user1754: I am brand new to Bitcoin. I am retired investor. 
What benefit would using Bitcoin have over, say, using a credit card, etc.? It appears that Bitcoin is primarily designed for businesses, buying, selling, and using Bitcoin as the exchange medium.   
I saw a chart which showed the Bitcoin/USD value at approximately $32 and then dropped to $2 and now is back around $15 as of August 18, 2012.

user153: As a consumer, the choice of payment method comes down to a tradeoff between convenience and cost.  When a merchant offers credit card payment or cash, oftentimes customers will choose credit card or debit card because it is convenient and costs no more than when paying with cash.  The credit card issuer may even be offering a perk to provide incentive to pay using a credit card.
But that is really a subsidy as there are costs to the merchant when payment are made using credit card.  There are tens of billions of dollars that go to payment card networks each year.  Merchants don't actually pay this, they simply add the cost to their prices.
Some merchants either refuse to offer credit card payments, or they offer two sets of prices.  You'll see this at gas stations, where payment for fuel pumped at the lower price must be given in cash, whereas the higher price is charged when payment is credit card.
The reason this "cash discount" isn't seen more often is because credit card companies had built into their agreements a "no surcharge" restriction.  Thus you couldn't add the fee after the sale depending on which payment method was used.  In the U.S., the card companies were just forced to abandon that part of their merchant agreement.  So you may start seeing surcharges when you use a credit card (in states where that isn't prohibited).  This will likely push many towards paying with cash.
But cash is not always convenient nor cheap.  ATM fees can cost 5% to 10% for the smaller withdrawal amounts for many accountholders.  Merchants have losses due to employee error, theft and management of the cash.  An electronic alternative would be welcomed by both consumers and merchants, if the fees would be less.
So if your merchant accepts only cash or bitcoin, or csah, bitcoin at one price and credit card at another higher price, you won't be asking what benefit bitcoin has but instead you'll be appreciating how it is saving you money at every purchase.
Merchants also like bitcoin for additional reason.  There are no chargebacks, so if you as a customer are due a refund, the merchant would need to issue it -- versus today's fraud-laden method where the consumer initiates the chargeback, whether it was founded or not.
There are many other advantages to Bitcoin, included here:

http://bitcoinmedia.com/bulleted-advantages


user3441: My list of advantages for Bitcoin over credit cards (and money transfers) are:

instant free registration, no id checks
(for merchants, their customers, "banks", or any type of user)
increased anonymity and control over privacy
no self-regulation1, no limits
no authority exists to report to tax and other authorities
greater security
lower transaction fees
available 24/7 on demand
irreversible transactions
global acceptance
e-wallet ownership card can be duplicated and backed up unlimited times

I think #1 - 4 are the most significant advantages. I elaborated on some of the reasons in comments below some of the other answers on this page. #5 would also be but the P2P systems are not theoretically secure against deep-pocketed attackers (e.g. a ruthless government perhaps China or other soon-to-be totalitarian state).
Disclaimer: I am not advocating tax avoidance, nor giving any tax nor financial advice. I am merely stating significant differences with which some people might think are advantages.
1 The P2P systems don't impose any regulations nor restraints on transactions. FinCEN's guidance (FIN-2013-G001) is that creating and using decentralized currencies for purchasing goods and services are not regulated as money transmitters, but selling the currencies is.

user208: I don't consider these to be competitors.
Credit cards are a convenient way of doing payment processing on top of fiat currency. Bitcoin is a digital currency on itself.
Sure, Bitcoin today can function as a very rudimentary way of doing payments (just like cash-via-mail can be), but it's not particularly good at it - all it provides is storing and transferring value. What I hope is that in the future it will become a platform upon which payment processors can build. Since the currency is already inherently digital, building a payment platform on top of it should be significantly easier. Furthermore, since it is decentralized, everyone has the ability to become their own payment processor (or bank...).

