While I agree with most of this I think it's somewhat too strict. For many people their twenties is the only time they will have time, money and vigour. If you get the chance you should take advantage of that.
I don't know if there is any shared host cheaper than that (I suppose there are but I'm too lazy to check right now), but sometimes the appeal in using a shared host is in some of their features which you don't get in a VPS (e.g.: cpanel).
History shows us that you can't compete by being a lesser version of something else. There's nothing wrong with trying to make the application more attractive, but at the same time trying to shoehorn in features rather than doing things where you have an advantage is less likely to be meaningful.
A feature like this doesn't really matter in the context of competing with mainstream messaging services because their value is to a large extent in things like brand and network effect. The notion that you're just one feature away from mainstream adaptation is often a misconception. In reality there's limited potential in living in the shadow of something else.
I absolutely agree. Instagram/Facebook/Soundcloud have lost my interest as they've added extra features which just clutter the UI and distract from the purpose you were using the site in the first place.
If your original product isn't working. Maybe try being a different company.
It would be more interesting if people could reply why they disagree. I'm not the first one to come to this conclusion, hemlis is a public example. You simply can't compete with large companies several years after the fact without differentiating.
I personally don't think the sentiment of "8 Christmases", as presented in the essay, is that helpful. The solution to scarcity isn't to rely on a few moments, nor necessarily to "prune bullshit", it's to create more good moments. Maybe there is only 8 Christmases, but there's 416 Sunday dinners and countless other Holidays. Christmas is only that special because that's the holiday that Americans still (somewhat) universally celebrate.
Sort of expected a better interview when I heard "The National Press Club". This is mostly "What do you think about x? I think this and that" read from notes.
Unfortunately, the National Press Club is now merely a venue. It can be booked for events like any hotel or conference center. Though the club itself still has its own programming, part of the value for an outside party is that it can borrow on the cachet of the name.
"Tech", as the article uses it, tend to be less Donald Knuth and more Woody Allen in the sense that "80 percent of life is showing up". The "best of the best" is mostly busy being the best. Cities usually fail to attract talent because there aren't enough substance to their claims and they therefor can't get people to show up.
Yeah, while I can appreciate the question (curiosity is a good things) I don't think anyone with experience of software should be surprised. When you consider things like passwords, credit cards, wifi login and e-mail addresses the question is really why aren't more things like sim cards. (which is kind of what Apple is trying to do these days?)
The Yubikey Neo and similar gadgets are pretty much the same thing as USB smart cards. The software could be improved but in the end it is a pretty convenient way to achieve two factor authentication.
Good grief, that's nothing. I've seen security review questionnaires for enterprise SaaS contracts that were longer than that. If George Hotz or one of his employees really couldn't produce a response like the one Honda gave, there's no way anyone should trust his product. I'm glad he canceled. I don't want his crap on the road anywhere near me.
If I were one of his investors I'd be pissed right now.
Yes, should have clarified, obviously hardware wasn't built for free. Regarding the sweepiness of my statement: I feel like digital freedom would be in a much, much deeper hole if it weren't for the loads of FOSS software running our servers. Sure, there are proprietary solutions, sure some dev time gets paid, but a lot of work is being and has been done only, afaict, to make the world a better place.
