The 21 Bitcoin Computer

[kerneldump]

https://medium.com/@21dotco/the-21-bitc ... 28d652b57b
https://21.co/faq/

[LiteCoinGuy]

For example, you can use the 21 Bitcoin Computer to:

instantly mine Bitcoin from the command line
sell API calls for Bitcoin, like English-to-Chinese translation or file conversion
set up your own personal iTunes-like digital goods store
reward peers for posting your links on social media
make any IoT hardware Bitcoin-rentable, from smart locks to 3D printers


interesting stuff.

[LiteCoinGuy]

The 8 most informative comments about 21inc's bitcoin computer dev kit


"Anyone who thinks this is about making money by mining has very little insight into what Bitcoin actually offers the world. This is not about bringing the old economy (banks, businesses, governments) into the Bitcoin family. This is about building entirely new economies, ones that have never and could never have existed before. 21inc can see the vision and they just bootstrapped the IoT on the Bitcoin blockchain. Thank your lucky stars on your way to the moon." - PhiMinD

"I'm fairly sure this is NOT an end user device. This device appears to be solely for the purpose of prototyping integration with other devices, and allow people to work out the ends and outs of the process. My assumption is that in like 6 months to a year, a much more compact and integrated device will be released that would be far cheaper, and suitable for installation in actual consumer devices. This is for developers." - DakotaChiliBeans

"The more I think about it, the more incredible and groundbreaking this seems. When every piece of hardware and software has the ability to transfer money, our entire concept of how we do everything changes. We're only beginning to imagine the possibilities. Even the few simple ones I've been thinking of make my head spin. Bitcoin as a human currency is exciting. Creates a more open system, breaks monopoly, gives you the option of true, non-revocable ownership. All great stuff. But it's these revolutionary ideas that make me believe that Bitcoin, or a successor very much like it, will take over the world. As someone invested in bitcoin, I'd like to see it succeed and my investment pay off, but goddamn will this be an exciting ride regardless. At this point, I'm seriously thinking of buying and developing on it. The potential here is lightyears beyond what most people are thinking." - consideranon

"Seeing the 21 Bitcoin computer reminds me of the developer kits for oculus rift. It took a lot of time to perfect before going fully public. It was also tested with a pre-release through Samsung's VR headset. Other more resourceful people bought the cardboard much like the same people would buy the Raspberry Pi instead of this. Anyway, the 21 computer is very likely the first iteration of many." - Hiro_Y3

"I think it removes a step in the process. Instead of learning about wallets, private keys, maintaining a login and password, etc, the computer takes care of all of that without the user having to think about any of it. The mining function provides initial liquidity to get the ball rolling. This is the first step of payments being built into the IoT." -TDBit

"Most of everybody here is missing the point. This is a bitcoin computer. This is not made to simply mine to generate a profit but rather a miner is just an added part. The miner is used to continuously supply the Bitcoin computer with bitcoin. It uses the bitcoin to "write" to the blockchain. It's like a digital quill with an endless bitcoin inkwell." -Fuzzypickles69

"Ok, this takes a leap of faith, but what they're trying to do is build a full-stack device which can send/receive bitcoin and which also solves the "how do devices get bitcoin in the first place" problem. Imagine the whole thing being a lot smaller and cheaper, and embedded in lots of devices globally. Now you have a world in which millions of devices (machines) can send and receive tiny payments, and which natively have a currency unit to use for that purpose." - melbustus

"ServiceXYZ: Links your 21 box to your Twitter account, and any paywall website lets you read anything you want without popups, ads, or subscriptions. There, I just made up a business in 10 seconds, someone go make it " - evoorhees

https://de.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comment ... ut_21incs/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/commen ... an/cv9zq9q

[btc]

make any IoT hardware Bitcoin-rentable, from smart locks to 3D printers

my favorite part about 21.co for the new world of the internet of everything is ^THIS^

[michael_z]

Fleshes out the vision somewhat:
https://elux.svbtle.com/the-21-inc-comp ... ltair-8800

I also like this:
http://softwareconfidence.com/21-things ... -computer/

Still not sure I'd spend $400 on the devkit, but then I'm not a dev. I suppose it's a good excuse to buy [an expensive] plug and play full node.

[JohnRatcliff]

None of these articles are addressing the most important question; that bitcoin does not scale sufficiently to support this product. The current fees for a bitcoin transaction (which are only going to get worse) preclude using the network for true micro-transactions. Secondly, the current transaction limit is so low that it only supports a couple of million users per month. (Do the math, multiply 150,000 transactions a day times 31 days and then assume three or four transactions per month. You get a number in the low millions of active users).

The only way this product might work is if all transactions happened off-chain on a micro-transaction layer developed by 21 Inc. themselves (like a world-wide changetip).

Now, that doesn't bother me at all if that is the plan. I have no problem giving up milli-cents worth of value to a centralized and controlled off-chain vendor. That really doesn't concern me at all.

However, to date nothing that 21 Inc. has said publicly suggests they have any plans to create their own off-chain microtransaction network. In fact, everything they have stated publicly implies they intend to operate directly on the main blockchain which, as already pointed out, is impossible.

[bg002h]

I ordered one of these devices…I look forward to tinkering with it. I haven't a clue how long it would take to mine enough to pay a transaction fee... But we shall see!

