"If your software miscalculates the path of a space probe, you can't finesse your way out of trouble by saying that your code is patriotic, or avant-garde, or any of the other dodges people use in nontechnical fields."
Interesting that completely missing from this conversation is:
-- Their website design
-- Their code (Rails? Jquery?)
-- Their hosting / scalability / "cloud" strategy
-- Source control methods, dev environment, tools
-- APIs, "ecosystem", social media, "viral rate" etc.
-- And more...
Basically, all the things that most of us here spend most of our time discussing.
Instead:
1) Idea / Team
2) Execute
3) Talk to people with money
4) Go to #2
My two year old loves too watch movies and look at pictures on the iPad but can't help herself from pushing the Home button. The iPad would be great for car trips with the right case - and the home button is the biggest issue.
Something tells me there is a big market for kid-friendly iPad accessories...
Techmeme, like Google, is a great and valuable resource.
However, the debate is whether or not these aggregators sites should show up in search results instead of the original source.
I use Techmeme all day long, but don't expect it to ever show up in a search result when I am looking for a specific topic. I want to the original site. I can always go to Techmeme directly to get the "value-added" context on my own.
Aggregator sites are great destinations. They shouldn't be in search results (at least, not above the original sites).
The other way to look at it is what if Google HAD NOT bought YouTube. What if it had gone to Microsoft? Or Comcast? Sometimes keeping something away from your competitors is enough of a reason.
It is worth remembering how airlines price tickets:
Pricing is not based on how much it costs the airline to get you to your destination (i.e. distance and fuel). Airlines long ago figured out how to extract the most money for various flights based on where they fit in the big picture of WHY someone is traveling.
This is why a round trip that includes a Saturday stay over is usually cheaper than a round trip leaving on Monday and returning Wednesday. Airlines know the second traveling is most likely a business person and willing to pay more.
I was recently planning two trips. I needed to go to Las Vegas on one trip and to Atlanta on another (both from Virginia). On the same day, the Las Vegas trip was twice as expensive as the round trip to Atlanta and back, EVEN THOUGH, the Las Vegas flight had a layover in Atlanta. Could I have just booked a flight to Las Vegas when I wanted to go to Atlanta and just not gotten on my second flight? I could, but then the airline would cancel my return trip. They would say its because they assume I never made it to my final destination and didn't need my return flights, but really, it is because they want to prevent this sort of thing.
Airline prices are not logical (to us). They are based on extracting the most amount of money from a schedule.
(of course, this doesn't excuse crappy treatment, but, just so we're all clear...)
Google wants more people to use that Internet more often. That's it. The more users (web, mobile, tv, whatever) the more money they make (in the big picture).
If they can help the carriers get more people using smart phones, they are happy. The android vs. iPhone stuff is just the small battle. The war is Internet use vs. Anything else (jogging? Sex? Swimming? And other activities google can't target with ads)
This isn't the movies. There are no "cool moves". If you have never done it before, striking another person is emotionally difficult. Your biggest problems are fear, self-doubt and above all, hesitation. Make each blow count. If you swing, do it with the intention of ending the fight with the one hit. Most likely your first swing will be half-strength as your mind deals with the shock of the situation, your own moral issues, fear etc. Either run away or end the fight as fast as possible.
Ps.. I've never been in a fight. Never been bullied. Don't go to bars and don't drink. So what do I know. But this has always seemed liked the best advice.
My wife always tells me when I'm "programming with my eyes". She says my eyes get this look and she can tell that, even though we are having dinner or a discussion, that in my head I'm looking at code. She's almost always right.
Disclaimer: Everything I know about Hollywood I learned from watching Entourage...
A big difference between breaking in to the script writing world and breaking in to the web app / internet startup world is the amount of effort required to evaluate your work.
A new web app / start up can be evaluated in a few seconds. We do it all day long on this website ("Check out my new project...").
A new script for a movie or show probably takes a few hours to read (excluding Michael Bay movies...). That's a huge commitment to ask of someone. You always see producers / director being asked to "read my script". That's a lot of work.
So, my guess is that all the work to start at the bottom and build relationships is required because the people you need help from (producers / directors etc.) need to like you before they will invest the 3 hours in reading your script. Michael Arrington doesn't need to like you to take 5 seconds to look at your MVP page.
This is why I withdraw all funds from PayPal every weekday morning.
PayPal has been the sole payment solution for my software company for more than 5 years. 99% of all of my money, my families money and my employees salaries goes through PayPal. When I bought my first home (at the end of 2005, oops...) I had to call PayPal to get some financial details for the mortgage company. I spoke with a nice person on the phone from PayPal and they faxed me the documentation I needed write away. Every time a new payment processor comes on the scene I check them out, but none have been able to offer the pricing or features I get via PayPal.
That being said. I have read all the horror stories. So I just assume that any money left in my PayPal account overnight could be potentially lost. No problem, I just withdraw it every morning so my lost potential is always minimal (a few grand).
I don't de recurring subscriptions. I imagine things would be different then. If I did subscriptions I think I would want my own merchant account - you want to own as much of the customer as you can.
User's are terrified that an app will spam their friends.
The users that aren't are pre-teens that don't care or older adults that don't know what spam is.
On one of our apps, we improved FB connnect usage by 50% by adding the disclaimer "This won't post anything to your wall or friends. We promise." under the connect button.
Developers need help reassuring user's that an app is not evil. The current FB dialogs are sterile and ambiguous and don't help.
I realize this might not be winnable because (1) many apps are trying to spam and (2) Ultimately, Facebook wishes users would share as much as possible.
Who wiped your butt when you crapped your pants? Who taught you to ride a bike and held you when you skinned your knees? Who bought you your first computer and fed you and drove you to school and held you when you were scared and comforted you when you were sad and cheered for you when you won?
Help your mom out with her website.
It's the least you could do.
- - -
(Sorry. First time posting - my wife is 9 months pregnant and this got me fired up...)