"Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds" • Hacker News Board

Re: "Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds"

#21

Post by eksith » Tue, Jul 30, 2013, 11:31 AM UTC

There's one hiccup in this line of thought: You can't always predict how the flashy toy tech will turn out to be a benefit later on.

Case in point, Kinect. It should have been just a play accessory, but it's being used to help people with disabilities, like the wi-Go : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-17jRfX9Sw

And also aiding surgeons during operations as well as helping disabled children interact with their environment with more subtle gestures. http://kotaku.com/5950834/in-japan-the-kinect-may-soon-be-mo...

Just like cosmetics and other "vanity medicine" used in the West can have life-saving applications elsewhere, for now, we get Angry Birds. It may turn out to something else later on.

The point is, cumulative knowledge can lead to great things later on. It's the NASA trickle-down theory.

Re: "Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds"

#22

Post by apitaru » Tue, Jul 30, 2013, 11:32 AM UTC

I sometimes feel like the ice-cream factory guy in this funny bit by Mitchell and Webb - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-zRPDvTJTo

At the same time, I'm happy Mitchell and Webb stayed in comedy rather than attempt to cure cancer.

If you feel a calling to a particular space or venture, follow it - even if its Angry Birds. On the other hand, if you think your calling is in medicine, think well before attempting a go at this "golden age of entrepreneurship", as chances are you'll regret not doing what you love.

Re: "Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds"

#23

Post by icebraining » Tue, Jul 30, 2013, 11:36 AM UTC

rmc wrote: post #10

This presumes there is no social benefit from the Internet. But there are loads of margalized groups who have been able to find a group and community thanks to quick and easy communication of the Internet. Just look at a lot of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people who wouldn't be able to find people like themselves in many places. I'd even think the more common acceptance of atheism is a result of this too.

I'm failing to find the original article, but from the quote, I don't think the author is arguing against the Internet, but small stuff like iPhone apps and other "small impact" startups.

Besides, is the Internet really an accomplishment by Silicon Valley and its startups? ARPA and BBN certainly don't fit the model.

Re: "Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds"

#24

Post by kvakvs » Tue, Jul 30, 2013, 11:38 AM UTC

Markets are self regulating. Worry why noone grows crops and feeds the country? The hunger will come, prices on food raise, and it becomes profitable to raise crops - there will be inflow of new made farmers and farms.

Re: "Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds"

#25

Post by foobarbazqux » Tue, Jul 30, 2013, 11:39 AM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #20

rorrr2 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about selfishness, it's just that most easy problems got solved, and we're left with really really hard ones. Cancer is so mind-boggingly complex that one person cannot even begin to look at ways to solve it on his own. Think about web developers, for example. We can either develop some SaaS website in 6 months that will bring us something like $500/month, or we can attack the cancer problem for 30 years and…

Or, just throwing this out there as an option, you could solve any problem for a physician's practice -- like, say, patients not complying with their treatment regimen by failing to make scheduled check ups. You might even be able to do that with a SaaS app. Granted, it won't cure cancer, but you'll save more lives at the margin than doing Zynga ads. (And, n.b., healthcare clients often have more than $500 available…

Yes, there are a lot of outstanding problems with simple solutions that aren't hard in any practical way. The problem is that we want (I want?) headline-making accomplishment and intellectual gratification.

Re: "Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds"

#26

Post by IanChiles » Tue, Jul 30, 2013, 11:42 AM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #20

rorrr2 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about selfishness, it's just that most easy problems got solved, and we're left with really really hard ones. Cancer is so mind-boggingly complex that one person cannot even begin to look at ways to solve it on his own. Think about web developers, for example. We can either develop some SaaS website in 6 months that will bring us something like $500/month, or we can attack the cancer problem for 30 years and…

Or, just throwing this out there as an option, you could solve any problem for a physician's practice -- like, say, patients not complying with their treatment regimen by failing to make scheduled check ups. You might even be able to do that with a SaaS app. Granted, it won't cure cancer, but you'll save more lives at the margin than doing Zynga ads. (And, n.b., healthcare clients often have more than $500 available…

Great point, but the government seems to be hell-bent on making this impossible through laws like HIPAA, so while it may indeed be possible to make, the government is going to fight against you every single step of the way.

