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Just Landed

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Re: Just Landed

#31

Post by incision »

frisco wrote: post #15

This is the quintessential first world problem. Out of the range of problems facing society that you could solve, of all the ways you could create value by making peoples' lives better, you settled on "making airport pickup easy". Now, this is probably a completely rational move from the company's perspective. Silicon Valley over the last few years has been backstopped by acquihires and other such soft landings, and…

>I really think it's just an exposure issue -- people are used to web, and fields like the life sciences or hardware seem mysterious and complex. How do those become opened up?

I think that's a really interesting question, but the way the rest of the post is/was written is going to work against it being considered.

I expect you'd have been better off writing something up on the idea in its own context and submitting it on its own.

Off the top of my head, I think we're already seeing hardware being "opened up" through things like Arduino, 3D printing and the ease of making global connections on sites like Alibaba. I can't really speak to life science, but I'm generally inclined to think that more (any?) exposure in primary education would help.

Re: Just Landed

#32

Post by bherms »

frisco wrote: post #15

This is the quintessential first world problem. Out of the range of problems facing society that you could solve, of all the ways you could create value by making peoples' lives better, you settled on "making airport pickup easy". Now, this is probably a completely rational move from the company's perspective. Silicon Valley over the last few years has been backstopped by acquihires and other such soft landings, and…

One time I was really annoyed at how the door to my house creaked when it was opening and closing. It was so loud sometimes that other people would comment on it. I spent nearly half a day oiling the hinges, eventually removing them altogether, and then installing new ones. The world is worse off for me having wasted my precious time when I could have spent that half day learning about biology and chemistry and subsequently pursuing a cure for cancer.

Re: Just Landed

#33

Post by solistice »

devindotcom wrote: post #28
nawitus wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the other commenter pointed out, three people doing a startup like this can easily provide 10-100x times more value to society when compared to them just being regular employees at a random large corporation. Easier problems are solved first, and that's fine. There's less risk and so more growth per money invested. Not everything should be invested into super-high risk technology or something. Besides, this compan…

I don't think the reason is unknown. You already stated the reason: it's an easy problem. Not just an easy one to solve, but an easy one to ignore because it's not just an easy problem, it's a small problem. It causes very little trouble, there is little loss of productivity, there is little to gain by solving it. It hasn't been fixed the way a ding on your car's door doesn't get fixed. That doesn't mean it can't be…

Honestly, better waste some time on doing mundane practice, maybe earning some money along the way, than to fail big, ambitious, and spectacularily, with an idea that was brilliant but wasn't pulled off properly due to lack of experience.I see how this is a small easy problem, but hell, it's practice, and if it works, it's funds for the next big thing that comes into their minds.

Re: Just Landed

#34

Post by ry0ohki »

frisco wrote: post #15

This is the quintessential first world problem. Out of the range of problems facing society that you could solve, of all the ways you could create value by making peoples' lives better, you settled on "making airport pickup easy". Now, this is probably a completely rational move from the company's perspective. Silicon Valley over the last few years has been backstopped by acquihires and other such soft landings, and…

I jumped to a similar assumption, but it's not clear this app is their startup. They seem to have a company "Little Details", so this is likely just a pet project they enjoy working on together. If we see them raising millions of dollars for this app, then this rant can stand.

Re: Just Landed

#35

Post by wambotron »

bherms wrote: post #32
frisco wrote: post #15

This is the quintessential first world problem. Out of the range of problems facing society that you could solve, of all the ways you could create value by making peoples' lives better, you settled on "making airport pickup easy". Now, this is probably a completely rational move from the company's perspective. Silicon Valley over the last few years has been backstopped by acquihires and other such soft landings, and…

One time I was really annoyed at how the door to my house creaked when it was opening and closing. It was so loud sometimes that other people would comment on it. I spent nearly half a day oiling the hinges, eventually removing them altogether, and then installing new ones. The world is worse off for me having wasted my precious time when I could have spent that half day learning about biology and chemistry and subse…

I'm now wasting my time commenting on your comment on a comment about wasting time.

This generation is heartless!

Re: Just Landed

#36

Post by tempaccount9473 »

How unfortunate, another "app" that would be more useful implemented as a web page and text messaging service.

I realize web pages have discovery problems, but so do apps at this point. But if the goal is an aquihire, I guess they can get bigger bonuses as an app development team rather than a web development team.

Re: Just Landed

#37

Post by johnrob »

Feature idea: let the passenger schedule a text message to the pickup person when it's time to leave. The same logic that powers the app could also send an appropriately timed message.

Re: Just Landed

#39

Post by ChrisClark »

enraged_camel wrote: post #12
vowelless wrote: post #7

Isn't it a little short sighted to not have an android app? I get linked to the iTunes store on my phone. I also can't find it in the Play store.

It's quite a bit more difficult to develop apps for Android, since the ecosystem is so fragmented and there are many different device types to take into account. It makes a lot of sense to develop an iOS app and push it out as soon as possible so that you can start getting feedback from real users. Version 2.0 can include an Android version.

Quite a bit more difficult? Not at all. Maybe if you build your app like the iOS version. If you follow the guidelines and actually understand how the GUI works on Android, you only have to build it once and it works everywhere.

Re: Just Landed

#40

Post by ebiester »

frisco wrote: post #15

This is the quintessential first world problem. Out of the range of problems facing society that you could solve, of all the ways you could create value by making peoples' lives better, you settled on "making airport pickup easy". Now, this is probably a completely rational move from the company's perspective. Silicon Valley over the last few years has been backstopped by acquihires and other such soft landings, and…

Frankly, I find this "first world problem" kind of attitude insulting to the developing world. You want to know who is solving developing world problems every day? The citizens of those countries. I spent most of last year in Turkey, which is rapidly developing. The problems I saw that they faced were largely the same ones I'm facing in the valley. (Frankly, I think Istanbul is more hospitable toward the destitute than San Francisco!)

As to why most software developers aren't working on harder problems, however, is that harder problems usually require more up-front investment and require the investor to take more risk. Without a previous record of success, it is difficult to get that trust.

SpaceX and Tesla don't happen by someone without a track record. Be a little easier on those who are trying to establish one. :)

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