Live data from Hacker News

European Tech Alternatives

eutechmap.com

121–130 of 192 posts

Re: European Tech Alternatives

#121
post #107

I briefly went thought the list - a lot of hosted systems (probably kubernetes underneath etc). This is not unique or anything. The list is quite sus ;) did you know that cockroachdb is a German company? :) it’s in the list. And this is like 3rd company in the category that I was checking https://eutechmap.com/company/cockroachdb —— On more sad note. Europe still loves their old money, (hidden) class system and deepl…

The fact is that Europe is a lot of things. You have the British class system (not that hidden), you have French and German bureaucracy, but you also have the unique combination of egalitarianism and mercantilism in Scandinavia and the Netherlands, and the zeal of Polish progressivism, shared by a number of their former east block neighbors.

There are places in Europe where you can easily achieve a higher standard of living (on average) than the US, and there are places where you can't.

I believe the reason that Europe is behind on commercial software is just economic: Solid, standardized solutions were available coming from US companies, and they were seen as low-risk for decades, so why would any company try to compete? Network effects apply to things like office suites and e-mail clients just as much as social media. Microsoft doesn't have any serious US or Chinese competitors in this space either.

That's not to say there aren't problems: The pipeline from startup to big tech firm is extremely difficult in Europe, largely because capital is much more conservative, stemming from the fact that European capital tends to be concentrated in things like pension funds. For years, successful European tech startups have at some point or another hooked into the US Bay Area ecosystem (capital, talent pool, etc.), because the local environment was way too risk-averse.

But I think you, like many, have succumbed to anti-European propaganda, which comes in a couple of forms: pro-corporatist, pro-Putinist, orientalist/sinophile, etc.

Re: European Tech Alternatives

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Show me a European iPhone, European Microsoft, European Nvidia, etc. The "avoid dependence on the US" movement only really started picking up steam with Trump's accelerating dementia in his second term. The iPhone, Microsoft, and nVidia all took multiple decades to develop into the behemoths they are today. Famously, the first iPhone was actually expensive trash: no apps, no 3G, couldn't even cut and paste text. It…

> Famously, the first iPhone was actually expensive trash: no apps, no 3G, couldn't even cut and paste text. Also famously, while the tech elitists complained about all of its shortcomings, the broader consumer market fully embraced it and it single-handedly drove an entirely new generation of consumer electronics.

I wouldn’t say trash.

For the record, it let you read the same web pages as a desktop computer over WiFi. It had a usable mapping app and good music app.

The rest of the experience, stuff like alarms, calculator, address book, etc. also worked nicely.

Those turned out to be things no one else was offering. I had a Nokia N95 at the time and the original iPhone was a big improvement on everything except the camera.

Re: European Tech Alternatives

#123
post #63
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cyberspace promised us we can all work together to create things, like one species coming together to solve problems. Now in 2026, we need to “space” for every little tribe…

it was true for about 3 years give or take

I maintain the peak of the internet was Numa Numa. After that its been a ever gaining speed decline of the internet.

Re: European Tech Alternatives

#124
post #17

Every time I see an idea like this (or a politician talking about tech 'sovereignty') I feel sad for the 20-year-old me who really believed in the declaration of the independence of cyberspace. > Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have…

This reads as very naive now. As soon as a critical mass of people got online, and they wanted their governments to apply laws and regulations there, it was going to happen.

This declaration was written from the days when those who were interacting online were making a real effort to do so, who really wanted to be there, who were in a niche, who were observing 'netiquette' and other quaint notions. They were generally educated, generally technologists by profession or interest, and in those circumstances it's easy to see the utopia you have created and declare it good, with no need for regulation.

It's a little like when you have a small team of skilled, motivated engineers - work gets done to a high standard without the need for onerous processes. But when you start recruiting and growing the team wider, and bring in lots of juniors...

> We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before.

That didn't turn out so well IMHO. People got on there and then ... yuck, they did people stuff. Harassed each other, commited fraud, blackmail and extortion, created and exchanged CSAM. Cyberspace has suffered from government and commercial overreach, certainly, and so much regulation has been commercial in nature rather than actually about safety.

But the dream of an internet free from any form of government regulation? Never could have lasted when everyone got on here.

And just look at our civilisation of the mind, in its centralised fortresses with its own aristocracy exerting control over what information gets fed to the masses.

And even on a technical level, in 1996 people still used to leave mail relays open to be neighbourly!

Re: European Tech Alternatives

#126

European startups, when they are successful, will eventually end up being bought by Oracle or move to USA. Such is life.

Perhaps attitudes will shift. Trying to type with a straight face: maybe the investors/owners will have a conscience and not sell out to the US

Re: European Tech Alternatives

#127

I tried to find on that website the equivalents of Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, TSMC, Nvidia, OpenAI, Meta, Broadcom, Oracle but didn't succeed.

Good. You can keep most of those, we don't want them.

Imagine a food version: "I don't see a McDonalds equivalent!". Good, you can keep that obesity-supporting fast-food crap, we (those without the addiction) don't want it.

Re: European Tech Alternatives

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you heard of a little company called Arm Holdings? It was a travesty that the UK government let it be sold, admittedly.

UK isn't European. They made that clear when they voted for Brexit.

[dead]

Re: European Tech Alternatives

#129

Using a European solution just because it’s European sounds wrong to me. Sounds like we’ve done this kind of nationalism in the past and failed. There are other reasons why Europe isn’t attractive for bringing these kinds of technologies to life, and investor money is only a small part of it. Especially in a company’s early days. Building a market reserved for mediocre tech solutions sounds like the wrong way to make…

[deleted]

Re: European Tech Alternatives

#130
post #10

Using a European solution just because it’s European sounds wrong to me. Sounds like we’ve done this kind of nationalism in the past and failed. There are other reasons why Europe isn’t attractive for bringing these kinds of technologies to life, and investor money is only a small part of it. Especially in a company’s early days. Building a market reserved for mediocre tech solutions sounds like the wrong way to make…

> Building a market reserved for mediocre tech solutions sounds like the wrong way to make Europe more independent. You can’t foster excellence if you don’t reward it monetarily (enough). No unified capital markets, no high reward as an investor. As an employer/employee takes a year to fire people even when they don’t show up, ergo the incentive is to coast. As a founder you’re buried in bureaucracy and taxes, so the…

> takes a year to fire people even when they don’t show up

Just curious: where did you hear this propaganda?

Post reply on HN