Enraged Bitcoin Fans Smash iPhones Over Apple Snub

[SomeGuyDude]

I don't care about bitcoin myself, but curious as to why you hope the government 'puts the kibosh' on it? Is it harmful to the global economy in some way?

It only really exists as anonymous currency for buying and selling of "products" on the deep web. Has no real utility otherwise. So... one could arguably accuse it of existing solely to aid criminal activity.

Granted, I'm fine with that, I just think it's stupid.

 

[bigjnyc]

I don't care about bitcoin myself, but curious as to why you hope the government 'puts the kibosh' on it? Is it harmful to the global economy in some way?

It has the potential to be harmfuly due to its anonymity. It can be used to fund criminal activity, and even worst terrorist activity. I'm sure the majority of people doing it are good people and well intentioned, but like with everything else in life its the small number of bad apples that ruin it for everyone else.

 

[Nevaborn]

Brain cells, the one thing that goes down faster than the value of a fictional currency.

These people have lost all perspective. They destroyed their phone in a move of protest nobody cares about to stick it to Apple who don't care as they've bought the phone already...

The funny thing is instead of playing with a worthless false currency and destroying their iPhones like a petulant child, they could of sold their phones for real money.

 

[localboy28]

Destroy a £500 iPhone for the chance to win a £299 nexus

These guys need a slap.

 

[Prise]

Destroy a £500 iPhone for the chance to win a £299 nexus

These guys need a slap.

All for the privilege to trade in one fiat currency for another one. They need much more than a mere slap to knock some sense into them.

Again, I can appreciate the need for an anonymous currency, especially for those who engage in...er...nefarious enterprises. For most, this is a non issue, and they're better off hedging with other forms of hard assets, rather than another fiat currency backed by perception.

 

[irnchriz]

Are these guys all criminals pissed off that they can't use their iPhones for untraceable transactions and money laundering? Haha

 

[gnasher729]

Not sure what these idiotic videos will prove or accomplish. I'm worried about the human race. seriously.

I'd bet there is a company somewhere that sells fake iPhones, just so that you can shock your friends by smashing one up.

 

[I7guy]

I don't care about bitcoin myself, but curious as to why you hope the government 'puts the kibosh' on it? Is it harmful to the global economy in some way?

The gov't shouldn't put the "kibosh" on it, the gov't should ignore it. If I want to issue wampum and I get a following that wants to transact in wampum, the gov't should keep there nose out of it. Of course, wampum isn't legal tender and therefore will only be accepted by those who transact in wampum. I become the bank converting US$ into wampum. Wampum is only as good as others find value in it. If I decide to get out of the wampum business, wampum can still be transacted...but those who want their US$ back will have to find someone who will be the bank of wampum, since I am no longer in the wampum business.

Seems like a lose, lose proposition to me and apple did right by pulling that out of the app store. They don't want to be associated with a dubious product/idea.

 

[Prise]

The gov't shouldn't put the "kibosh" on it, the gov't should ignore it. If I want to issue wampum and I get a following that wants to transact in wampum, the gov't should keep there nose out of it.

Exactly.

There's no need to regulate it, but I don't have to accept this as a "tender" for any goods and services. In America, the only currency I *MUST* accept is the the US Dollar, the only form of "legal" tender we use in this country.

Of course, this doesn't mean I can't accept Bitcoin, but each business and person can make that decision for itself and himself.

 

[I7guy]

Exactly.

There's no need to regulate it, but I don't have to accept this as a "tender" for any goods and services. In America, the only currency I *MUST* accept is the the US Dollar, the only form of "legal" tender we use in this country.

Of course, this doesn't mean I can't accept Bitcoin, but each business and person can make that decision for itself and himself.

Absolutely. Amazon to use an example in their infinite wisdom might want to accept wampum. However no bank or govt entity or business in a regulated industry or sector should be allowed to accept wampum as it is not legal tender.0

 

[BeeGood]

If you're not being sarcastic and you've never heard of Bitcoin, then yes, you live under a rock.

In fairness, there is really no reason for the average person to know much about bitcoin.

For those asking, it is a form of digital currency that is created by using a computer to solve a piece of a complex algorithm. If your computer accomplishes this you are paid a "ransom" or fee by the network for having "discovered" (mined) a new bitcoin.

It's actually pretty ingenious except for the fact that it will never work on a large scale. You can make purchases almost anonymously so it is attractive to criminals and anarcho-capitalists that hate government. It's not regulated (yet) so it's risky to deal in. Several exchanges have gone under and lots of people have lost a lot of money.

I can't blame Apple for not wanting to have any association with bitcoin. Digital currencies might be the way of the future (hell, Apple might even event one) but bitcoin will not be it.

