What you describe is synonymous with what I mean be ‘evangelize’. Explain why they should care.
I listened to the podcast from episode 1 until it became wiki on tape… Then I got bored, and I suspect most outsiders would get bored faster than I would…
I don’t think its that. It is that there are only so many hours in a day or a lifetime and If people ask you to invest 2 or 3 hours learning about whatever interests them, you quickly run out of time to investigate what interests you… The key is to get people interested enough to investigate of their own volition.
Critics can be shown how SAFE works, and they can be corrected where they have incorrect perceptions, but much of it is untested, and the proof will only be in the pudding. I believe in about 80% of it - the 20 percent I have my doubts about are rather untestable, and I may or may not be right, and even if I am right, they may or may not be show-stoppers… The technology is cool either way though…
So skip the episodes about the wiki. They aren’t all like that just that specific sequence he was doing.
If they’re happy being spied on, being controlled, having insecure data that can be hacked, etc etc you’re talking to he wrong crowd. Start with THEIR interest. SAFE returns the means of production of the internet back to the people as it does control of one’s data. If they just want to watch cat videos and porn then if nothing else they might be interested in the higher load speeds that will incur with SAFE or how they can rent out the unused space on their hard drives.
Actually, I’m not a believer myself, which implies faith. I just think it will work and it is a welcome development.
The use of the term “believer” seems suss all round.
EDIT: (on topic) I’m sure you could think up powerpoint slides for each of the following points, in order. Others, feel free to amend or add to what follows.
I would not start by raving about “the next Internet”, “Internet 2.0” or such crap. That is confusing and misleading and leaves the naive listerner still clueless about what it is about (like the Scottish tv lady). Instead:
If the meetup’s theme is crypto-internet curiosity, given that they had had a presentation on Bitcoin, I’d start by telling them that SAFEnet is going to become as important as Bitcoin so for that reason alone they should learn the basics about it.
Maidsafe.net Limited is the company doing the core development on the software. SAFEnet/SAFEnetwork is the network that is comprised of computers running the software. And the Maidsafe Foundation is a legal charity in Scotland that holds key patents on the technology and whose purpose is educational.
SAFEnet is a cryptographic overlay of the Internet. That is, it is a virtual network that has a fundamentally different topology from the Internet. Whereas the Internet has increasingly become mainly server-client in its structure, with relatively few, large “sites” providing services and content to billions of end-users, SAFEnet is truly peer-to-peer, because its “peers” provide several functions that are normally performed by servers:
Storage
Routing
Authentication
Those three functions mean: no more servers.
SAFEnet also does something that the blockchain does, but without a blockchain: global consensus on the integrity of data. It is another solution to the Byzantine Generals problem. Such data can include:
Units of currency ("Safecoin")
Login credentials
Messaging
Private and sensitive information
Published information
Find out what motivated them enough to show up to a meeting and listen.
Then find out how the SAFEnetwork could meet those needs better than what is currently available.
In my experience of having an in-person conversation about the SAFEnetwork over the last couple years (I’m probably 100+ separate conversations), 99% of people are just looking for a sustainable way to live. Since there is no realistic way right now for most people to make a living from SAFE right now, I focus on the 1% who can see and appreciate the potential.
Those rare personality types tend to avoid large groups of people (Trouble with small talk like sports or the weather), learn this stuff on their own, cynical of any sales pitch, and often don’t value money very much.
== speculation, rather than interest in the technology and social implications. Once it is apparent that that that is what they’re about then they should be ignored.
Great effort @knavecoin - You have two very seperate and very different challenges and they both need to be addressed effectively.
SKEPTICS: This group may be skeptical for a variety of reasons. The biggest may be because the project has missed targets and has been too long in development (12-13 years?) . There is no effective response to this group other than “This is what it takes”. Many of these are the same people who after only 2 years said Ethereum was vapourware - and mostly FUD for trading purposes . Then we have skeptic groups that believe the privacy issues are being addressed and the Safenet will be unnecessary or the subscriber/ participation/farming depth will be insufficient therefore unsustainable.
UNINFORMED: IMO the best approach to introducing new technologies is to make parallels to the well established visible players in each of the markets.
Everyone knows who Dropbox is. Maidsafe is Dropbox. Storage, secure storage. Yes its more than Dropbox, much more, but lets start the conversation.
Everyone knows who Amazon is. Maidsafe is AWS. Web hosting, secure web hosting. Yes its more than secure web hosting, but lets keep the conversation interesting going in the right direction and easy to understand.
Thanks to you and others for an interesting view on how you would explain to someone who has heard of maidsafe (probably about the security and lack of ISP control) but are not entirely convinced that it would add anything to their life.
I am thinking that for the sake of general knowledge, a person or persons that would be prepared to be quizzed on this subject would make a excellent session.
It would be thrilling if there were an easy answer here. The major plus point in this scenario is that the people have already turned up to a meetup in a broadly related area, so are likely to be enthusiastic. Can you tell us a little about your usual meetup so that we can get a feel for what’s likely to motivate and interest the people who turn up?
With projects as special as the SAFE Network it’s hard to see the benefits without putting the time and effort in to learn about what’s being done. This normally involves having quite a lot of knowledge on a broad range of related issues, so that people can be aware of current problems and the ways in which the project can offer significant advantages.
I’d say that in order to get someone deeply interested at an early stage (such as this is for SAFE) they need to have pre-existing related interests, and to be introduced to the project from a source which they already respect and trust. This is what will motivate them to spend the time necessary to get more deeply involved.
To go straight to the point, there was talk of making Birmingham and the surrounding area, a dynamic centre for Bitcoin and block chain technology. So the meetup is primarily a collection of networking individuals looking for solutions for their ideas and answers to questions.
The centre for blockchain technology has not really taken route as the local government is still dealing with social network and local business has had problems understanding blockchain technology and now with Brexit are withdrawing to older safer investment concepts.
So therefore it is left to the meetup to evengelise about the concepts and argue for a better understanding that the technology is here but is not the solution to better usage of capitalism. As was presented at one meeting there are organisations working credit scoring blockchain addresses, making the banking industry more manageble, the insurance industry more robust and health care more rigorrus in rooting out costly care.
In the end it is odds and sods who come the only cemtral theme is a wish to know more and with Maidsafe is it really the answer to questions by disrupting the status quo for the better or just another way to make the old order more entrenched.
Personally, I think that showing what it does will be more powerful than trying to explain it, especially to people who aren’t into tech.
I talk to a lot of people about SAFE and especially teenagers (when possible) because they are the age group most comfortable with computers and smart phones and they represent the future. I must say I’ve been really disappointed by the lack of interest in privacy. The kids I speak to just don’t seem to care too much that Facebook is gathering and selling their data. This is no doubt because I’m based in Western Europe. I’m sure people in Turkey or China, or you name it have very different concerns. That said, I think everyone, everywhere is or will be concerned about getting hacked. Identity theft represents the largest asset theft by dollar value in the US.
In sum, if the network really does prevent hacking, then I don’t think we’ll need to explain, promote or ‘sell’ it to anyone. They’ll find us.
Don’t worry, I’m right there. I just think in general young people are more in touch with the future than the old folk. At least those I know. See you at the Singularity.
I thought the two explainer videos on YT do a pretty good job of explaining what Maidsafe and SAFE net are.
I also think the first Bitcoin explainer video did a great job.
If you take a look at some of the early new network coverage of Bitcoin on YT you just follow their concept of explaining as they do a pretty good job with these new types of tech and explaining it to newbies.
