[12927] in Cypherpunks
Re: Digital Cash
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Joe Thomas)
Tue May 3 08:46:38 1994
Date: Tue, 3 May 1994 08:41:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: Joe Thomas <jthomas@access.digex.net>
To: Black Unicorn <unicorn@access.digex.net>
Cc: cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: <199405030650.AA25513@access3.digex.net>
On Tue, 3 May 1994, Black Unicorn wrote:
> So has anyone tried to solve the problem of double spending and
> the online requirement of digital cash?
Sure. Stay jacked-in full time.
Seriously, communications costs are dropping so fast, I'm not sure why
you'd put much effort into designing a bulletproof offline system. Even
with today's technology, a shopkeeper could just have a $17.50/mo. Netcom
account and run his Magic Money client whenever someone wanted to pay
with bits. Certainly no more expensive than a credit card Verifone.
But this question comes up often enough that I'm afraid I'm missing
something. Why would offline systems be more useful?
Joe
