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Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

twilio.com

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Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

#21

Completely OT but these announcements for acquisitions, new releases etc: Why are they always excited ? We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family. : Now that Twilio and Electric Imp have joined forces, we’re more excited than ever to see what you build. I get professional pride; it just always seems a bit overdone and insincere when it's phrased like that - though I'm sure in some cases…

This is also a Bay Area thing. I've noticed that almost everything must have a bit of hyperbole to even be "Normal"... Imagine if someone says "How did you like X movie?" and you say "Yeah, I liked it". In the bay area that response would be assumed negative. Why go to a certain movie if it's not "Amazing"? Why spend $50 on sushi if it's not "Life changing"? Why wear shoes that are not "The best!" ? This is bay area…

I despite such level of hyperbole, I would just twist all those sayings if I lived there just to mess with people: "This sushi is so non-life changing! Still worth it tho" "This kebab is not to die for, but definitely at least to suffer for!" "This shoes are the best, not like with capital B but still the best"

Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

#22
post #9

Completely OT but these announcements for acquisitions, new releases etc: Why are they always excited ? We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family. : Now that Twilio and Electric Imp have joined forces, we’re more excited than ever to see what you build. I get professional pride; it just always seems a bit overdone and insincere when it's phrased like that - though I'm sure in some cases…

Its an American cultural norm- which often seems 'fake' or 'posing' to Europeans, S.Americans or Asians who are little more reserved and stingy expressing such levels of sentiment. It was a shock to me when I started interviewing for jobs- and an American friend told me, its very important in the US, when interviewing to say "I'm really excited (more than you really are) about the opportunity to work at XYZ." The tru…

I moved to the bay from Australia and I thought everyone was being sarcastic for a long time. The use of "quite" to mean "very good" not "passive aggressive barely enough", and how people talk up their accomplishments also came up.

Made me really appreciate how hard it must be to come here from a culture that is actually very different (inc language), and not just a few small idiosyncrasies.

Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

#23
post #9

Completely OT but these announcements for acquisitions, new releases etc: Why are they always excited ? We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family. : Now that Twilio and Electric Imp have joined forces, we’re more excited than ever to see what you build. I get professional pride; it just always seems a bit overdone and insincere when it's phrased like that - though I'm sure in some cases…

Its an American cultural norm- which often seems 'fake' or 'posing' to Europeans, S.Americans or Asians who are little more reserved and stingy expressing such levels of sentiment. It was a shock to me when I started interviewing for jobs- and an American friend told me, its very important in the US, when interviewing to say "I'm really excited (more than you really are) about the opportunity to work at XYZ." The tru…

The one that at first confused and now bugs me:

> [Hands over coffee or some other trivial but thankable thing]

> Thanks.

> You're so welcome!

Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

#24
post #17
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its an American cultural norm- which often seems 'fake' or 'posing' to Europeans, S.Americans or Asians who are little more reserved and stingy expressing such levels of sentiment. It was a shock to me when I started interviewing for jobs- and an American friend told me, its very important in the US, when interviewing to say "I'm really excited (more than you really are) about the opportunity to work at XYZ." The tru…

Yep. I definitely got passed over in job interviews because I didn't act excited enough for the job. I was plenty interested, but I didn't act over-the-top about it. On the other hand, one time I was very interested in the product because I used it all the time, and the interviewer was like "well, I see you've done your homework" - as if truly being interested was impossible.

Similar I think. They want you invested in it, excited, willing to join their poxy social friday stuff, and out of the box thinker who is willing to stand your ground and shake things up - but crucially not going to challenge them. You can't have both but they think they can.

Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

#25
Congratulations to Electric Imp.

I can recall a senior engineer giving a talk at an Erlang meetup years ago (5+), where he described the tech. An interesting combination of Erlang servers and embedded Squirrel VM clients, iirc. The talk stayed in my mind long afterwards. Really explained the tech choices well, and I admired both the pragmatism and the innovation.

