Made to last
They say, if you have limited funds, buy quality because it lasts longer. I have limited resources so, I invest into what I believe is going to last, not what is convenient. There is a problem with investing though as sometimes it comes with a sunk cost fallacy where there is a blindness and investment keeps going into a failing project. Some people see Steem as a failing project. I don't.
Yes, it has its problems, but those problems are being slowly sorted out and the blockchain refined in numerous ways and from numerous perspectives, making it a continually improving community. You might not agree with me, I might not agree with you. But maybe there is a difference between us - I am looking to keep investing long-term - you are looking for an income now. That is okay.
What are you investing into and for how long?
1980
https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1980/
1990
https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1990/
2000
https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/2000/
2010
https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/2010/
2015
https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/2015/
And a special mention from 2009
https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/2009/
In 2008, “Satoshi Nakamoto,” likely a pseudonym, publishes Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, describing the use of peer-to-peer networks to generate a “crypto-currency.” In the Bitcoin system, users run software that searches for blocks of data, the discovery of which reward the users with Bitcoins. The transaction is recorded on the system though user information is private. These can then be used online much like cash in the real world. Nakamoto 'mines' the first Bitcoins in January 2009 and a year later a user used them to order two pizzas. Bitcoins’ value exploded in November 2013 before a gradual devaluation. Bitcoin's anonymous nature, along with the electronic nature of the currency, has led to its adoption by some criminal organizations.
It is quite a fascinating walk down memory lane if you have some time. How many of those technologies are finished? I said technologies, not products. Products come and go, products are not investment vehicles - products are disposable. Are you investing into disposable or, evolving?
For me, long-term means that whatever it is has to change over time because it has to be able to keep meeting the needs of the world, keep offering solutions to problems and the only way that can happen is through development. Development can kill some past products but, the industries themselves are hard to kill.
Perhaps you are interested in investing into the hype, but that is always going to be short lived because hype surrounds products and interest is always lost in products eventually. Are companies products, or industries? "Too big to fail" comes to mind and no matter how much market share a company might have today, tomorrow it can plummet in the same way Nokia Mobile Phones did against Apple and Samsung after having near 70% of the global market in what was considered at the time, an unassailable position.. They hold about 1% of the market now.
But what many people don't know about Nokia is, they used to make rubber boots. I wonder how many people were angry when the company evolved its products to get into industries it had very little background in at all?
During 1990s, Nokia lost its focus on cutting-edge rubber boot design and manufacturing, diversifying recklessly into mobile infrastructure and even mobile handsets. In 1990, Nokia sold off its rubber boot division — a decision that was harshly criticized by the Finnish financial media and arguably turned out to be a false step, so to speak.
source
Yes, they eventually got smashed by mismanagement and a fear of risk taking in their range and development, but they definitely made a fair bit of an economic wave that generated trillions and which continues today through a thousand spawned businesses and product lines that leverage their foundation and, they still have Nokia Networks with something like 18% of the global telco infra market.
Perhaps they should have stayed in boots?
This is the thing with investing in my opinion, there is risk, there is FUD, there are naysayers, there are people who believe it is impossible and, there are people who believe in the impossible. But, it is always evolving, always changing, diverging, spawning new, and building upon old.
For me, the decentralized blockchain model of Steem allows for industry to change without ever having to rely on a single product or company. And while there are plenty of challenges to face, it is a model that is building the tools to meet and overcome them in a multitude of ways that brings a host of values - all while people are focusing on getting author rewards for content on their blog.
The reward pool is only one facet of Steem, but it is a very important one at the moment as it is this that investors can use to buy into and secure the chain for future innovation, business and product to be continually built and grow upon it. In time, there will likely be a scarcity of Steem as the foundation stabilizes and those with will empower all other interactions across the chain and off-chain, side-chain and no-chain.
For me, this is an active investment that I play a role in daily to influence in various ways, which makes it much more than the average share, much more than buying a disposable product, because it is integrated into what I do daily. Sure, I earn a bit for the future, I get a little more stake in the infrastructure but most importantly, I have a chance to build something I believe in, in the same way any company plays a role in being part of an industry.
Will it last? Well, that is what it is designed to do through a decentralized process of growth and innovation to keep it evolving and changing to suit the needs of the changing user base. Over the last year and a half of bear market you may or may not have noticed, while many are selling to make ends meet and move to faster earners, others are buying to own more of the infrastructure. In the last few months, new tokens have come up that offer earning potential and different experiences and, there are more on the way.
Perhaps it is a Vic20 today, maybe it is rubber boots
Tomorrow? And the day after that?
That is the question I want answered as I believe price will eventually take care of itself. You can keep looking at the market prices and worrying about all the value you win or lose, I will be here participating in what might just be part of the most influential industry in the coming world and the source of business models, products, services, skilled people and knowledgeable consumers that power it.
And play my part in powering them too.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
Good old VIC-20. The device which started it all for me. Didn't have much fun of it tho, the C64 followed quickly.
I obviously was a nerd as I managed, as a kid, to get the C64 connected. :D
My old man still has that one in the attic. Sadly enough it's a second generation C64. Then that was a good thing since it meant it also worked with non Commodore screens and even color screens. Pretty sure he could still get some bucks for it on eBay. That and the Magnavox.
My first use of a computer was on green paddles playing Pong. I must have been 4ish? The first actual computer I used was a C64 of a friend's and then a bit later an Amstrad that had King's Quest on it and it would take me ages just to get down some crappy mountain. The first I owned was an Amiga 500 with a Ram upgrade.
I have been pretty much computer illiterate most of my life - I was good at sports though :D
Steem is already too big to fail. The value of a coin could drop to 1 cent and I'd be even more bullish in that situation than I am today. Such an occurrence would mean a lot of the corrupt whales had abandoned ship and the only people who remain are the diehards. You can count me in that group.
I agree. While the dumping affects price, as long as it keeps spiraling outward in use case it will be fine. I am enjoying these times a lot at the moment because there is inspiration in the FUD.
Evolution will occur even within thr ecosystem that is Steem as project start and die and even come back: Zappl, dMania and others could easily come to mind. The success will come when Dapps create adoption for the protocol over time.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Yep and you are right, some pf the projects and apps will have new life as adoption spreads and the "right time" arrives for them. Some have had an alignment problem as the user base is too small.
yeah, the fact that problems has been sorted off shows uff that this networks has a % of people that is activist and had a strong needed on empowerment and shift things onto new.
that's spirit and spirit is eternal.
There are things happening all over the platform, it is pretty cool to be a part of.