I completely agree with this and I think that has been the aspect that most companies have taken advantage of over the last few months.

I haven't even heard of the companies that have begun accepting BTC, including Overstock.com.

It is only the people with vested interest in BTC that are celebrating every adoption and making a big deal out of everything BTC related, in my opinion.

You never heard of overstock.com until they started accepting bitcoin?

I never heard of them as well, also did not know http://gyft.com until they started accepting it

That's exactly what I said in my OP.

Yeah, I had actually completely forgotten that App.net existed.

It's still not at all clear to me what it is, and why I would want to sign up. Even after reading the site.

Last I knew about it, it was paid-subscription Twitter, essentially. Not totally sure what it is now. Honestly, I'm not sure they know what they are right now.

From their site:

/* What is App.net?

App.net is a network of social applications: App.net users can use their account to access hundreds of different applications available on a variety of platforms including Android, iOS, Mac, Linux and more.

Currently App.net users can access microblogging, broadcasting via push notification, groupchat, public or private chatrooms, photo sharing, journaling and more.

For developers, App.net offers a robust API and a variety of open source libraries and tools.

App.net is supported by offering paid services to the people that use it, rather than by selling advertising. Unlike other services, App.net users own their content. We believe that there is room in the market for a service that benefits financially from building things that people are willing to pay for. */

Its a network of networks which you can use to build your own network. Not being pedantic or sarcastic, that is what it says in the description. I guess the issue people have is understanding why this would be useful. I'm not sure why, but I'm probably not their target customer.

It's not really a network of networks, but a central repo for social networks. They can store all your contacts and photos (etc) there, and then you can choose to share your photos uploaded from one service with your contacts on another. It keeps your identity intact across the whole network no matter what app you're using.

read this: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/08/the-great-app-net-mis...

I like it how HN sentiment went from "let's ridicule Bitcoin" to "let's ridicule those who consider accepting it because now that everyone does it, it is stupid to make a big deal out of this".

It's not really ridicule. If you do a Kickstarter-style fundraiser to accept Bitcoin instead of just accepting it, it's a pure PR move. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I had completely forgotten about app.net's existence, so mission accomplished on the free marketing front.

Absolutely agreed. This is complete nonsense. Since people can already "commit" BTC to this cause, they have already implemented a Bitcoin payment solution. This blows up the entire premise. I don't recall all of the details of App.Net's launch, but I do remember lots of similar, desperate PR tactics aimed at convincing people to contribute money to it back then.

There are some entirely new business models that Bitcoin enables, and IMO those may deserve some attention. This, however, is far from one of those cases.

First practical solution? It's one of dozens of practical solutions I see on the HN front page every single day.

Yes. Unfortunately, it's not a long term solution.

The public is fickle. There is no long term solution.

I tend to agree but I would not understate the value of marketing. The downside is pretty modest.