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Comment by heckerhut

4 years ago

Well an NFT has way more utility than this thing. It makes you part of an online community. Naturally it has a different value.

19 comments

heckerhut

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mikestew  4 years ago

"...part of a community". Man, I didn't know Amway[0] had pivoted to NFTs. Speaking of business, did you know that as an Amway representative, you can become part of a community of small business owners! I mean, NFT owners!

[0]https://www.amway.com

the_af  4 years ago

Owning and tinkering with retro computers makes you part of the retro computing fan community, which exists online and offline.

  • JasonFruit  4 years ago

    *which exists.

    • the_af  4 years ago

      True! I wanted to emphasize that "being online" (which the OP seems interested in) is not particularly important in itself, and that many interesting communities exist both online and offline.

      Which, as you point out, can be simplified to "exist" ;)

      2 replies →

TigeriusKirk  4 years ago

You're correct that buying a BAYC nft does make you a member of a very active community. It's very much a club membership.

But owning a prime piece of vintage computing history gets you into a community too. And owning one is as much as status play as BAYC is.

dehrmann  4 years ago

This has more utility because, assuming it works, it's a general purpose computer. You might even be able to mine crypto with it.

LegitShady  4 years ago

You can join online communities for free, but then again there's not much value in joining online communities.

  • Loughla  4 years ago

    I think you just hit on something there, though.

    There isn't an easy way to flex your status online, unless you're a celebrity, or put in the work to become an influencer.

    For people with money, there isn't a simple way to come to places like HN and just be important because you have money. There isn't a way to show people how wealthy and powerful you are without contributing.

    But NFT's allow you to show people how much disposable income you have, and therefore how much better you are than the unwashed masses, without needing to really do anything of substance.

    Or maybe that's just my own personal bias and confusion about NFT's in general showing?

    • LegitShady  4 years ago

      There are cheap nfts and expensive nfts, and the only people who care already have nfts. Its not a general flex it's a flex to other nft memers which is a low status flex no matter what.

      Its like walking around with a Gucci billboard on your forehead - you think youre flexing but youre actually just demonstrating clown shoes.

      Nobody cares how expensive your nft is. They have no use anywhere. Its like having the fanciest clownshoes - you're still a clown.

    • detaro  4 years ago

      I think that's certainly a factor, especially when it comes to the meme-y stuff - which is what has been getting a lot of the attention. From other niches I get that impression a lot less - can't really impress people with the fact you could spend $20 ;)

    • ddingus  4 years ago

      No, that resonates. Truthy.

      It is like that "I'm Rich" app someone from Germany(?) made for iOS. Priced it at the max and a few people bought it!

      What they got was an app that displayed a picture of some expensive, fantasy ring with an equally fantastic gemstone set in it.

      Total status signaling!

      Of course the general failure on that one was the lack of network effects. Someone could see the app was on a phone, and or could see the displayed picture should the user leave it running.

      Seriously lame, but still there appeared to be at least a few takers.