I learnt a lot from that talk, and have been rooting for them ever since.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqXntCtVH68

As for the actual product, I don't yet have many (if any) IoT devices in my home. And if I did, I wouldn't be buying them based on Twilio or Electric Imp's name. But I can see there being a land grab for IoT tech supply and infrastructure, which Electric Imp clearly has a high value approach to.

So this is a 'random' acquisition that makes a lot of sense to me. Could develop into something quite big actually.

Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

#26

Completely OT but these announcements for acquisitions, new releases etc: Why are they always excited ? We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family. : Now that Twilio and Electric Imp have joined forces, we’re more excited than ever to see what you build. I get professional pride; it just always seems a bit overdone and insincere when it's phrased like that - though I'm sure in some cases…

> We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family

This means it's time to start your countdown to the sunset of the Electric Imp product line.

Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

#27
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its an American cultural norm- which often seems 'fake' or 'posing' to Europeans, S.Americans or Asians who are little more reserved and stingy expressing such levels of sentiment. It was a shock to me when I started interviewing for jobs- and an American friend told me, its very important in the US, when interviewing to say "I'm really excited (more than you really are) about the opportunity to work at XYZ." The tru…

I lived in Germany for two years and spent a lot of that time talking to natives, as well as students and refugees from around the world. When I returned home to my native America, I was put off by how over-the-top positive people were. I get it that when you say “how are you” in America, people are usually not asking how you are actually doing. I think I surprised a few people by telling them about all the things th…

Not really. Pleasantries are common all over the world.

If you've ever spent time in Latin America then you'd know it's rude not to ask anyone how they are before engaging in any sort of conversation. The Middle East (i.e East Asia) has very similar mannerisms.

Engaging in these pleasantries signals I view you as a person rather than you are just a means to an end.

It's the literal equivalent of foreplay before sex.

Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is also a Bay Area thing. I've noticed that almost everything must have a bit of hyperbole to even be "Normal"... Imagine if someone says "How did you like X movie?" and you say "Yeah, I liked it". In the bay area that response would be assumed negative. Why go to a certain movie if it's not "Amazing"? Why spend $50 on sushi if it's not "Life changing"? Why wear shoes that are not "The best!" ? This is bay area…

Is there a particular reason for this becoming a cultural norm? My country (NZ) has the opposite culture. It would be really weird to hear people talk with that much hyperbole.

Yep, in NZ everyone would assume you were being sarcastic.

Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

#29
post #9

Completely OT but these announcements for acquisitions, new releases etc: Why are they always excited ? We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family. : Now that Twilio and Electric Imp have joined forces, we’re more excited than ever to see what you build. I get professional pride; it just always seems a bit overdone and insincere when it's phrased like that - though I'm sure in some cases…

Its an American cultural norm- which often seems 'fake' or 'posing' to Europeans, S.Americans or Asians who are little more reserved and stingy expressing such levels of sentiment. It was a shock to me when I started interviewing for jobs- and an American friend told me, its very important in the US, when interviewing to say "I'm really excited (more than you really are) about the opportunity to work at XYZ." The tru…

I applied for a job with an American software multi-national a few months back. I received an automated email claiming that they were "excited" by my interest in the role. Six weeks passed without any contact whatsoever from them, after which I received an automated rejection email, which began: "Dear [redacted], We've really enjoyed getting to know you!"

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that they had any obligations to me, but to my European sensibilities, the blatant insincerity of those emails borders on the offensive.

Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp

#30
post #26

Completely OT but these announcements for acquisitions, new releases etc: Why are they always excited ? We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family. : Now that Twilio and Electric Imp have joined forces, we’re more excited than ever to see what you build. I get professional pride; it just always seems a bit overdone and insincere when it's phrased like that - though I'm sure in some cases…

> We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family This means it's time to start your countdown to the sunset of the Electric Imp product line.

Has Twilio ever killed anything it bought before it’s time?

I don’t think it’s appropriate to paint every company with the Google brush, some companies still buy others for the tech rather than just the skill!

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