 

[blarivee]

Just wondering, what is to prevent whoever that wrote (or crack) the algorithm from issuing himself/herself massive amount of bitcoin?

 

[Prise]

I can't blame Apple for not wanting to have any association with bitcoin. Digital currencies might be the way of the future (hell, Apple might even event one) but bitcoin will not be it.

For me, with digital currency or any other form used for barter, I'd never hold it, unless it was backed by the full faith and credit of the US Treasury.

I'm not a "big" government advocate, and I understand our currency is no longer back by Gold (purely fiat), if I were ever to hold another currency, it would be one that is backed by the full faith and credit of a Treasury more stable than the US. At present, even now, no other comes close (this is open to debate, I know).

Every country's largest currency holdings are in US Dollars. The greenback is the world's de-facto currency, and therefore, because of that, isn't subjected to the normal forms of devaluation we've seen other currencies endure.

Until a "digital" currency can approach that sort of standard, I don't see anything more than a "dabbling" of one's resources, purely for fun, into currencies such as bitcoin.

 

[I7guy]

In fairness, there is really no reason for the average person to know much about bitcoin.

For those asking, it is a form of digital currency that is created by using a computer to solve a piece of a complex algorithm. If your computer accomplishes this you are paid a "ransom" or fee by the network for having "discovered" (mined) a new bitcoin.

It's actually pretty ingenious except for the fact that it will never work on a large scale. You can make purchases almost anonymously so it is attractive to criminals and anarcho-capitalists that hate government. It's not regulated (yet) so it's risky to deal in. Several exchanges have gone under and lots of people have lost a lot of money.

I can't blame Apple for not wanting to have any association with bitcoin. Digital currencies might be the way of the future (hell, Apple might even event one) but bitcoin will not be it.

Any currency digital or not is a fine if backed by a government or governments.

 

[BeeGood]

Just wondering, what is to prevent whoever that wrote (or crack) the algorithm from issuing himself/herself massive amount of bitcoin?

The way I understand it, the algorithm works like a gigantic puzzle. Once you "solve" it, you've just created (mined) a new piece to add to the puzzle (called the block chain). The network verifies this collectively and issues you some fraction of a bitcoin for doing this "work".

The block chain is also the transaction journal which tells everyone on the network who has owned and currently owns every bitcoin ever created. So the mining work also helps maintain the integrity of the block chain.

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For me, with digital currency or any other form used for barter, I'd never hold it, unless it was backed by the full faith and credit of the US Treasury.

I'm not a "big" government advocate, and I understand our currency is no longer back by Gold (purely fiat), if I were ever to hold another currency, it would be one that is backed by the full faith and credit of a Treasury more stable than the US. At present, even now, no other comes close (this is open to debate, I know).

Every country's largest currency holdings are in US Dollars. The greenback is the world's de-facto currency, and therefore, because of that, isn't subjected to the normal forms of devaluation we've seen other currencies endure.

Until a "digital" currency can approach that sort of standard, I don't see anything more than a "dabbling" of one's resources, purely for fun, into currencies such as bitcoin.

Totally agree with all of this. I suspect that the digital currency that becomes widely used will be at least partially government backed.

I'm not a big gov type either but what a lot of bitcoin lovers fail to understand is that a powerful government's backing is what makes a currency attractive and stable.

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Any currency digital or not is a fine if backed by a government or governments.

Agree with this also, not because I love government but because that's the only way it will work.

 

[MindsEye]

As so many have pointed out, this has got to be one of the most ridiculous protests ever.

I'm sure lot of people upon viewing this are going to focus on why Apple would care about people destroying a phone they already received money from than the intended message behind the action.

The mindset of people can be quite fascinating.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Not sure what these idiotic videos will prove or accomplish.

Agreed. But I do enjoy watching things get shot.

you go mining for it on the internet. Stupidest thing I've ever heard and I hope the government puts the kibash on these idiots quickly.

Why should the government stop it? Are they doing something illegal?

Yes, because what we really need is more government intrusion in our lives.

Agreed. The government should only step in if there is evidence of illegal activity like money laundering or fraud.

 

[Wololo]

If you're not being sarcastic and you've never heard of Bitcoin, then yes, you live under a rock.

…I'm guessing you're one of them. You're probably concerned that the Bitcoins you bought are going to decrease in value.

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Agreed. The government should only step in if there is evidence of illegal activity like money laundering or fraud.

The problem is that Bitcoin does not allow any of that evidence to exist. It's anonymous. That's why criminals use it.

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What's bitcoin? Wasn't that on some kind of TV show? The something Wife or another on NBC.

