QUESTION
According to the Wikipedia article on Bitcoin:
The initial bitcoin distribution is advantageous towards early-adopters. [...] However, the amount of work that must be done for one bitcoin is currently over 500,000 times more than the amount of work at which the first bitcoins were being distributed. As more people join, and also because of a reward function that halves the number of rewarded bitcoins every so many blocks, it becomes harder to generate bitcoins over time, using the same computing power.
So how is this fair? Why should someone get money just for hearing about Bitcoin before I did?
ANSWER
It's a complete irrelevancy. It is still early, and Bitcoins are worth on the order of $3 each. If you want to be an early adopter, buy Bitcoins now.
If Bitcoins never become really valuable, what difference does it make whether it's fair or not? The sums involved will be modest.
If Bitcoins ever do become really valuable, what difference does it make whether it's fair or not? You can buy Bitcoins now for a pittance and get the same benefits as the early adopters.
This is just petty jealousy. It's no different from the folks who missed out on Google stock or Apple stock when it was cheap. It's not just about hearing about Bitcoins first, it's about investing first, and taking the risk of loss. That's how everything works. Maybe it's not fair, but that's how it is.
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