[107758] in Cypherpunks
Re: Stupid British article about DigiCash
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Petro)
Fri Jan 22 13:21:21 1999
In-Reply-To: <19990121194004.6022.qmail@nym.alias.net>
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 11:58:50 -0500
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
From: Petro <petro@playboy.com>
Reply-To: Petro <petro@playboy.com>
At 2:40 PM -0500 1/21/99, lcs Mixmaster Remailer wrote:
>> The problem that floored both Cybercash and Digicash was that in
>> providing a form of cash that was portable over a network, they
>> sacrificed one of the key characteristics that people attribute to and
>> expect from cash - that it is portable in the direction of the pub, the
>> shops and the local swimming baths. As a result Digicash and Cybercash's
>> systems seemed to be something 'other' than cash. And nobody wanted
>> that. (Even though the mechanisms are different, we generally see cash,
>> credit and debit as essentially the same thing - "our money"). Digicash
>> and Cybercash weren't seen as 'money' - rather more like 'Internet
>> buying tokens' which you had to acquire first, before you could exchange
>> them for goods and services you actually wanted.
>
>Anyone who has used the DigiCash payment system will recognize that
>this is a completely false characterization of the problem.
That isn't what the original poster said, I quote:
"As a result Digicash and Cybercash's systems seemed to be something
'other' than cash."
Taken in context, the original poster was talking about the way the
PUBLIC perceives the problem, not the way the system actually works.
People will not use something that is more difficult or more time
consuming than their current methods, unless they PERCEIVE that the new
system has benefits that largely outweigh the old. With digicash, there
isn't, other than anonymity--if implemented.
--
"To sum up: The entire structure of antitrust statutes in this country is a
jumble of economic irrationality and ignorance. It is a product: (a) of a
gross misinterpretation of history, and (b) of rather na=EFve, and certainly
unrealistic, economic theories." Alan Greenspan, "Anti-trust"
http://www.ecosystems.net/mgering/antitrust.html
Petro::E-Commerce Adminstrator::Playboy Ent. Inc.::petro@playboy.com