Re: "Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds"

#27

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jul 30, 2013, 11:43 AM UTC

binarymax wrote: post #17

I've found that those who try to impose their ideals on someone else, are usually (but not always) trying to cover up and deflect their own self-doubt and insecurities. Do what you love, and to heck with whatever anyone else thinks. I used to work on predicting baseball. And before that, even worse, performance management software! Now I am lucky enough to work on "socially responsible" software, and enjoy it. But I…

[deleted]

Re: "Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds"

#28

Post by petenixey » Tue, Jul 30, 2013, 11:45 AM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #20

rorrr2 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about selfishness, it's just that most easy problems got solved, and we're left with really really hard ones. Cancer is so mind-boggingly complex that one person cannot even begin to look at ways to solve it on his own. Think about web developers, for example. We can either develop some SaaS website in 6 months that will bring us something like $500/month, or we can attack the cancer problem for 30 years and…

Or, just throwing this out there as an option, you could solve any problem for a physician's practice -- like, say, patients not complying with their treatment regimen by failing to make scheduled check ups. You might even be able to do that with a SaaS app. Granted, it won't cure cancer, but you'll save more lives at the margin than doing Zynga ads. (And, n.b., healthcare clients often have more than $500 available…

Patrick you've put yourself in a relatively unusual position of being both a full-stack software developer / marketer and actually knowing the market.

It's struck me that part of the reason people don't try to solve these types of problems because they just don't know the market at all. They solve problems they have exposure to.

Knowing what you know, do you think there's any scope for a "Meet the Market" mini-conference where people with actual problems (and budget) from, say, medecine come along and give a lecture on what problems they'd pay to have solved? Do you think that purchasers have enough knowledge about their own problems that they could verbalise them such that people could help solve them?

Re: "Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds"

#29

Post by decasteve » Tue, Jul 30, 2013, 11:50 AM UTC

eksith wrote: post #21

There's one hiccup in this line of thought: You can't always predict how the flashy toy tech will turn out to be a benefit later on. Case in point, Kinect. It should have been just a play accessory, but it's being used to help people with disabilities, like the wi-Go : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-17jRfX9Sw And also aiding surgeons during operations as well as helping disabled children interact with their environ…

Angry Birds may help Thwart Alzeihmer's: Study: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/01/23/brain-games-ma...

Re: "Instead of cures for cancer we got Angry Birds"

#30

Post by david927 » Tue, Jul 30, 2013, 11:51 AM UTC

rorrr2 wrote: post #15

buro9 wrote: post #9

I mentioned on Twitter how my earlier pitches for what I'm working on focused a lot more on the reasons I'm doing it... attacking loneliness in cities and densely populated areas, and inspiring people to pursue their interests. As the pitches to users and investors evolved, I realised I'd moved a long way from this and now mention just the numbers, just the personal benefits to the user. No-one seems to care so much…

It's not about selfishness, it's just that most easy problems got solved, and we're left with really really hard ones. Cancer is so mind-boggingly complex that one person cannot even begin to look at ways to solve it on his own. Think about web developers, for example. We can either develop some SaaS website in 6 months that will bring us something like $500/month, or we can attack the cancer problem for 30 years and…

In the 80's, 90's and into the 00's, we fleshed out a lot of the tough-but-solvable pieces of the puzzle. Now we're left with either very easy pieces (local events, photo sharing, Angry Birds, ...) or the problems that stumped everyone (Semantic Web).

The hard problems do have a few crazy people attempting them, but they get very little support -- as opposed to support and often funding for an app that lets you share your cat pictures.

And I think that's why we're in a lull. HN itself has become boring. (Have you noticed?) Without the crazy research kamikazes, we aren't going anywhere.