Growth Of The Bitcoin Economy.

The Bitcoin economy will most likely be the fastest growing economy ever seen. The growth rate will be astronomical, unlike anything the world has ever seen. Remember that the value of any currency is the value of the real goods and services produced by the people using that currency. This is true of the Dollars, Euro, Pounds, Yen, any national currency, or precious metals like gold and silver. Everyone (myself included) is focused on the price of Bitcoins. But the day to day price is not what is important in the long run. It is the adoption and use of Bitcoin to facilitate transactions of real goods and services. That is where the focus should be, not whether it is up today and down tomorrow against another national currency.

Here are some reason the growth of the Bitcoin economy will be unlike anything ever seen in human history:

• Anyone with an Internet connection can use Bitcoin either from a computer or a mobile device like a smartphone. Immediately. You can have a Bitcoin account literally within seconds and start receiving payments. There is no application or id required like opening a bank account. As of March 2013, there were 2.7 billion people with access to the Internet, up from 2.3 billion. That’s a growth rate of nearly 20%/year, with ~400 million new people getting Internet access each year. 2.7+ billion people is larger than any nation by far. Bitcoin has the potential to reach more people than any national currency ever could and in many countries where there are no banking services. Countries that are too poor to have computers can have basic smartphones with an Internet connection. They will have access to a functioning banking system for the first time, which is a life changing event. This is not just in 3rd world countries. Over 10 million households in America don’t have bank accounts!
• Bitcoin is the equivalent of interest free money; that is, there is no central bank charging interest for the use of its money. The people that use money from central banks pay this interest through taxes levied by their gov’t, who use part of its tax revenues to pay interest on the bonds bought by currency created by central banks. Because of this, the Bitcoin economy keeps all the value it generates, instead of that value being leaked away to the global banking system. At the moment, most countries don’t recognize Bitcoin as money, so this economy will be nearly tax free in for the near future.
• Bitcoin is free from manipulation and debasement from the world’s governments. The rate of inflation is controlled and known, and mathematically enforced through its algorithm. It provides people with a constant yardstick to measure and exchange value by, which we do not have today. The current global monetary system makes it impossible for the common person to judge value because the currency itself is being manipulated on a daily basis.
• The decentralized nature of Bitcoin makes it highly resistant to violence. No one “owns” the Bitcoin network. People can come and leave as they please. It can’t be shut down because there is nothing to shut down. There is no one to arrest, assassinate, or eliminate.
• Bitcoin is completely and truly private money. If someone wishes to send you Bitcoins or if you wish to send someone else Bitcoins, it is impossible for any 3rd party to stop any mutually agreed transactions. The ownership of Bitcoins is tied to the ownership of the cryptographic keys which can be generated at will by anyone, then hidden, encrypted, or even memorized. It is impossible for any 3rd party to confiscate your Bitcoins, unless they confiscate your private keys by force. For the first time in human history, any 2 people can conduct a mutually agreed transaction, no matter where they are located without regulation from a 3rd party.
• Bitcoin has near zero costs for transactions for any size. Whether you send a penny or a million dollars, the costs are the same. This makes microtransactions possible for the first time.

Bitcoin will enable near frictionless trade among 40%+ of the world’s population, across political boundaries and geographical distance for the first time in history. The implications of this can’t be overstated. The growth rate of the Bitcoin economy will be at levels never seen before.

How To Become a Professional iOS Developer In 3 Months With Zero Experience

Do all things Apple, all of the time. No going out, seeing friends, family, hobbies, working out, chasing girls; not even cooking, or doing chores. You're on a Jihad in the name of Apple. Every waking minute is about studying and worshiping the scriptures of Apple. Why? Because winners take all and Apple is the biggest winner of them all. You're a winner too if you drink the Apple Kool-Aid. At least for now...

That is what I did over the summer of 2010. Healthy or sustainable? Absolutely not. But this isn't a commitment for life. It's a 3 month Crusade to wage a Holy War to set you up for the next 10 years, perhaps for life if you catch the next Instagram.

Don't believe in Apple? That's fine. We have freedom of religion in America. Android and the Google Kool-Aid is just as good if you prefer. Find a God you believe in.

The Next Big Thing

My 2 biggest winners over the past few years was betting on the iPhone/iPad and the Tesla Model S. So how do you spot the next big thing? Here's what I do. The first thing to remember is that life is not about you. In context of spotting the next big thing, your own opinions and what you personally think of something is almost completely IRRELEVANT. It's not about you, what you think, or if something is good for you. It's about gauging other people's needs and what you can do for them. Remember the goal here is trying to determine what WILL happen based on what you're seeing, so you can position yourself and react to what's coming. You aren't doing a mental exercise to figure out what you think SHOULD happen or what you think is morally right or wrong. You can do that, but it's not going to help you spot the next big trend or opportunity. This is where so many people get it wrong.

