Simplicity of investment into complexity

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When it comes to investing, they say invest into what you know and the reasoning is that if you know about it, you are likely to stay abreast of development and, be more sensitive in your evaluation. There is a lot of complexity on the Steem blockchain and it definitely comes to the fore how large the knowledge gaps are around Hardfork time of year. I believe that this complexity is good and necessary, however it isn't for everyone.

As I have said for the better part of my time on Steem, Steem isn't for everyone. Don't get me wrong here, everyone and anyone can try their hand, but there are some aspects of the blockchain that are going to go over heads no matter how many times they are explained.

With the highly diverse group of people on Steem that cross the four pillars of consumer, contributor, developer and investor lumped in together, there are always going to be conflicts. But, while everyone wants to benefit financially from Steem, not everyone is able to understand all of the technical influences that come with it but, many people feel that it should be easy to understand.

I think for those who are actually interested in investing into Steem, they will spend the time getting to understand the ecosystem. Even if one just wants to use Steem, once one want to earn a certain level of knowledge is required. If one wants to earn from a job, one has to understand what the job entails and do it - this is the same on any of the other platforms or any job ever really.

What is interesting is that while people want to call themselves investors, many of the same do not want to spend their time actually learning what that means. There are plenty of easy investments out there and if you have some cash, you can put it into an index fund and forget about it - if you have some cash ... and don't expect too much of a return.

The Steem ecosystem is quite different to traditional investments however, because not only can one buy or earn, one can actively use what is bought or earned to affect future earnings. A simple example is just powering up the Steem to gain 1.9% a year interest on it or actively using it to earn curation reward on top of the interest rate, which will add a further 20% return or so.

It doesn't matter how much Steem you have but just like any investment, the more you put in, the more value it can generate and, the earlier you start the greater the effect of compounding. Also, active participation opens up much more experience for knowing what one is investing into as well as building a network, but there still has to be some focus. Pure users aren't skilled and no matter how good you think you are at using your iPhone, it doesn't mean you can create an application for the Apple marketplace.

Learning about Steem generally means engaging with different experiences on Steem and for the investment and technical sides, there are many differing views. What is interesting is that some users make their opinion about the investment opportunity of Steem based on what they see at a user level and from other users, not what is going on at the core layer. It is like people not investing into Apple because Kim Jong-un uses an iPhone and iMac - He does use an iPhone and iMac by the way.

What I find incredible about Steem is that not only is it in what I will consider the industry that is next set to dominate business, it is in a highly technical area but many of the holders are far from technical themselves. There are artists and poets, musicians, people who create memes and all number of others who have not only been able to earn on steem, tey have actively sought to learn ad as a result turned themselves into investors.

Rather than looking at all the people who failed to understand Steem, perhaps it is time to start to look at all of those who have been able to learn about it to the point they understand the future potential of a highly technical industry in its infancy. I consider myself one of these types and I believe that bodes well for the future of Steem in the mainstream.

When it comes to the complexity of usage, that is more an alignment problem than most people consider, because the tools required to "make it easy to use" are not yet fully functional. Nor are the resources required to develop polished experiences since for most devs here, this is more hobby than job and they aren't backed by large companies willing to put money where their mouth is.

Money where the mouth is has to be a requirement of investing and on Steem, one doesn't even have to front capital if one is able to prove they have a brain and earn the stake required. It would be interesting to know how many accounts have ever held over 50/100/500 Steem, and how many hold at least that amount now.

But, I believe that as the Steem layer moves further away from the user level layers through the implementation of applications and SMTs, the more attractive Steem becomes for investors and users alike. Investors will be able to evaluate the infrastructure and process, while users will be increasingly exposed to simplified and still monetized applications that are much more enjoyable to use when there aren't the investors and devs crowding the view.

The complexity for me is something I enjoy however I think that as far as the tech, investment and usage is concerned - it actually isn't over complex. I think that many are so accustomed to using frontends without ever getting their hands dirty behind the scenes online that people are uncomfortable when they do. It is the same for the economics conversations as most do not take part in these in ordinary life circles either.

While I write these posts, I am not trying to convince anyone to power up or not, to participate or not because, that is their call to make. When it comes to investment opportunities it always is personal and perhaps if I focused my attention on the shit content and behavior that so many people believe is all there is to Steem, perhaps I would have powered down also and taken whatever earnings I have and gone out to lunch with my family.

Well, I have a little more than a lunch, but it is not going to be life changing, at this point of the game. For me, there is far too much potential to ignore and Steem technologically crosses into a couple "real-life" domains also, areas that will bring much more value than my immediate Steem holdings, even if Steem goes to 10 dollars.

@theycallmedan was talking about web 3.0 in a video the other day and how suitable Steem is to facilitate it. Not only that, as the various technologies of IoT start to really kickoff into daily usage, Steem can integrate through those applications and devices also. It only has to take a small fraction of the interaction and the transactional mass that is to come to be worth many, many billions. This takes thought, investment and development to accomplish.

But, people focus on the things that they see and where they spend their time, which is natural. However, it is good to consider that all the things you focus on haven't removed the various pain points of your life, while others don't seem to have those issues at all. Perhaps if people were on average better with their finances, buying a little Steem wouldn't seem such a big deal, nor would losing a little potential reward for a chance at a much more valuable future.

Everyone on Steem has the opportunity to be at the forefront of the next big industry, even if they do not understand all of the details and cannot spare a dime. That is pretty unique in this day and age where generally, if you don't know what you are doing - you better make sure you have enough capital with which to buy in.

Have a nice night.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]



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4 comments
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Investors will be able to evaluate the infrastructure and process, while users will be increasingly exposed to simplified and still monetized applications that are much more enjoyable to use when there aren't the investors and devs crowding the view.

Yep, this should be the future for Steem interfaces. A simple sign-up / on-boarding process and following that, the user only needs what they need to see to get by. If their interest grows, then they can delve the rabbit hole further.

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If their interest grows, then they can delve the rabbit hole further.

This is what I think will have to happen as the hurdle is too high for most to go the other way and have to learn a lot before getting interested. Investors will do the work for their own peace of mind anyway.

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Awaiting for Hard Fork 21 to relearn it all and adapt! There is always something to come back to here without a doubt which I have not found elsewhere.

Posted using Partiko iOS

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I think it is going to be fun as it changes the distribution mechanisms in many ways and should encourage different behaviours. 7 days :)

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