servs · HackerTrans

8 years agodiscuss

I am not surprised. I have been following copyright and "digital" law for about two decades. Most people just haven't changed their minds on copyright, wiretaps or many other things. If you want to convince people it has to be better than "it ruins the Internet". Because a lot of people don't even like the Internet that much. They already see it as run by large companies, trash social media and various malicious things that may affect their kids or get them scammed. A lot of people that are "pro" Internet just haven't given it much thought, they are mainly accepting their own chosen status quo. And that is getting worse every year. All these things we are talking about like remixing, encryption and social media have been studied and talked about in the past. Unfortunately few people care about a solution, they are happy if they read Reddit, watch some porn and "fight" by clicking some links every couple of years. I guess that sound cynical, but if one side is saying what is in-line with the rest of society and the other doesn't really have a story then it is going to be what it is.

servs

8 years agodiscuss

Now this is just getting silly.

> You seem to think that technology equals "venture capital that shows up in the tech news".

The companies I mentioned all have had great real success. They have hired thousands and thousands of people and ended up selling for billions. This "drone valley" is exactly the "venture capital in the news" that you are talking about.

> you don't seem to know much about Switzerland as well.

Why wouldn't I know about Switzerland? We have already established that Switzerland has a great reputation and good conditions. Sweden and Switzerland have a lot of industries in common. Like pharmaceuticals, construction, chemicals and automation. The Google office is well know as is banking, watches and other large brands. ABB is even Swiss-Swedish and of course Kamprad used to live there. And yes, I have been to Switzerland. At least a half a dozen time over two decades and more counting stopovers in Zürich mainly going back from Hong Kong.

This just doesn't have much to do with the topic at hand. Many places have great technology, but fail to break into new areas. Which is what I have been saying that Sweden is probably worse on papper yet far more successful in this regard.

> Or why Switzerland is one of the world leaders in research?

Because of good schools, high salaries and dedicated people. Which is perfect for people who want to have a good career. Not necessarily for starting successful companies in new industries. If you haven't noticed it is rarely "the best" people who start startups. They have too much to loose. It is the restless, the dropouts, the migrants etc. If you read my previous comments you can see that I am pretty bearish about Sweden's future for startups as well.

My question is simple and I have asked it repeatedly i.e. what indicates that this "drone valley" will go anywhere? Don't blame me if you can't come up with an answer.

servs

8 years agodiscuss

> Much of YouTube content is (perfectly legal) remixes, responses, or criticisms of other YouTube content that embeds part of the referenced video in their own video.

That actually isn't legal in many countries and is e.g. why regional wikipedia sites don't show movie posters.

servs

8 years agodiscuss

As I said a cluster is powerful when it produces these effects. Otherwise it is just a bunch of companies with nice titles waiting to go work in banking. Countries like Sweden have consistantly shown that their clusters are powerful by producing these effects. Switzerland hasn't so why should we assume that this "drone cluster" is powerful and not just another empty claim?

servs

8 years agodiscuss

You are saying that it is special because of the clustering, so I am wondering what indicates that? If you look at Sweden or Israel it is fairly obvious that they are successful in at least half a dozen areas. You can trace the path from one area or company to the next.

In Sweden Markus Persson who made Minecraft used to work at King. Jacob de Geer of iZettle was the first employee at TradeDoubler, which was founded by Martin Lorentzon who would later be a founder of Spotify. Daniel Ek of Spotify used to work at another gaming company and of course the music industry is large in general. Zennström who started Skype used to work at Tele2, a telecom operator. Klarna was started with help from people from Bluetail, which used Erlang in turn made by Ericsson. Etc. Etc. (This is just off the top of my head and all these companies had large exits or were already established).

That is what a successful cluster is and what makes them hard to replicate. Without this dynamic it is just a bunch of companies next to each other. So why doesn't Switzerland seem to have that?

servs

8 years agodiscuss

I wouldn't say so. SV has always had quite specific points that, for a lot of people, made it more appealing than the alternatives. There are a number of technology "interested" areas in the US including Dallas, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, New York and a lot more "lesser" ones that aren't SV.

servs

8 years agodiscuss

Despite Switzerland's reputation, and even arguably better conditions, relatively similar countries like Israel and Sweden have been running laps around Switzerland in the last 20 years when it comes to startups (possibly excluding pharmaceuticals). It might be, but I don't see why it would be different this time.

servs

8 years agodiscuss

In Sweden you don't really have a plan. Everyone is covered regardless including basic sick pay. You can have zero income, pay zero taxes and file zero forms and still be covered like everyone else. The maximum co-pay per year including everything (treatment, hospital, rehab, equipment, medication etc.) is $300 per year. Some other European systems are more like "US light" where you have to qualify and choose. Some employers in Sweden will cover private treatment, vaccinations and more extensive sick pay (you already get 80% of x1.5 of median income if you are employed). But it isn't really required.

servs

8 years agodiscuss

People always tend to complain about things like groupthink. Doesn't mean it isn't real, just rarely a concrete problem. Sweden has a ton "first world problems" like status, fear of missing out, vanity etc. Still absolutely nothing compared to social pressure in most of the world. As you probably know things like engineering go back hundreds of years. Tons of successful Swedish inventors, artists, actors, athletes etc.

The American Dream is alive in Sweden. The prime minister is a foster child and welder by trade. Daniel Ek and Markus Persson both grew up under less than ideal conditions and are now billionaires. And if one thinks Sweden is too small most people have the tools to move, like Fredrik Eklund.

That said, it isn't like 10-15 years ago when it seemed like Sweden was spared from many of the worlds problems. Housing inequality, dysfunctional politics, call for easy jobs, lesser standards, less access to social safety net etc. All large but common problems that make "the deal" a lot less appealing. Tons of people moving to UK, Berlin or Norway for work or just trying to have a decent life.

I do think it is a bit of a bubble. To many cocktail parties, consulting companies and incubators, not enough substance. It isn't really clear whether there will actually be a lot of new extraordinaire companies. I think most people are more concerned about their mortgage.

Because if there is anything I would attribute to recent Sweden's success in technology it just that in end of '90s, early '00s Sweden was a really good deal. A decent apartment, good employment and good infrastructure was all available. A lot of people in technology didn't even bother with university. But nothing was "glamorous". So if you wanted to do something you had to do it yourself.

Today everyone is looking for the guarantee. Going to school for 5-6 years, huge mortgage for the rest of their life and chasing money in consulting. I get it, just unlikely to produce anything different.