2,308 karma · joined March 7, 2012
95% of the visitors (startups, entrepreneurs, investors, executives) had iPhones. We later confirmed this by looking at the network stats and couldn't believe it. In a country where Android statistically has 80% marketshare. The Android users loved the product, but we failed because we couldn't generate word-of-mouth.
For the target audience of the Pixel, this is an uphill battle.
In his speech Snow suggested that western societies typically had ruling classes composed principally of humanities graduates who were effectively ill-equipped to appreciate what science had to offer. Snow identified three key menaces arising from the existence of nuclear weapons, over-population, and the gap between rich and poor nations as pressing instances of where "literary intellectuals" who in Snow's view were "natural luddites" failed to see that solutions might come from "natural scientists" who, again in Snow's view, held "the future in their bones"
(TIL they are two different companies, where I always thought it's a brilliant marketing idea)
Now... what is a good way for a new user to do this without overload? I haven't found a good way to explain this without using Tweetdeck and even then it often feels like a terminal command gone loose.
This article has some information on the new characteristics:
- Although considered to be an iterative upgrade from the Falcon 9 v1.1 that preceded it, the modifications to the Full Thrust version have increased the vehicle’s published liftoff capabilities by as much as 30 percent.
- A key component of this performance increase is the use of “densified” propellant. By chilling the liquid oxygen to minus 340 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 207 degrees Celsius) and the RP-1, a highly-refined form of kerosene used as rocket fuel, to 20 degrees Fahrenheit ( minus 7 degrees Celsius), SpaceX has demonstrated the capability to store more oxidizer and fuel in a given volume, as well as increase the flow of propellant through the turbopumps on the first stage’s nine Merlin 1D powerplants and on the upper stage’s lone MVac.
But the masterpieces of music demand something altogether different. Beethoven's break with consistency by switching keys in the adagio of the 5th piano concerto. Wagner introducing the Tristan chord, Berg using C-major only as a joke in Lulu, when the word money is mentioned.
Add to that ingenuity the personal drama behind music. Bach's crisis of faith leading to 'What God does is well done' to Mahler losing so many of his children that he composed the Kindertotenlieder ("Songs on the Death of Children") to the origins of a simple pop song such as 'Tears in heaven' that moves people tremendously... Music is shaped by our biological life cycle, not by that of a computer program.
I do know that there were restaurants in Nuuk and Ilulissat selling whale meat on the menu. I guess mostly to Japanese customers, if you know the popularity of restaurants in Osaka or Tokyo selling whale meat. That is of course against the conditions of Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling.
Anyway, when in Greenland it is politically correct to eat seal and whale, once you find out how they are hunted and how the population cherishes the animals.
The coolest thing about Greenland was that the museums had no tools for warfare. Conflicts between people in Greenland were carried out by people playing drums and 'rapping' their cause in a song duel. If you had the laughs and opinions on your side, the person who 'lost' received sled dogs and food and was let go. I wish this could be used for all conflicts around the world.
We read a lot recently about the achievements of Andy Grove and Bill Campbell (both champions of Ben), but the key is that every one of us can mentor and help anyone else. The key is listening and empathizing, taking time and accepting. You don't need to operate a VC fund to do it, you just can be a nice human being who listens, understands and feels.
- 'Pioneers' - hackers that pave the way, create amazing prototypes and whose code you can't use in production
- 'Architects' - who see the work of pioneers and see the bigger picture and build the structure that is needed
- 'dogmatists' - who see beauty in the art and educate their peers and don't create much code, and act as cult(ural) leaders
- 'Workers' - who implement, work 9 to 5 and go home and implement solidly and don't need passion, but have lots of discipline.
The last group is really important and is rarely talked about.
I had a Vodafone R&D team working with the Sony 3D AR glasses (aka 'Tom Hanks CES glasses'). We loved the tech and had a great playground, but couldn't get to the creation of one app that solved a clear painpoint.
We ended up with glorious tech demos, but they were all suited for a short-lived themepark attraction but not for ongoing use.
Anyway, I am excitedly waiting for someone who can do better than us.
Today's kids are oversaturated with distractions and their lives are fully planned around activities. So they live according to templates, but not according to their own motivators.
Then again, having a child myself (10 months old) I have noticed many parents have so many activities and things planned themselves that they distract their children (read consume content on iPads) in order to pacify them. It's a circle.