At least this produces far, far less waste than Nespresso-style. And, depending on exactly how they process it, may end up 'fresher' than coffee brewed from old ground coffee.
That's because Microsoft allows it, and (b) Microsoft has a monopoly on their market (not on the "Windows market", but like 98% on the whole Home/Enterprise PC space) and abused it so they were forced to open up.
If Microsoft had just a small share of the Home/Enterprise market with Windows, they'd could close it in any way they want, same way the game companies do for their consoles or Apple for iOS.
I think the answer is much simpler: at the time Windows was created, no one in their most sadistic totalitarian dream could have imagined such evil as an app store.
Most people think Bitcoin is a gambling chip, but it is first and foremost a new form of money. Let me repeat Bitcoin's benefits:
- You can pay anyone and been paid by anyone without anyone's permission. Not so with government money.
- Can't be counterfeited. You don't need to check the bills under UV light, no need to check if your gold bullion has lead or copper inside.
- Can't be inflated
- No one can take it from you. No one even knows that you have it and how much.
- Safe for merchants. If they got it, they got it, no risk of transaction being reversed because the shopper paid by a stolen credit card. Because of that, merchant doesn't need to ask for your name, phone number, home address and other information required to sue you in case of a fraud. So the shopper in turn enjoys better privacy.
- With second layer solution in place, such as Lightning Network, transactions will be fast, cheap and private. We are not there yet, but will be in a few years.
Except there was no faked value injected anywhere, all tethers are 100% backed by USD in the bank. The reports are fake news. If it were not so, the freely traded tether/USD value would be below 1, but it isn't, it's traded at exactly 1.
This is extremely flawed reasoning, and I'm sad to see a comment of this low quality on HN. Tether's valuation is based on free market trade. If an insider knew they are not 100% backed, he has a billion dollars incentive to short the trade and then drop the bomb. However that has not happened.
He might be right. There is a considerable work being done currently on Bitcoin to improve it's transaction throughput, speed, privacy and fees. Once it's done, in a year or two, Bitcoin will have great utility as a modern form of money.
What prevents government from paying their bills, rent and loans forever? Warren Buffett said that US gov can never go bankrupt because it owns the printing press.
The USD is the reserve currency of the world. The US maintains this status quo through a combination of soft and hard power: stir the pot a little and ambassadors tut-tut. Stir a bit more and your politicians have their US bank accounts frozen. Stir too hard and the USS Gerald R. Ford sails up off your coast and asks you to reconsider democracy. I'd be surprised if this status quo is challenged by another country for years.
What I think is far more interesting is what happens internally: the US is a powder keg of economic and racial inequality and our leaders are either throwing lit matches at it or gently disapproving of those doing the throwing. If COVID cases and deaths keep increasing I can't see how we continue without structural changes.
> Warren Buffett said that US gov can never go bankrupt because it owns the printing press.
Hyperinflation is one way to throw more fuel on the dire that is American society right now. And Trump said the quiet part out loud during his campaign[1] that we don't have to repay the whole debt (normally something that the most powerful people in a country don't say in public).
Neither of these ideas works in practice without significant tradeoffs. The US dollar only keeps its value because people around the world have faith it is worth something. A spike in inflation or a debt default would have investors scramble to move their assets elsewhere.
So what, out of fear to earn too little interest (0.25%), risk to lose 50% of your investment? +0.25% looks better than -50% to me. Don't see a rational logic here. Though humans have been shown to be irrational, especially in a group.