When I saw the Tesla Model S for the first time in Newport Beach, CA, I hung out at the store for 2 hours. I was blown away by the car, but I wasn't at the store for 2 hours to worship the car. I sat there to watch how hundreds of PEOPLE there REACT to this car. What did the people who could afford this car (obvious who they are…like everyone in Newport Beach) think of it? One of the naysayers was that "it's too expensive" for Tesla to sell very many of them. I knew that was wrong because I just saw dozens of people in a single hour, in one store who could afford it.

It's the same thing with the iPad. I bought it the day it came out in 2010, then spent the next 3 months showing it off to hundreds of random people in Europe. That's how I knew we had a huge winner here. It wasn't because I thought this was an awesome, cool gadget (I did), but it was from how so many people react when they see it. When there are hoards of people camping out in front of Apple stores worldwide and selling their kidneys to buy the latest iGadget, there is something there. You may think they're just psychotic and I would agree with you. But dismissing it as nothing more than a bunch of psycho fanboys is missing an opportunity and the larger picture of what is going on in the world.

As we look towards the future of the "next big thing" for growth and opportunity, those are some of the things to look for…

What Should I Learn In Tech?

A question I keep getting asked is which is better: iOS, Android, or X. That's not the right question. That is like saying "I want to be a musician. Which instrument should I play?" You can learn music with any instrument, just like you can learn programming with any language or platform. What is more important is what you're interested in and what you want to do. You aren't going to be good at something you don't want to do. Tech is so hot, it doesn't matter what you do as long as it is current. You can do well (no matter how you define "well") no matter what you choose to do, especially if you are the BEST at what you do.

However, what you choose to do affects WHO you will work with. Software is built in layers called the "stack". The stack refers to the architecture of the entire system or it may refer to the layers within each component of the system. Each layer is an abstraction for the layer above it from the hardware all the way to the end user.

Typical web sites and mobile apps we use everyday are known as three tier systems. There is a web browser (Firefox, Chrome, IE, etc) or an app, a server that receives and sends data, and some kind of database (i.e. SQL) or other storage mechanism for that data. The components of these are known as front, middle, and back end. Career wise, you can either be a generalist and learn enough to be effective across the entire stack. Or you can be a specialist like me and be extremely good at one component of the stack (iOS). Both approaches are valid and you can be successful with either way. It depends on your personality, talents, and what you're looking for in life.

Generally, the closer you work with the hardware, or the further you are from the end user in the stack, the more technical the position will be. The more technical your position, the more you will work with other technical people and less with normal (i.e. non technical) people.

If you are a front end developer (i.e. Javascript, iOS, Android, or desktop clients), you will work a lot with designers, artists, and have some business contacts. This is the part of the stack that everyone sees. It is often tedious work to get everything pixel perfect. You need strong knowledge of your platform's architecture and components. You need to be creative in putting them together to achieve the effect the effect designers and artists are looking for. The focus is on presentation and creating a good user experience. It is also about gathering, saving, delivering data to the middle tier, and receiving data then presenting it to the user.

If something is ugly, sucks, or doesn't work, you'll be the first to know about it. You're on the front lines. Everyone understands what you do because they directly use what you built; an iPhone, iPad, Android, desktop app, or a web site. The code you write directly affects what they see and what their device does.

The middle tier is heavily focused on processes. You'll be be working heavily with the business side of the organization. Your job is executing what the business actually does. You will also interact with other programmers above and below your stack. You need to create services and API's for the stack above you (the front end), so they are able to implement the features needed, deliver and receive data. What you are doing is gathering data from the front end, processing it in some way, then delivering it to where ever it needs to go, either back to the front end or saved to the back end. The most common languages here are PHP, Pearl, Python, Ruby, Java, or C# and ASP.

Back end developers such as DBA's are focused on managing large amounts of data. They understand things like how to optimize their servers, load balancing, administration, security, scaling resources up and down as needed. They may work on cloud services like Amazon AWS, or many of Google's services. Most often they are working for other technical people and making sure they get what they need at all times. They are working with raw data coming in from the stacks above them, making sure it gets saved and delivered to where it needs to go. You are focused on problems only technical people would understand. They can't fail because the entire stack above them collapses with them. For example, if Amazon AWS goes down, thousands of sites or services that we use everyday, would go down.

It's all programming and software development. That means there's fundamental things that you need to understand no matter what you choose to do. Most people that ask me this question don't even understand these fundamentals! That includes other programmers! If you are interested in a career in tech, just jump right in wherever you want to. You can always switch if something else catches your fancy. Once you learn the fundamentals, it would only take you a few months to switch to something else.

The point of all this is to STOP DEBATING and WASTING TIME over which is better, X vs. Y. It's not important. Just jump right in and do it! You can always switch to something else and learn that if you change your mind.