How a total n00b mined $700 in bitcoins

Max Tatton-Brown

Jul 17, 2013

How a total n00b mined $700 in bitcoins:

This article makes Bitcoin mining sound like fun.

Numbers. Lots of numbers everywhere. I stared at it for long seconds, watching the updates crawl upward from the bottom of the screen. Am I actually mining? I wondered. Is money happening? I envisioned my little MacBook Air lighting up like a slot machine if I found an actual block. Would sirens go off? Would money shoot out?

I quickly shared a screenshot with the rest of the Ars team in IRC. “IS THIS GOOD?!” I asked. No one really knew.