It is entirely possible that over the almost nine years I have been on the blockchain, I have become jaded and untrusting of a lot of what happens here. I have seen so many different types of scams, so many initiatives that turned bad, invested and lost so much on projects that just died, or turned into something else entirely. As a result of experience, when I see something that looks even remotely scammy, my defences go up and I assume the worst.
If I meet people in real life, I assume best intentions.
Not randoms in crypto.
However, I asked for clarity on the SpendHBD initiative in an article yesterday, and 
You can watch the video here:
@thedistriator/bjzefupi
The video is an hour long and I suggest most people watch the whole thing, as there are some other aspects in the first half or so that many likely don't know much about. The second half explains more of the mechanics of the project, which is where I was looking for answers, as I wasn't content with many of the explanations of "Hive is not just blogging anymore" on my own post, as if that was my concern. Despite evidence to the contrary perhaps, I have a pretty good idea of what Hive is - but I didn't know how SpendHBD worked.
Now I do.
So, while I am not impressed by the content in the community and the loosely applied term for "review", the project itself has merit and since it is self-funded, my concerns about the cost to Hive in terms of leeching are moot. They seem to have addressed some of the abuse earlier in the timeline, and are addressing some of the loopholes and the like anyway going forward and it might be a decent step toward making HBD more useful - something that has long been talked about. With it relatively stable through the HBDStabilizer mechanisms, maybe it is the right time for these kinds of experiments.
I don't know about scalability.
Still, scalability is a good problem to have when it comes to usage, as long as there is there is some thought as to what might need to happen in that scenario. How flexible and quickly can the stabilizer do its job, and under what kind of HBD demand? But, that is a future problem, as the HBD demand is still low at the moment.
As I said yesterday, the content makes me want to DV it, but after watching the video and learning more, I will hold off for now and let the project develop further instead. And who knows, maybe I will support it directly in the future. It is an interesting experiment at the very least, and there is potential for it to spawn a range of different initiatives and application development.
For instance, the tap-to-pay function would be great to be a loyalty card for using HBD in local shops, with the more spent using HBD, the greater the kickback percentage. My supermarket does that and it keeps me loyal for the most part, even though the maximum return is 5% a month. But it adds up when doing all the grocery shopping, filling the car, and whatever else at one of the shops in the Co-operative.
A cooperative is a business or organization owned and run jointly by its members, who share in its profits and decision-making.
I wrote a few articles about "Steem" working as a cooperative back in the day, though I will have to find them later, as I can't find them now it seems. Maybe at the local level, groups of businesses could create a co-op and work together to create loyalty to the group by using HBD.
And as I suggested on the video post, 
What I do hope though, is that while Hive might not be blogging only, this content is still visible to everyone on Hive and it really isn't attractive, and adds no value to a potential viewer. As such, I think it would be useful to at least change the format or provide a template that adds a little more detail and possible value for an audience. Alternatively, I guess all the posts could be hidden away in transactions that the project checks, rather than having them as individual and visible posts on chain.
Anyway...
Since I voiced my lack of understanding about how it worked and displeasure yesterday, I think it only right to follow it up with my current stance after getting more clarity from the founders. So, while I am still unsure about the future success, I am satisfied with the explanations and views so far that Hive isn't being taken advantage of negatively, and there is the potential for positive growth. I am all for adding utility for HBD that puts buying pressure on it to pressure the price of Hive itself, as that benefits everyone on Hive.
I will keep an eye on this project in the future and hope to see it evolve into a roaring success.
Just remember though...
At my age, I am very jaded.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Be part of the Hive discussion.
And you may be rewarded.
