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Fordlandia

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Re: Fordlandia

#11

Post by please_choose »

Stratoscope wrote: post #6

> Ford hadn’t bothered to learn anything about botany or agronomy before embarking on his Fordlândia experiment. He didn’t trust the kinds of experts that could’ve warned him what he was getting into. In fact, he didn’t trust experts at all — he was a figure-it-out type, skeptical of fancy educations and titles. > Rubber trees had never been grown in the Amazon in the way that the Ford company was trying to grow them…

Garrett Camp never ran a taxi company. Bill Gates never ran a computer business. Etc. All them did know the problem they were solving though.

Previous knowledge of running a parking lot is not causal with startup failure. I think a better way to be critical is the fact that they say they're "disrupting" parking lots, but can't describe the problem they're solving.

Re: Fordlandia

#12

Post by MrLeap »

stephengillie wrote: post #9
MrLeap wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if that's an aspirational way to describe the fact that they steal cars.

That's a "Pyrrhic" way to disrupt parking. People won't hassle with finding a spot and paying, if they have no car.

Nothing pyrrhic about it. They're just relicensing the automotive industry's IP.

Disrupting parking with yet another expression of the gig economy. Democratization of employment. You choose when you go to steal cars, they run the chop shops.

Shorter commutes for most, improved foot traffic and they're making housing more affordable. It's like equifax, facebook or google. We all benefit.

Re: Fordlandia

#14

Post by Buge »

please_choose wrote: post #11
Stratoscope wrote: post #6

> Ford hadn’t bothered to learn anything about botany or agronomy before embarking on his Fordlândia experiment. He didn’t trust the kinds of experts that could’ve warned him what he was getting into. In fact, he didn’t trust experts at all — he was a figure-it-out type, skeptical of fancy educations and titles. > Rubber trees had never been grown in the Amazon in the way that the Ford company was trying to grow them…

Garrett Camp never ran a taxi company. Bill Gates never ran a computer business. Etc. All them did know the problem they were solving though. Previous knowledge of running a parking lot is not causal with startup failure. I think a better way to be critical is the fact that they say they're "disrupting" parking lots, but can't describe the problem they're solving.

>Bill Gates never ran a computer business.

Yes he did.

>At age 17, Gates formed a venture with Allen, called Traf-O-Data, to make traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor.[1]

And the idea that someone needs to have run a computer business in the past in order to run a computer business in the future is illogical. It means that no one would ever be able to start running a computer business. The requirement should not be running a business in the past, but having some experience with that type of business in the past. Bill Gates had tons of computer experience.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

Re: Fordlandia

#15

Post by taneq »

please_choose wrote: post #11
Stratoscope wrote: post #6

> Ford hadn’t bothered to learn anything about botany or agronomy before embarking on his Fordlândia experiment. He didn’t trust the kinds of experts that could’ve warned him what he was getting into. In fact, he didn’t trust experts at all — he was a figure-it-out type, skeptical of fancy educations and titles. > Rubber trees had never been grown in the Amazon in the way that the Ford company was trying to grow them…

Garrett Camp never ran a taxi company. Bill Gates never ran a computer business. Etc. All them did know the problem they were solving though. Previous knowledge of running a parking lot is not causal with startup failure. I think a better way to be critical is the fact that they say they're "disrupting" parking lots, but can't describe the problem they're solving.

They know the "problem" they're solving, they just can't publicly advertise it, because their actual business model is to track drivers' movements and sell the data. Want to know where Bob Smith parked on 14 May 2018? That'll be $32, thankyou.

Re: Fordlandia

#16

Post by taneq »

madez wrote: post #8

> biopiracy What a load of. The privatization and capitalization of literally everything is crazy. I despise companies like Nestlé for trying to capitalize common goods like drinking water. This obsession on the one-dimensional metric of money makes the rich richer, and the poor poorer.

Yeah, those Brazilian rubber barons sure spent a lot on R&D to develop those seeds.

Re: Fordlandia

#17

Post by RickJWag »

At the time, I'm sure Ford's ideas were considered very progressive and a gift to the indigenous people.

Today, he's the target of a critical article like this one. (There's more criticism of Winston Churchill on HN today, too.)

My theory is that the world has become so prosperous (at least parts of it) that people have no idea what's good and what's not any more.

Re: Fordlandia

#18

Post by please_choose »

Buge wrote: post #14
please_choose wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Garrett Camp never ran a taxi company. Bill Gates never ran a computer business. Etc. All them did know the problem they were solving though. Previous knowledge of running a parking lot is not causal with startup failure. I think a better way to be critical is the fact that they say they're "disrupting" parking lots, but can't describe the problem they're solving.

>Bill Gates never ran a computer business. Yes he did. >At age 17, Gates formed a venture with Allen, called Traf-O-Data, to make traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor.[1] And the idea that someone needs to have run a computer business in the past in order to run a computer business in the future is illogical. It means that no one would ever be able to start running a computer business. The requirement s…

"It means that no one would ever be able to start running a computer business. The requirement should not be running a business in the past, but having some experience with that type of business in the past. Bill Gates had tons of computer experience."

Thanks for helping me make my point.

Also, I didn't say "Bill Gates" and "Microsoft". You're right, Traf-O-Data was a "modest success". It reinforces my point.

Re: Fordlandia

#19

Post by 8bitsrule »

I liked the part where, thanks to Ford's Rules, a small off-property island nearby hosted a bar and sex workers.

Also the enforcement of the 8-4 shift, despite workers being used to avoiding the hottest hours of the day.

Re: Fordlandia

#20

Post by nimbius »

Ah the paragon of american assembly line manufacturing, Henry Ford. As a millennial its taken me a while to get the real dirt on the guy, as in america highschools extol only his virtue.

Did you know Ford had his own secret police after he doubled the salary of his workforce?

To qualify for his doubled salary, the worker had to be thrifty and continent. He had to keep his home neat and his children healthy, and, if he were below the age of twenty-two, to be married. he created a division within the Ford Motor Company to keep everyone in line. It was known as the Ford Sociological Department

Henry Ford’s paternalism even extended the point where you needed the company’s permission if you wanted to buy a car, which included a requirement to be married and have children.

https://jalopnik.com/when-henry-fords-benevolent-secret-poli...

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