Rebirth of the Tech Madman

There are not a few people who succeeded in starting a business in the personal computer gold rush and then left the company they had established. Among them, the most well-known one is probably Steve Jobs, who was swept out by Apple Computer.

Unlike Jobs' tragic departure, Mitchell Kaboll, the founder of Lotus Software and the designer of the spreadsheet software lotus1-2-3, belongs to the rapid retreat.

Gein, by 1986, he was soberly aware that he, the CEO, was no longer adapted to the Lotus Software Company, which was becoming increasingly commercial.

I have to say that some people just like the freedom of "small workshops", while others can show their strengths in well-organized "big factories".

After Mitchell Kabore abdicated and let him go, he did not set up the next company as persistently as Steve Jobs and confronted his old boss, but, like Woz, relied on his accumulated wealth, followed his own interests, and did whatever he wanted.

But for people like them, even if they are "loose", their influence is still not to be underestimated.

Take Mitchell Kapoor, for example, in 1990 he donated money to establish an organization aimed at safeguarding the civil rights of the Internet-the Electronic Frontier Foundation. .

The background of its birth, to put it bluntly, is that there is an underground world of computers like hackers, and there is a conceptual gap with the government. Once something is committed, the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, etc. will investigate it, and they will almost never follow the law. , Go through the links one by one, and then often unclear violations of human rights occur.

Mitchell Kapor had this kind of personal experience, so when another difficult brother, John Perry Barlow, complained about a similar situation that happened to him in the online community, he immediately felt deeply. Together with the like-mindedness of the other side, the fifth employee of Sun Microsystems, John Gilmore, co-injected capital and founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Since its establishment, the electronic outpost foundation has made a lot of noise. It has fought two famous lawsuits face to face with the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Government.

Since it is a non-profit organization, the funds of the Electronic Frontier Foundation rely mainly on donations-in addition to Mitchell Kapoor and John Gilmore, there are also IT celebrities like Woz who donated money.

Obviously, compared with the ambition of defending rights, this kind of donation is far from enough.

In particular, these things that the Electronic Frontier Foundation is doing are very sensitive, which makes it not so easy to attract large donations.

That night, Mitchell Kapoor, John Perry Barlow, John Gilmore and others were talking about this in the chat room.

John Perry Barlow mentioned something puzzledly, "Someone emailed me and asked me if I accept Bitcoin donations-who of you is familiar with this stuff?"

With the qualifications of the fifth employee of Sun Microsystems, he was rich enough to retire early. According to his own interests, John Gilmore, who would do whatever he wanted, was the first to answer: "This is a kind of open source electronics that has just emerged. Currency, and p2p download software appeared almost simultaneously in the days after the p2p network was formed overnight-I have studied its technical white paper, which is very interesting!"

"The speed of the spread of p2p networks is almost comparable to computer viruses, and so many applications have been spawned all at once." Mitchell Kapole sighed, then asked: "This Who invented Bitcoin?"

"It's a cryptography expert named Tetsushi Nakamoto." John Gilmore replied quickly.

"Is it a person?" Mitchell Kapole was surprised and surprised.

"Perhaps—you can be sure that it’s not my dog ​​typing on the keyboard now? Does our Electronic Frontier Foundation also have anonymous donors?" John Gilmore replied indifferently, "It doesn’t matter anyway. All the theoretical system and code implementation of Bitcoin are open and transparent. The whole community generally believes that it is so indestructible that it can only be cracked by a computer in a science fiction movie."

After all, Mitchell Kapoor is a CEO who has been a CEO. He thinks more about it. "We have all seen the technical difficulty of p2p and the degree of completeness of the implementation. It is estimated that only a company like Zheru can Take it out-can Nakamoto Tetsushi contribute a whole set of electronic money on his own?"

"Even if it's Tang, what can he do? He can hide so many eyes. He has ulterior motives?" John Gilmore was very disapproving. "As soon as you install the p2p program, the p2p network is immediately established. Our communication It’s safer — that’s the advantage! Bitcoin is the same — if it can really circulate, at least, it will be much more convenient when I buy hemp in the future.”

Unlike Mitchell Kapoor, who wrote the spreadsheet software lotus1-2-3, and John Gilmore, who is still enthusiastic about contributing code from the Software Foundation, John Perry Bar Although Luo is also a member of the circle, he is not a professional programmer, so he is not so sensitive to the latest trends in these technical communities.

He saw Mitchell Kapor and John Gilmore discussing for several rounds, and they didn’t give the answer he wanted, so he urged impatiently: "Guys, you haven’t told me that Bitcoin Can things be accepted as donations from the Electronic Frontier Foundation?"

"I don't think there is a problem-Bitcoin is a strong and reliable electronic currency. It does not mean that there will be no if there is no, or random increase in quantity to non-existent things. Its value is quite guaranteed." John Gilmore said clearly. Give your own opinions.

Then, John Gilmore explained to John Perry Barlow in detail: "Unlike those electronic currencies with a central server/client architecture, the network supported by Bitcoin is a decentralized p2p; in terms of the entire system The currency is produced by a well-designed'mining' process, without the control of the central bank out of political considerations."

"Each Bitcoin is essentially a mathematical equation solution of a cryptographic algorithm, which is equivalent to the unique serial number of real currency. Whoever masters the corresponding key gets the ownership. The only connection between it and reality is, The cost of electricity paid by the computer that performs the calculation."

"Bitcoin's key and transaction process are stored in the distributed database of the p2p network and endorsed by everyone. The first batch of 50 Bitcoins was mined by Tetsushi Nakamoto, and the corresponding initial blockchain His database records the merry_christmas he left behind-the blessings of Merry Christmas."