[Shahn]

I ordered one of these and I agree with JohnRatcliff. I just assumed when I saw it advertised that they would have an 21.co blockchain that would settle using the bitcoin blockchain. Seems like a no brainer and what they can bring far outweighs another layer of trust. What it boils down to is that if you are OK with a possibly centralized but distributed platform then you are OK with another layer of trust too because you have already given it(trust).

[zju]

I ordered one of these devices…I look forward to tinkering with it. I haven't a clue how long it would take to mine enough to pay a transaction fee... But we shall see!

At 125 GH/s and at the current difficulty, it takes only a couple hours to mine 0.0001 BTC.

[Ortegon]

At 125 GH/s

Where is the info about the hashrate from? It was very interesting to know how powerful is it

[MrFelt_]

Posted this on twitter yesterday: https://twitter.com/MrFelt_/status/649648182687719424

Essentially, its seems like there could be a deal btw Amazon and 21 designed to achieve lunar orbit.

[cryptokeeper]

First post here. Aside from the ASIC on the daughter board. To me this seems like anybody can do this with a RaspberryPi? Am I not correct here?

[AndreAmorim]

21 bits ...

reminds me assembly language, and for some wired reason mechanical computers ...

[zju]

At 125 GH/s

Where is the info about the hashrate from? It was very interesting to know how powerful is it

According to https://21.co/faq/,

the 21 Bitcoin Chip has an efficiency of approximately 0.16 Joules per Gigahash and can calculate 50-125 Gigahashes per second

[marcos.degoul]

Question: is this device or a serie of several devices connected to different computers emiting and receiving localy bitcoins can be used to make remittances services?

[tey]

Question: is this device or a serie of several devices connected to different computers emiting and receiving localy bitcoins can be used to make remittances services?

yes it could , and remittence service can be run on your smartphone. with the price of this device , you can buy few used laptops and run a remittence network. 21 inc. is more of a device to build on services that can make things pay each other. The mining feature isn't the bread maker here. Using this 21 Inc. your wash machine can communicate with an online grocery store and order a new softener once yours is finished. It doesn't stop here , pay for it and get it delivered to your doorstep. While you taking a dump

[LiteCoinGuy]

21 – The planet-sized computer

What if, instead of simply building more computers, we use bitcoin as the economic lubricant to utilize the unused capacity in hundreds of millions of computers running on idle in homes, schools, offices and datacenters.

https://elux.svbtle.com/21-the-planet-sized-computer

[BoB]

Not impressed. As someone else pointed out, this thing can be recreated (minus the mining) on a rPi, at a fraction of the price.

If this is what the most expensively funded bitcoin company can come up with then it's another epic fail.

[Jeriaska]

I've started a subreddit and twitter feed for 21 Inc. news for when bitcoin developers begin using the device next month.

https://twitter.com/21reddit/status/651955319833124864

[bitkilo]

Could you tell us what the 21 computer cost you?
If it really does mine 0.0001 btc in an hour then thats pretty good if its all sort of happening in the background of what you are doing.

[LiteCoinGuy]

I've started a subreddit and twitter feed for 21 Inc. news for when bitcoin developers begin using the device next month.

please keep us up to date, this is an interesting topic.

[dsattler]

I thought about it for a while. Maybe the cool thing about the 21inc computer is that due to it's embedded asic it is generating it's bitcoin dust for the transactions you want to do. The asic is not very powerful but it could be sufficient to generate as much bitcoins to pay for the fees your "program" on this thing needs. With an ordinary raspi, you must fund it's account from time to time with your own btc. The 21inc computer could run like a "perpetuum mobile", creating it's own fuel!

[LiteCoinGuy]

I thought about it for a while. Maybe the cool thing about the 21inc computer is that due to it's embedded asic it is generating it's bitcoin dust for the transactions you want to do. The asic is not very powerful but it could be sufficient to generate as much bitcoins to pay for the fees your "program" on this thing needs. With an ordinary raspi, you must fund it's account from time to time with your own btc. The 21inc computer could run like a "perpetuum mobile", creating it's own fuel!

indeed, that is one part of the plan. the other thing is, that you are part of the 21inc mining pool. because of that, 21inc will establish this "perpetuum mobile". it is a plug and play solution. put it out of the box and start programming. no need to get some satoshis first

also check out:
post3729.html#p3729

reminds me a little bit of the AOL CDs back in the days

[cryptokeeper]

It's all good they are doing this. But.... why not just buy a Raspberry Pi 2 and call it a day? That is what I am doing...

[kyletorpey]

The 21 Inc Bitcoin Computer May Completely Change How the Internet Works

https://www.coingecko.com/buzz/21-inc-b ... ?locale=en

[LiteCoinGuy]

The 21 Bitcoin Computer: Now Shipping

The 21 Bitcoin Computer ships today. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our earliest customers for making us an Amazon bestseller, and talk a bit more about what the device can do today.

https://medium.com/@21dotco/the-21-bitc ... 026faa87be

[LiteCoinGuy]

[LiteCoinGuy]

25 years ago the first 14.4k modem was shipped at a price of $399. Today 21 INC Computer is listed at $399.99

[CryptAxe]

It's all good they are doing this. But.... why not just buy a Raspberry Pi 2 and call it a day? That is what I am doing...

Yeah for a lot less money, you'd have to buy an asic as well to connect to the pi if you wanted to emulated that aspect of the 21 though. Reading more about it you can see that it bundles in a lot of stuff that you also can't do with just a pi, and it's all user friendly as well. But a simple version could be emulated that way with some linux skills

[LiteCoinGuy]

+ very nice design

https://imgur.com/a/y65k6