You could have just Googled it, but it's a virtual currency that has no central authority, or so I've heard.

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Just wondering, what is to prevent whoever that wrote (or crack) the algorithm from issuing himself/herself massive amount of bitcoin?

It's SHA2, which has not been cracked.

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I don't care about bitcoin myself, but curious as to why you hope the government 'puts the kibosh' on it? Is it harmful to the global economy in some way?

Money laundering and pyramid scheming aren't very good. I've seen a friend browsing the DeepWebz or whatever it's called (just for fun), and everyone selling their services as hackers and thieves accept only Bitcoins. It's disgusting.

Of course, it has perfectly valid uses, but so does TOR and bit torrenting. A lot of people also buy them just in hopes that they will increase in value, which isn't illegal (to my knowledge) but could mean economic trouble if it ever crashes.

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As so many have pointed out, this has got to be one of the most ridiculous protests ever.

I'm sure lot of people upon viewing this are going to focus on why Apple would care about people destroying a phone they already received money from than the intended message behind the action.

The mindset of people can be quite fascinating.

The people doing this must have a lot of money invested in Bitcoins and are very upset/afraid because Apple might cause Bitcoins to drop in value.

 

[T5BRICK]

…I'm guessing you're one of them. You're probably concerned that the Bitcoins you bought are going to decrease in value.

Nah, I just like to read up on this stuff. I was doing Bitcoin mining for a couple weeks, but the 3 computers in the house running constantly were creating too much heat and using too much power.

 

[Prise]

You could have just Googled it, but it's a virtual currency that has no central authority, or so I've heard.

Sure, or even pulled up the episode of The Good Wife where it was a central theme.

However, I prefer expediency, such as rather than reading the portion of the tax code (which I could easily do on irs.gov), I'd rather just ask my CPA; rather than reading a portion of a particular legal code, I'd rather ask my Attorney; and, on forums, I'd rather just ask, than to search.

Not that I couldn't, but I find it easier just to post a questions. I mean, if I were to only pose questions that I couldn't unearth through search and research, I'm not sure if I'd ever ask a question on a forum for the rest of my life.

 

[BeeGood]

Agreed. The government should only step in if there is evidence of illegal activity like money laundering or fraud.

They probably shouldn't, but we all know they will if a large number of transactions begin to be some in bitcoin where it can't be taxed.

That's the major problem with it. It won't gain wide acceptance for the reasons stated above, and even if it does no government in the developed world will let it go unregulated and more importantly untaxed.

 

[I7guy]

They probably shouldn't, but we all know they will if a large number of transactions begin to be some in bitcoin where it can't be taxed.

That's the major problem with it. It won't gain wide acceptance for the reasons stated above, and even if it does no government in the developed world will let it go unregulated and more importantly untaxed.

How? So in my hypothetical example, I am using wampum instead of bitcoin. Tell me how the government is going to control and tax wampum? If they do what's to stop me from using tree bark as a currency? The name is unimportant the characteristics are important:

1. there has to be an audience to transact in said fake currency.
2. there has to be a way of controlling the issuance of fake currency and make sure you can identify legit fake currency from fake fake currency.
3. there has to be a way to exchange this into a government backed currency.

 

[BeeGood]

How? So in my hypothetical example, I am using wampum instead of bitcoin. Tell me how the government is going to control and tax wampum? If they do what's to stop me from using tree bark as a currency? The name is unimportant the characteristics are important:

There is no way to tax it 100% or course. You can get away with not paying taxes by dealing in cash only. This will be possible with bitcoin or any other currency.

But the government can easily figure out which businesses are accepting bitcoin as payment if they want to tax it. A business will have to move between cash and bitcoin to pay expenses like payroll, vendors etc. and that's very hard to hide unless you lie about it (and even then you will got caught if audited).

It doesn't matter if you are using wampum, tree bark or bitcoin. If it becomes a large enough medium of exchange it will be taxed.

 

[blueroom]

Brain cells, the one thing that goes down faster than the value of a fictional currency.

These people have lost all perspective. They destroyed their phone in a move of protest nobody cares about to stick it to Apple who don't care as they've bought the phone already...

The funny thing is instead of playing with a worthless false currency and destroying their iPhones like a petulant child, they could of sold their phones for real money.

All that plus mr hot temper is locked and loaded.

 

[sixrom]

It's far too soon to judge Bitcoin. Like anything else new, this thread reveals those with a closed minded flippant approach.

Conversely, those who enjoy change and the development of new ideas, products and currencies, will find lots of enjoyable articles to read. Bitcoin may succeed, or it may fail, either way nothing ventured, nothing gained.