News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:The exponential growth of Bitcoin value explained by tobykier on Saturday November 23, 2013 @09:52AM (#6786062)
fire superseded by central heating and electric fires

knives superseded by guns (weapons) and fork (cutlery).

I'll give you the wheel only because I'm still waiting for my hovercar

Re:The exponential growth of Bitcoin value explained by betterunix on Saturday November 23, 2013 @10:35AM (#6786229)
Fire is not just about heating your home. Fire is used for cooking, it is used to generate electrical power, it is used in vehicles of various kinds (cars, airplanes, ships, rockets, etc.), it is used in various chemical and industrial processes, and there are hundreds of other uses.

Knives are not just weapons, and if you think forks can replace knives then you have never actually cooked anything more complicated than instant ramen. Go to your favorite restaurant's kitchen, and you will see lots of knives, specialized for various purposes. Knives are among the most useful tools ever invented. Quite a few people (myself included) carry a pocket knife or multitool (which almost always includes a knife) everywhere. There are a lot of situations in life that call for cutting things.

"I'll give you the wheel only because I'm still waiting for my hovercar"

Your hovercar will probably have wheels, unless you think there will be no need to cool any of those high-tech components (or that the cooling will be accomplished without any fans -- I doubt it). Even if we had a world of hovercars, there would be wheels all over the place, in various machines both in our homes and in factories and other industrial settings.

Re:The exponential growth of Bitcoin value explained by to3m on Saturday November 23, 2013 @10:24AM (#6786184)
I don't know where you live, but the central heating in my house has a fire in it. That's how the water heats up! And for more localized heating, the heat given off by some kind of flame also seems to be commonly preferred to that from an electric "fire".

Fires are also better for everyday domestic cooking, whether due to basic usability (in the case of a hob) or warm-up time (in the case of a grill or oven).

Passing electricity through bits of metal until they heat up is fine, but I don't appear to be unique in my feeling that simply setting stuff aflame works better. So all in all, I don't see the humble fire going anywhere.

(Lest you think I'm a stick-in-the-mud, do note that I fully approve of the use of electric light over candles.)

Re:The exponential growth of Bitcoin value explained by stinkytaco on Saturday November 23, 2013 @10:24AM (#6786186)
>fire superseded by central heating and electric fires

Last I checked, my gas furnace was basically a controlled fire.

Re:The exponential growth of Bitcoin value explained by xylem on Saturday November 23, 2013 @10:02AM (#6786097)
I'd like to see how you cut bread with a gun or a fork.
Re:The exponential growth of Bitcoin value explained by zanny on Saturday November 23, 2013 @10:17AM (#6786150)
I'll just use a concentrated laser to cut my steak! And char broil it at the same time!