"As of now, even in the future, Bitcoin is definitely the most trustworthy and secure electronic currency!"

John Perry Barlow pointed to the core of the problem and said: "So, what is the value of Bitcoin now? Is it really circulating?"

"Of course!" John Gilmore expressed his keen interest between the lines. "Someone has successfully used 2500 bitcoins to buy a pizza worth $25. Therefore, at this stage, the exchange rate of bitcoin to the US dollar is recognized as 100 :1."

"It is said that ea's Battle.net trading platform plans to support Bitcoin transactions."

"In addition, there is a new e-shopping website called Amazon that has launched an online music and online book business. The web server permanently saves the purchased CDs and copies of the books for each account, and can listen and read at any time. ——Its attitude is very clear and supports Bitcoin transactions."

"100:1???" Mitchell Kapoor made several question marks before expressing his views to John Perry Barlow, "This Bitcoin is obviously promoted secretly, and the risk is difficult to assess. The Outpost Foundation should not be involved, and it is better to endorse such precedents that have no legal reference.

John Perry Barlow figured out his own thoughts in such a short period of time, "I think this Bitcoin is very similar to real futures — perhaps, it can be treated like a stock. Gift solicitation."

Mitchell Kapole no longer insisted on his objections-the Electronic Frontier Foundation had no money to play, and he couldn't really donate his fortune unselfishly.

John Gilmore is obviously not interested in whether the popular Electronic Frontier Foundation will become an endorser of Bitcoin.

He turned eagerly and said, "Now the process of'mining' Bitcoin is fairly easy-guys, are you interested in investing in?"

Although Mitchell Kapor held a conservative view on the acceptance of Bitcoin by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, this did not affect his investment intentions and immediately took out a sum of money without saying a word.

...

In recent years, in the IT field, the commercial forces in the "mainstream" position have developed extremely fast; but those "non-mainstream" forces are also very active.

For example, the Free Software Foundation has attracted a large number of believers and is gaining momentum.

Now, this "outside" camp has one more organization, that is, Gavin Andresen was commissioned by the Bitcoin community to establish the Bitcoin Foundation. Its headquarters is even set up in the US political center-China. House.

Gavin Andresen graduated from Princeton University, one of the eight Ivy League schools in 1988. His main professional experience is once working for a Silicon Valley graphics company; he is currently the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation and also served as The chief scientist of the Bitcoin Foundation.

The professional IT media showed great interest in Bitcoin, the first decentralized electronic currency, and the influx of reporters made the establishment ceremony of the fledgling Bitcoin Foundation not so shabby and deserted. .

In front of everyone, first of all, Gavin Andresen clearly stated the mission of the Bitcoin Foundation, which is to regulate, protect and promote the use of Bitcoin on a global scale.

Then, Gavin Andresen introduced some members of the Bitcoin Foundation, including several entrepreneurs who provide Bitcoin trading platform services.

When asked about the current status of Bitcoin's application, Gavin Andresen replied optimistically: "Although Bitcoin was born in a short period of time, like a baby in a swaddling baby, it immediately gained Internet users Favor."

"Needless to say, currency must be circulated before we can talk about other things-we are very pleased to see that Bitcoin has indeed started, even if the real value of buying and selling is not high, it is generally recognized that it has The most basic function of currency."

Since there are media focusing on the information of the new thing of Bitcoin, it is not difficult to imagine that there are also media concerned about gossip news related to Bitcoin.

So, some media asked in a straightforward manner: "Andresen, since you have served as the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, you should have seen the inventor of Bitcoin-Tetsushi Nakamoto, right?"

Gavin Andresen shrugged, "I think everyone should learn to understand a little bit. That is, Bitcoin is a decentralized electronic currency; in its system, even the inventor with the greatest technological contribution, Nor is it the center."

"I have communicated with Tetsushi Nakamoto himself, but only on the Internet."

The reporter asked desperately: "What kind of person is Tetsushi Nakamoto? Is he a person?"

"In the registration information of Nakamoto Tetsushi on the Internet ~www.readwn.com~ address is one book-then he should be one person." Gavin Andresen analyzed slowly: " My impression of him is that he is knowledgeable and savvy. He is very fluent in English. Sometimes he is as humorous and funny as a child. All in all, in the Bitcoin community, everyone gets along very happily. It is also the development goal of Bitcoin as an Internet currency. Very optimistic?"

"Bitcoin was very popular almost as soon as it was born, and you are operating in an orderly manner-may I ask, is there any behind-the-scenes forces pushing it?" The gossip finally revealed the most gimmicky conspiracy theory. .

Gavin Andresen replied disapprovingly: "In my opinion, this is an inevitable explosion phenomenon after the accumulation of technology to a certain extent-just like the World Wide Web came into being after the Internet had developed to a certain extent a few years ago. It's very popular; recently, p2p networks have spread rapidly on the shoulders of their predecessors."

"Electronic currency has been studied for many years, and the sudden arrival of the p2p network allowed decentralized solutions to seize the opportunity to stand out."

"What do you think of behind-the-scenes driving forces from Bitcoin should be based on its worries that it may have an impact on the actual monetary system."

"In fact, this is really ridiculous-Bitcoin is a decentralized currency. No one, power, or country can manipulate it."

"Moreover, as I said, for a long time in the future, the development goal of Bitcoin is to solve the problem of honest transactions on the Internet."

"The only connection between it and the real financial system is that it may be operated as a futures. But I am afraid that it is difficult to find enough profitable space in it."