In my last thread about handling the PR angle of average users stuck on ilk (while the discussion was extraordinarily broad and useful), the answer I generally got back is: “The network is neutral. It has to be to work for the cause we want it to,” and “Every new technology has its good and its bad, which tends to be overwhelmingly good (while the loudest people poke fingers at the technology being bad rather than the at the bad actors using it for bad actions).” There wasn’t really an answer. But there was a lot of talk about just how incredible to good parts are, and how important they are to share!
I would really like everyone’s help in making a list of positive talking-points we can share about the Project SAFE network – so we can get all those gems out there as upfront, positive impressions for the public about what this Project can do for them. What are the most important and exciting things you share when you get to talking about the project?
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Plug for @fergish - http://www.safecrossroads.net/
You’re always so enthusiastic about it. Care to add?
I think the biggest selling point is that it turns IT Security upside down and inside out by eliminating servers as a central target…
Companies build massive fortresses for data centers – But with SAFE they can store the data more securely and lose the fortress as well as the large staff it takes to man such a fortress…
Network security is a big overhead cost that adds no value, and despite grand efforts big companies are still losing time after time after time. I get a new debit card once a month because one of the companies I do business with is compromised.
This is the big one. All of the other points matter to one degree or another, but secure data is huge because before SAFE we have never been very successful at it before… It will be quite hard to breach SAFE… I suspect you will have to compromise it one user at a time rather than one server at a time.
So, no tantalizing data silos for thieves to go after because there’s no single place to look for it. And if they do, it’s within easy-for-anyone-to-use, high encryption.
And high redundancy, large capacity, “virtual” equipment without high server costs and high protection costs. Awesome!
In addition to no central point of attack, SAFE provides security through obscurity. Unlike the Bitcoin Network, SAFE provides each user anonymity. Hackers can not attack targets they don’t know exist.
There are so many unique selling points that the SAFE Network got.
Since everybody is now heading in that direction, we should brand it as “The Internet for the Internet Of Things” this is specifically for manufacturers. Run your IOT device on the current internet and get hacked or run it on the SAFE Network and it can’t be hacked, more important you’ll keep your customers and get SAFEcoins.
SAFEcoin should be pitch to devs like: Run the next Facebook for 1 week for 1 SAFEcoin. Unfortunately we can’t say this yet, but when we know how much it’ll cost to run an app, we’ll have better details. This time around we should also have a comparison chart to other cloud services (AWS, Google Compute Azure). Let’s not forget, to mention that running your app on the SAFE Network you’ll be able to get more SAFEcoins.
SAFEcoin should be pitch to investors like:
A SAFEcoin will always have a value, because can use it to run apps and store data.
It’s anonymous and can be transferred worlwide instantly (escape capital control and keep your finance SAFE)
Everywhere bitcoin is being use, you can use your SAFEcoin (thanks to shapeshift.io)
My personal favorit “I’m in the twilightzone right now, because considering all the things that a SAFEcoin can do (let you securely run apps/securely store data/buy stuff/escape capital control/enable you to make anonymous worldwide, untraceable, FREE instant transactions with NO LIMIT/make more SAFEcoins) it should be worth more”. Ps you can also use it offline
This is just scratching the surface, what I think will really work is if: WE SHOW PEOPLE HOW STUFF WORKS ON THE SAFE NETWORK, if seeing is believe, I believe our best change is video’s.
For this last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to install Maidsafe, but I’m constantly getting an error. Some how I have that feeling that if somebody made a video from A to Z how to install, Maidsafe on Ubuntu I would also be able to do it. I like Maidsafe Stress Test, but if @Doomedj2008 made a complete install video from start to finish I would also be able to do it. I’m not complaining or anything, but for some people seeing is believing and doing.
@westleyd great idea
I’m also planning to have some flyers printed out, better would be if @shona had some mock ups, that we can have printed out.
We should have a Unique Selling Point infographic:
It makes information free again and for people to feel safe sharing any and all information. And there are almost endless possibilities when humans have unfettered access to the worlds information.
I’d market the continuity and reliability of data storage (ideal for backups and sharing of huge files), plus farming (earning “free” money/cloud storage). We should want growth in terms of data usage and SafeCoin circulation, then all the rest will follow.
The question is can we find selling points that regular people care about and not just security analysts and techies?
It’s going to ultimately depend on the utility of the initial set of apps. What are the apps which will be available at launch? The SAFE Network might be judged by that.
