantage of this. 

Online Charity
Currency Smartcoins and $0.01 transaction fees make small online charity donations affordable, transparent and fast.
 
Sports Betting
BitShares prediction markets allow private wagering on sports events that can penetrate a huge global market without restriction while also reducing the average 'vig' of 5-10% to under 1%. BitShares has already offered wagering on 2016 NFL games. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3040540/Global-sports-gambling-worth-3-trillion.html

Global Lottery
Lotteries lose up to 50% on running costs, taxes and other expenses. BitShares RNG provides provably fair draws and with ticket sales directly on the blockchain, total running costs could be less than 1%.

Blockchain Casino
Winner winner Chicken Dinner! Volatility is cited as the number one reason more online casinos don't integrate Bitcoin, Smartcurrencies like BitUSD solve this problem and BitShares could even offer traditional Casino games on the blockchain for a fraction of the cost and penetrate the lucrative $30 billion onine gambling market.

Global Personal Insurance
By reducing traditional fixed costs and using the wisdom of the crowd for claim validation, the inventor of Smartcoins is attempting to revolutionize personal insurance by developing the first blockchain based Mutual Aid Society on the BitShares platform.

Thanks for reminding us about this.

Now if we just had an expanded "pitch deck" for the business case behind each one of these applications, I know people who are willing to go knocking on doors to find investors for them...

Here's an opportunity for anybody to pour their urge to "do something" into moving the ball forward.

I'll get around to doing this myself, eventually, but it will happen faster with the collective brainpower of the community behind it.

[38PTSWarrior]

It's time for the Magic Button.

Activate the button and earn auto-income.

[EstefanTT]

I agree that BitShares is confusing.
Amanda from Daily Decrypt, who is a vert techy person, wanted to explain BitShares in lne of her first vídeos but she got confused.
She asks in the comment if anyone could give her a run down of the client because she was a little lost.
If someone like her who spends literaly all his life understanding every crypto projects and explaining it can't understand BitShares ... who will ?

[jakub]

I agree, we should have a section that actually shows what we have and offer. A video on the index page and a few screenshots. Then maybe later videos with use cases similar to the ones made by Factom that really get users to understand what they could do with the tech with examples. It's easier for them to have the "aha moment"

I posted a response from a brand new user earlier on this forum. He advocated two websites - one for revs and techies and another for the average joe with videoed and even a wizard. When you look at etheteum and dash scroll it's easy to understand if you haven't seen it before.
As for our dex I think we should put some explanatory text next to certain field to make it easier to know what the field is (TD Ameritrade do that and it saves me ever having to use the help menu). If new users are posting they're confused, there's some clarity that needs to be done imo.

Just look what @Empirical1.2 has created.
For me this is exactly the type of information we are badly missing on our website.

I would probably approach it more like this... 

BitShares  The Home Of SmartCoins

What is BitShares?
BitShares is a decentralized platform that runs on a blockchain like Bitcoin but with MUCH higher performance.
Our core invention is Price Stable SmartCoins which since inception in 2014 have successfully allowed users to hold the value of currencies & commodities on the blockchain. Over the next few years this technology will completely transform the world as you know it and here's why...


Global Payments  (See you later PayPal!)
Stable BitShares SmartCurrencies like BitUSD let you make & receive payments globally for 0.1% which is up to 35x cheaper than leading centralized competitors.

Spread Trading Platform (Short IG Index & CMC!)
Trade popular SmartStocks and SmartIndexes on the BitShares blockchain at a fraction of the cost of leading spread trading platforms and without KYC. BitShares already offers the popular Nasdaq and Shenzen indexes.

Online MarketPlace (Asta la Vista Amazon!)
List & sell products directly & privately on the blockchain & in stable currencies like BitUSD for less than 0.1% in fees.

The Blockchain Economy
Due to volatility & tight margins, merchants have to convert Bitcoin payments directly to fiat. SmartCurrencies like BitUSD let merchants keep more of their proceeds on the blockchain, creating the potential to have entire supply chains & a blockchain economy that is independent of the traditional banking system. 

Crypto Exchange (Arrivederci Coinbase!)
Traditional Bitcoin exchanges have high risks of thefts, seizures and shutdowns. BitShares lets you trade Bitcoin and other popular crypto-currency Smartcoins directly on the BitShares blockchain.

Digital Gold & Silver Vault
Physical gold has high storage costs, is difficult to move internationally and has historically been confiscated. Centralized derivatives like GLD have a high risk of default when there is a run on physical. BitGold & Silver lets you keep some of your portfolio on the blockchain free from those risks.

Subscription Services (Hello NetFlix!)
BitShares has recurring payment functionality which combined with SmartCurrencies bring the $30 Billion Subscription Market to the blockchain.

Transparent Crowdfunding (Nice Knowing you Kickstarter!)
Want to start a company doing anything you want and attract global investors without the red tape and high fees? BitShares lets you list, fund and trade on it's blockchain without the 3% processing fee charged by centralized competitors.

Global Remittance (So long Western Union!)
Due to Bitcoin volatility and slow confirmation times, Bitcoin has struggled to penetrate the $500 billion global remittance market. SmartCurrencies like BitUSD with their low fees and 3 second transaction times change this.

True Private Banking (At least Switzerland will still have watches and chocolate!)
BitShares allows anonymous global transactions and the ability to hold deposits in multiple SmartCurrencies, accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Your blockchain funds cannot be seized or scrutinized and are not affected by local or global banking crises.

Social Tipping & The Gift Economy
Social tipping is a new phenomenon which allows users on social media sites like Twitter, Reddit & Facebook to give a tip to content they appreciate and companies like ShareBits.io have already been integrated with the BitShares platform to take advantage of this. 

Online Charity
Currency Smartcoins and $0.01 transaction fees make small online charity donations affordable, transparent and fast.
 
Sports Betting
BitShares prediction markets allow private wagering on sports events that can penetrate a huge global market without restriction while also reducing the average 'vig' of 5-10% to under 1%. BitShares has already offered wagering on 2016 NFL games. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3040540/Global-sports-gambling-worth-3-trillion.html

Global Lottery
Lotteries lose up to 50% on running costs, taxes and other expenses. BitShares RNG provides provably fair draws and with ticket sales directly on the blockchain, total running costs could be less than 1%.

Blockchain Casino
Winner winner Chicken Dinner! Volatility is cited as the number one reason more online casinos don't integrate Bitcoin, Smartcurrencies like BitUSD solve this problem and BitShares could even offer traditional Casino games on the blockchain for a fraction of the cost and penetrate the lucrative $30 billion onine gambling market.

Global Personal Insurance
By reducing traditional fixed costs and using the wisdom of the crowd for claim validation, the inventor of Smartcoins is attempting to revolutionize personal insurance by developing the first blockchain based Mutual Aid Society on the BitShares platform.

[jakub]

Why $1m if you don't mind me asking? Do you think that is how much would need to be spent on which ever of the options?

I just thought $1m was a sum big enough to make you think twice before you spend it.
But I agree that much lower amounts would make enough impact in our case.

[38PTSWarrior]

Lol

[yvv]

Two chicks at same time.