Earlier quoted context omitted.
The DOJ's conditions also seem to tie their hands a bit as far as what changes they can make with ITA's software, I realize.
Do you have a link? This seems interesting.
Google acquires ITA Software
61–70 of 81 posts
Re: Google acquires ITA Software
#62I wonder if the Common Lisp codebase will survive the acquisition?
I, for one, hope Google App Engine starts supporting it ;-)
Re: Google acquires ITA Software
#63Does anyone know what makes ITA so special? Why don't any of the big airlines have APIs that Hipmunk, Kayak, Orbitz, etc. can use directly? (Do any of them?) Seems odd that everyone should have to rely on this one company for the data, when it should be originating from the airlines.
ITA is special not because of the data but because of what it does with the data. The others haven't been able to reproduce that. Think of it as the Google of airline data.
> Think of it as the Google of airline data.
And now they will be the Google of the Google of airline data.
Re: Google acquires ITA Software
#64So, I have an interesting perspective to share. I'm graduating and might end up working for Kayak. I know at least part of their infrastructure depends on ITA, and while the existing contract goes until 2013 (I think), Google is obviously looking to compete. Kayak also recently filed for IPO. It's not like Google has never failed at any of its ventures, but to me it seems like it might be a tough competitor to everyo…
I wouldn't discount a company because they're competing with Google. There are a lot of companies that have competed with Google and have successfully out-competed them (likewise, there are a lot of companies that Google has acquired after failing to out-compete). You should look at Kayak on its own merits -- if the folks there are giving you a good offer, and you think the company has a good chance, then go for it.
Re: Google acquires ITA Software
#65By the way, Paul Graham was an early fan of ITA software, mentioning them in "Great Hackers" http://paulgraham.com/gh.html And even has an interview with ITA's original programming genius, Carl de Marken http://paulgraham.com/carl.html
I discovered those essays back in 2006 when I was working for an airline, and tried to get them to adapt ITA's technology for that reason. ITA was the best on the market at that time, and the e/web-marketing guys loved them too. But the bean counters deemed them too expensive and ruled them out. I left sometime after, was tired of trying to turn chicken shit into chicken salad (there were other issues involved, not just the data supply).
Re: Google acquires ITA Software
#66How much??
That's all that matters, that's all I care
Re: Google acquires ITA Software
#67How cool would it be if you could type "flights to somewhere sunny for under $500 in May" How cool would it be to receive suggestions for flights in May with clusters in my social graph as destinations?
Right because before I had to keep random acquaintances as friends and read their updates in order not to hurt their feelings, now I have to fly to random places in order not to hurt peoples feelings. Can't wait.
I don't think that's a problem for everyone (I aim for linkedin/facebook separation for these reasons)... Nevertheless, you could filter by the "hide this post from" list, weights of friendship (amount of likes, views, etc.) and other statistics... Of course, this is only viable if you have friends/family all around the place, not just in your locality (definitely not for everyone).
Still, seems like a nice advertising focus trick.
Re: Google acquires ITA Software
#68So, I have an interesting perspective to share. I'm graduating and might end up working for Kayak. I know at least part of their infrastructure depends on ITA, and while the existing contract goes until 2013 (I think), Google is obviously looking to compete. Kayak also recently filed for IPO. It's not like Google has never failed at any of its ventures, but to me it seems like it might be a tough competitor to everyo…
>while the existing contract goes until 2013
I believe the consent decree was reported to say that ITA has to renew existing contracts until at least 2016. So that's 5 years before Kayak might, theoretically, lose access to QPX. Don't worry about it; 5 years of a good job is a good run.
Re: Google acquires ITA Software
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right because before I had to keep random acquaintances as friends and read their updates in order not to hurt their feelings, now I have to fly to random places in order not to hurt peoples feelings. Can't wait.
I had a business acquaintance get her feelings hurt because I didn't follow her back when she followed me on Twitter. I looked at her feed and she literally had tweeted about her breakfast that morning. I quit Twitter instead so that I wouldn't have to hurt anyone's feelings anymore.
What about just not caring whether you hurt someone's trivial feelings? That is becoming an important feeling in this ever-connected world.
Re: Google acquires ITA Software
#70So, I have an interesting perspective to share. I'm graduating and might end up working for Kayak. I know at least part of their infrastructure depends on ITA, and while the existing contract goes until 2013 (I think), Google is obviously looking to compete. Kayak also recently filed for IPO. It's not like Google has never failed at any of its ventures, but to me it seems like it might be a tough competitor to everyo…
2-5 years is a long time for Kayak to make alternate plans.