What a thrill it was to buy book tokens in the first-ever Book ICO at Publica.com. Thank you Nomadic Matt!

Look closely, I’m buying 10 book tokens. Why?

I bought 10 book tokens for Matt’s book. Why 10? Because I have nieces and nephews, and they have children. They live in many places and travel to many more.

This book is about backpacking through Europe. That’s where Matt is today, finishing up that book. 40 years ago I backpacked through Europe and I bet it’s different now, in so many ways, and I trust Matt to tell us all about it. I’m going to send his book to my nieces and nephews and their children.

Why is that so thrilling? Because there’s no other way to do it other than with the Publica apps on my devices and theirs.

Yes, it’s personal. Books always are. I wrote about my personal passion for the Publica project and what it means to me, my friends and loved ones, in this Medium post.

Now it’s your turn.

You share our passion for the Publica project so go participate in Nomadic Matt’s Book ICO. You are the grassroots Publicans that we talked about in our videos and it’s time to vote with your wallets. This is why you own PBL, isn’t it? The thrill you been waiting for? The message you want to send to Nomadic Matt to thank him for doing this for you?

https://publica.com/nomadicmatt/

Let’s talk a little bit about what it means to be part of a blockchain community. Decentralized means YOU. The blockchain is decentralized the way you wanted it to be, and now it’s your turn to use it the way you wanted to use it.

This Book ICO is nowhere near perfect. How could it be? It’s the first one in history delivering this kind of cryptographically-protected consumer purchase and entertainment experience to your mobile device. But you know what? It shipped, and that’s what matters. It’s real. It’s happening right now. It’s not a future dream, it’s a reality. That’s extremely rare in the blockchain space, and it’s incredibly important.

Sure, participating in the first-ever Book ICO isn’t as simple as most of the e-commerce that you’re used to on the Internet. Of course it’ll be simpler next time. That’s why we’re here, so talk to us. We know what it’s like. But the important thing is that the platform is shipped. Declare victory! It’s your turn to celebrate victory by participating in the Book ICO that made it so.

I don’t care if the user experience is simpler on some other crowdfunding site or online bookstore or anywhere else. Go ahead and try to buy their stuff with your ERC 20 tokens. See where that gets you.

Let me remind you why you learned about the blockchain space in the first place. Maybe it was a YouTube video, or Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin, or Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum, or Gavin Wood’s Solidity language for smart contracts. Maybe you listened to the advice of a wise friend.

For me it started with Satoshi’s white paper but it became a passion when I read inspiring words by Andreas Antonopoulos. So I’ll quote him from his speech in Warsaw on May 12 of this year, talking about blockchains in general.

“D o you want something that is open, neutral, borderless, that no one controls, and that resists censorship?”

I think you do want that. It’s your turn now. Go and join Matt’s book ICO and tell everyone you know about it. Stand with your fellows in the grassroots army that changes the world. It’s an exclusive club and it’s not open to just anyone. Just you and the people who understand what this means to all of us.

Tell Your Story! Matt’s telling his!