I’ve been thinking about this idea for ages. Just didn’t know for what to apply it.
But today I was just joking around that I’ll send out bulk rate plastic post cards with USB printed in them to millions of Americans like AOL did for some crypto currency.
Anyway it’s not an easy effort, as it takes a lot of planning etc. And certainly isn’t super cheap.
But I figure across at least North America and Europe there are probably something like 500 million house holds? I don’t think it’s smart to mail them all but just enough and have some reward program for them signing up just a few more people in their local. So if each one signs up just 2 or 3 on average it would provide a great seeding of the network.
I suppose it is possible to test this sort of thing out on a few areas to see what sort of messaging works, ID things that are missing, etc.
Plugging a USB drive that you can’t know is safe into your computer is a big security risk, and so I think asking people to do this as a way of promoting SAFEnetwork might not go down well!
Ethereum is still very difficult to use. They need to find a way to simplify the process before us newbies can use it without confusing ourselves like a bunch of lost sheep.
Actually, I’m a supporter of @prophetx’s idea. here’s why:
Security issues can be mitigated by checking the veracity of binaries online through an automatic sequence that begins when the drive is inserted (windows only). Mac and linux, security issues can be mitigated by the user running a script.
Tangible, tangible, tangible. Humans like stuff we can touch. "This is my maidsafe installer, with a script that can secure a computer by installing tools like Maidsafe, Tor, etc, etc. It can also be used to re-program a router to run dd-wrt, and to root an android/iphone device.
Virtual machine goodness! It’s possible to package VM as an application with Virtualbox (and I think qemu, also) why not put a fully secured VM on there?
Branding! If we make the thing useful, then its existence will boos the maidsafe brand overall.
In short, I am interested in helping bring this thing to life. I guess my role could be software curation and building the script. Does anyone else have some ideas on where to drive this thing?
Also, I’m thinking now that it might not be a bad idea to actually sell them. You cannot put a pricetag on the value of having the right tools at the right time…
Best,
-Jake
@happybeing -
The script can overcome the security woes, and the device’s tangible nature is likely to get it used. Better still that it gets passed around!
@optictopic
It is. Maybe we should figure out a way to sell them. Failing that, I’m not too sure how to handle the initial bulk order. (I know where and how to get the devices we need, but I can’t currently (maybe nearish future though) swing the cost.
I am now thinking of this as a software citation project. Anyone else notice that openbazaar and maidsafe feel like the future of software? The way they both transparently leverage decentralized networks is just… Exactly the way apps and the web ought to work.
You could even go as far as getting mailing lists that target zip codes with high techie population to saturate the market for less $ than a bulk random mailing…
As far as the bulk order, maybe setting up a bitcoin address for people to donate to or even a kickstarter type page where people could get back a percentage of profits based on their investment, etc…just brainstorming a bit
Selling them seems the best way to go. The incentive to buy would be that it comes preloaded with the best apps available and some tuts on how to use them. I would love to see a SafeStart DAO created that allowed the community to collect the funds for marketing projects of the SafeNetwork. The SafeStart DAO holders could vote on how to spend money generated from the sale and receive modest dividends of successful programs to encourage participation.
Initially, it may be better just to give them away in bags at major tech conferences where I am sure David and Nick will be speaking at anyway once the MVP is out. This should bring in more developers, leading to more app’s.
You don’t, but as with anything you can make choices that increase or decrease your risk.
So buying cheap from unknown sources in China, or using a freebee from someone you will never see again, carries more risk (on average) than buying from a supplier you know and who’s been around for years, and who you can expect wants to stay around (and so cares about quality and reputation).
Of course you can get quality from the former, and rubbish from the latter. But the odds are that you’ll be safer with the last option.