Streaming high-res videos? Other than that, anything related to vanity… Yet, all the unique selling points will be related to privacy, security, and/or performance. On the application layer, there’s nothing new here to see. Only the inner workings are different, so the most indifferent people aren’t going to care about SAFE. Except for “free money” (farming) perhaps.
Though what “regular people” care about is very dependent on context. Regular people in repressive countries might be quite interested in the privacy aspects. People in Greece might be more interested in financial related aspects now than they were before capital controls.
I don’t quite buy the idea that non-techies cannot be sold on security. Most of the everyday folks I know are infested with all kinds of spyware and such, and it is the bane of their computer existence.
It would also be helpful to market the underpinnings that SAFE is developing. Lots of other P2P projects could use CRUST for example --and as more useful and legitimate internet traffic that gets generated and routed in SAFE-like ways will make attempts at blocking SAFE a steeper and more perilous political hazard…
Yeah it hightly depends on what you define as “normal” people and where that is. If you’re talking about the average middle class American then probably they’d be interested in the resulting high speed downloads and load times that will result from SAFE. America has pathetic internet reletively speaking to the rest of the world, Canada too for that matter. I mean it could be worse but it’s pretty damn glitchy and slow. SAFE will speed that up. But consider that the middle class is shrinking so “average joe” might be in the lower class and might very well care about the privacy and financial aspect as well. Nevermind you might be talking to “normal” people from, as Seneca said, any number of repressed or impoverished nations.
SAFE just keeps spawning new stuff. Its really going to floor some people when they become aware of it and start trying to think about it. So many things from the current model are simply gone. Its truly radical.
So far I don’t see a compelling use case for ordinary people. The apps seem interesting, nerdy, but not good enough.
I have some ideas of my own for how to change that but I will wait until there is an easy to use programmer interface or libraries. At this point I don’t know enough about how to build apps but I do think SAFE Network has potential in the long term.
In the short term I don’t see how it will catch on. Dropbox with unlimited storage? It looks like Google and others are already planning on providing that. Also it is doubtful SAFE Network will be able to compete on price with them so how exactly would it draw users to it?
Farming? Farming might be profitable but only if there is plenty of demand to user the apps. The apps could pay people to use it, which was an idea I originally proposed, and that might be the only way to make it catch on.
Generally the way I would do it is make apps which people feed data to and in exchange they get Safecoins. Instead of people just giving their data way for free they could sell it to SAFE Network.
Content could also be sold to SAFE Network. The more the content is in demand, the more demand there will be for the app. But at this point in time I don’t see the killer app nor do I see anything in development which seems to have the potential to draw in 100 million or more users.
Not necessarily. I don’t see it being easy to market Bitshares either.
In fact, the problem is that unless you’re doing something which can’t already be done then why would you expect people to stop doing what they are doing to do it in a decentralized way?
Bitshares has to achieve legitimacy. So far only Bitcoin is approaching legitimacy and it’s not a guarantee that even Bitcoin will achieve it.
If you decide to market your product with politics, and your politics are marginal, then you’ll have a difficult time. Bitcoin isn’t used by even 10 million people, and is no where near 100 million.
I’m stealing this from @chrisfostertv but, “the SAFE Network itself is the killer app”. If you look at the current internet it’s a trillion dollar company, with mediocre security and no financial incentives to use it. Even with bad security and no financial gains @ the protocol level, it’s being used because people love it and to stay connected.
bitcoin’s battle weapon is bad financial news (Cyprus/Greece)
The SAFE Network’s battle weapons are bad financial news (Capital control/Bank bail out) and bad internet security news (GCHQ/NSA/Sony/Target). Since we have plenty of those, people who are burned will look for a solution to their problem. If bitcoin is the money of the internet, the SAFE Network can best be described as a good, but extremely aggressive virus. I’ll install this virus on all my family their computer and they’ll offer no resistance. Because they get cutting edge internet security and basically money for nothing. More importantly people have a choice.
The are enough people on the net who will get SAFE right away to create a viable network.
Also, it’s not chicken and egg (farmers needing users) because every farmer will be a user, and vice versa. Almost all those early adopters I mentioned are likely to do both, creating a viable self sustaining network - a platform with far greater capabilities than anything we’ve seen or is planned (bitcoin & Ethereum included).
So SAFE will I believe quickly become a solid platform on which people can build all sorts of things that you and I have not yet imagined.
Just read David’s recent posts. I’m still scratching my head to understand how to use Structured Data, but even I can see this is a major enabler.
PS and it’s hard keeping my promise not to hassle David with my questions about it!
