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Monsanto chooses Cloudant to power its genome analytics

blog.cloudant.com

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Re: Monsanto chooses Cloudant to power its genome analytics

#11

Post by georgemcbay »

As much as I'm hesistant to pile on to the general theme of any thread, this announcement colors my impression of Cloudant very negatively.

There are about a dozen companies that I find so vile that anyone doing active business with them is marred by association, Monsanto is one of them.

Re: Monsanto chooses Cloudant to power its genome analytics

#12

Post by drivebyacct2 »

Heh. I didn't know what to expect when I came here, but frankly I was a bit surprised to see the ethical implications of this deal weighed so heavily here. Not that I view the HN community as cut throat necessarily, but certainly often business oriented. Granted this was only posted an hour ago, but I will try to less judgementally provoke a discussion regarding ethics and startups...

Is it wrong to even associate with a company like Monsanto? What if they're providing some tangential support infrastructure that doesn't relate to the actual business practices that people are so ethically opposed to?

Re: Monsanto chooses Cloudant to power its genome analytics

#13

Post by [deleted] »

achompas wrote: post #3

Congratulations to Cloudant for signing a big deal. Why work with a company as...ethically ambiguous as Monsanto? I would love to hear how your team decided to accept this deal, and I hope more than dollar signs crossed your minds. Personally, I would start a startup (if I ever have the guts) for freedom. How could dealing with Monsanto differ from wearing golden handcuffs?

[deleted]

Re: Monsanto chooses Cloudant to power its genome analytics

#14

Post by temphn »

achompas wrote: post #3

Congratulations to Cloudant for signing a big deal. Why work with a company as...ethically ambiguous as Monsanto? I would love to hear how your team decided to accept this deal, and I hope more than dollar signs crossed your minds. Personally, I would start a startup (if I ever have the guts) for freedom. How could dealing with Monsanto differ from wearing golden handcuffs?

Monsanto has received terribly negative press, this is true. Part of that negative press is due to public dislike of GMO foods in Europe. Part of that is due to their DRM-like technology that stops farmers from replanting seeds after one generation.

If you invented a new kind of seed which was significantly more productive but cost billions in R&D to develop, what business model would you use instead?

Put in other words, is the objection to agricultural biotechnology in general (like the Green Revolution) or to Monsanto's specific implementation, and if so what are the top flaws in their approach in your view?

Re: Monsanto chooses Cloudant to power its genome analytics

#15

Post by dionidium »

I'll offer the first unqualified congratulations. I don't think it's at all obvious that Monsanto is a perpetrator of "devastating evil" (as one of the comments says below) and I'd love it if one or more of the critics would do more than merely state that as fact.

Re: Monsanto chooses Cloudant to power its genome analytics

#18

Post by carbocation »

temphn wrote: post #14
achompas wrote: post #3

Congratulations to Cloudant for signing a big deal. Why work with a company as...ethically ambiguous as Monsanto? I would love to hear how your team decided to accept this deal, and I hope more than dollar signs crossed your minds. Personally, I would start a startup (if I ever have the guts) for freedom. How could dealing with Monsanto differ from wearing golden handcuffs?

Monsanto has received terribly negative press, this is true. Part of that negative press is due to public dislike of GMO foods in Europe. Part of that is due to their DRM-like technology that stops farmers from replanting seeds after one generation. If you invented a new kind of seed which was significantly more productive but cost billions in R&D to develop, what business model would you use instead? Put in other wo…

No, those aren't really the major problems that people have with Monsanto. We should start by discussing their lawsuits against farmers because Monsanto grain blew onto their fields and move up from there.
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