1754: <p>I am brand new to Bitcoin. I am retired investor. </p>

<p>What benefit would using Bitcoin have over, say, using a credit card, etc.? It appears that Bitcoin is primarily designed for businesses, buying, selling, and using Bitcoin as the exchange medium.   </p>

<p>I saw a chart which showed the Bitcoin/USD value at approximately $32 and then dropped to $2 and now is back around $15 as of August 18, 2012.</p>
 153: <p>As a consumer, the choice of payment method comes down to a tradeoff between convenience and cost.  When a merchant offers credit card payment or cash, oftentimes customers will choose credit card or debit card because it is convenient and costs no more than when paying with cash.  The credit card issuer may even be offering a perk to provide incentive to pay using a credit card.</p>

<p>But that is really a subsidy as there are costs to the merchant when payment are made using credit card.  There are tens of billions of dollars that go to payment card networks each year.  Merchants don't actually pay this, they simply add the cost to their prices.</p>

<p>Some merchants either refuse to offer credit card payments, or they offer two sets of prices.  You'll see this at gas stations, where payment for fuel pumped at the lower price must be given in cash, whereas the higher price is charged when payment is credit card.</p>

<p>The reason this "cash discount" isn't seen more often is because credit card companies had built into their agreements a "no surcharge" restriction.  Thus you couldn't add the fee after the sale depending on which payment method was used.  In the U.S., the card companies were just forced to abandon that part of their merchant agreement.  So you may start seeing surcharges when you use a credit card (in states where that isn't prohibited).  This will likely push many towards paying with cash.</p>

<p>But cash is not always convenient nor cheap.  ATM fees can cost 5% to 10% for the smaller withdrawal amounts for many accountholders.  Merchants have losses due to employee error, theft and management of the cash.  An electronic alternative would be welcomed by both consumers and merchants, if the fees would be less.</p>

<p>So if your merchant accepts only cash or bitcoin, or csah, bitcoin at one price and credit card at another higher price, you won't be asking what benefit bitcoin has but instead you'll be appreciating how it is saving you money at every purchase.</p>

<p>Merchants also like bitcoin for additional reason.  There are no chargebacks, so if you as a customer are due a refund, the merchant would need to issue it -- versus today's fraud-laden method where the consumer initiates the chargeback, whether it was founded or not.</p>

<p>There are many other advantages to Bitcoin, included here:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://bitcoinmedia.com/bulleted-advantages" rel="nofollow">http://bitcoinmedia.com/bulleted-advantages</a></li>
</ul>
 3441: <p>My list of advantages for Bitcoin over credit cards (and money transfers) are:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>instant free registration, no id checks</p>

<p>(for merchants, their customers, "banks", or any type of user)</p></li>
<li>increased anonymity and control over privacy</li>
<li>no self-regulation<a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/3111/will-bitcoin-suffer-from-a-mining-tragedy-of-the-commons-when-mining-fees-drop-t/8546#8546">1</a>, no limits</li>
<li>no authority exists to report to tax and other authorities</li>
<li>greater security</li>
<li>lower transaction fees</li>
<li>available 24/7 on demand</li>
<li>irreversible transactions</li>
<li>global acceptance</li>
<li>e-wallet ownership card can be duplicated and backed up unlimited times</li>
</ol>

<p>I think #1 - 4 are the most significant advantages. I elaborated on some of the reasons in comments below some of the other answers on this page. #5 would also be but the P2P systems are <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/3111/will-bitcoin-suffer-from-a-mining-tragedy-of-the-commons-when-mining-fees-drop-t/8546#8546">not theoretically secure against deep-pocketed attackers</a> (e.g. a ruthless government perhaps China or other soon-to-be totalitarian state).</p>

<p>Disclaimer: I am not advocating tax avoidance, nor giving any tax nor financial advice. I am merely stating significant differences with which some people might think are advantages.</p>

<p><a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/3111/will-bitcoin-suffer-from-a-mining-tragedy-of-the-commons-when-mining-fees-drop-t/8546#8546">1</a> The P2P systems don't impose any regulations nor restraints on transactions. FinCEN's guidance (FIN-2013-G001) is that creating and using decentralized currencies for <em>purchasing</em> goods and services are not regulated as money transmitters, but <em>selling</em> the currencies is.</p>
 208: <p>I don't consider these to be competitors.</p>

<p>Credit cards are a convenient way of doing payment processing on top of fiat currency. Bitcoin is a digital currency on itself.</p>

<p>Sure, Bitcoin today can function as a very rudimentary way of doing payments (just like cash-via-mail can be), but it's not particularly good at it - all it provides is storing and transferring value. What I hope is that in the future it will become a platform upon which payment processors can build. Since the currency is already inherently digital, building a payment platform on top of it should be significantly easier. Furthermore, since it is decentralized, everyone has the ability to become their own payment processor (or bank...).</p>
