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I will make 3 statements:

1) hacker news has become www.reddit.com/r/nerdstuff

2) “Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.” Niccolo Machiavelli

A lot of energy is being put into user driven content, which seems to start of useful but end up becoming crap. There must be an opportunity in there somewhere.

3) someone reply to my post with "this." so i can move on from this site, and find something useful to do.


Where did Machiavelli say that? Let's have a textual reference:

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/search?auth...

Actually, not being a 20th century inspirational business writer, Machiavelli almost certainly said no such thing.

http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=entrepreneur&...



"Appropriate for HN" seems to mean "HN is whatever I think it should be."

Maybe you could start up a thread or write something that addresses your perceptions so it can be discussed. Or you can keep acting like a melodramatic clown with a dog-eared dollar looking mournfully at the last functioning drink machine in a post-apocalyptic world.

A world of possibilities awaits.


"Maybe you could start up a thread or write something that addresses your perceptions so it can be discussed"

i thought about it, but i decided that there isn't any point. the site is what the users want it to be and i'm not here to "educate" them.

great analogy, btw.


From the guidelines:

"If your account is less than a year old, please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. (It's a common semi-noob illusion.)"


long time lurker, short time poster.


This.

(is he gone yet?)


last post.


another lesson could be: "don't make a site that appeals to people who use ad-block. revenue won't keep up with demand."


many users (myself included) add an exception to adblock for reddit. I don't mind helping their ad revenue when the ads aren't that intrusive.


This.


The first iPad was a big iPhone 3, so this one will be a big iPhone 4. iPad 3 will be a big iPhone 5. Why mess with a successful model?


b/c the market demands it.


how do you know what the market demands? you know through sales. The market liked a big iPhone 3, so it is reasonable to predict that they will like a big iPhone 4.

Feature list:

- front facing camera - "retinal" display - iPhone 4 style designing


In the past couple years Apple has shown a much better ability at predicting what the market demands than random internet commentators. I don't think their thought process for the iPad was "big iPhone 3," as they changed many applications. The iPad 2 may share many features with the iPhone 4 because Apple now has the knowledge to execute those features and the technology is now mature, but the reasoning wouldn't be to "make a bigger version of the iPhone 4."


Interestingly enough Steve has mentioned before that the iPad came first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6--_Z4unLQ0


i don't understand the purpose of the article, or of your post. if the city has what it takes it will happen. if it doesn't it won't. everything else is conversation. that is how i look at it, what am i missing?


I remember someone making a speech (borrowed from someone else) about "just words". Words matter.

Conversations matter.


if you want to trade proverbs i'm give this one: "a lot of talk and no action makes homer simpson a dull boy."


I didn't find any use in the article. Apparently, the useful information will be coming next week:

"Next week, I’ll give what I think is a potential plan for Montreal to take the lead in Open Source commercialization."

I hope he isn't going to ask for government money.


Why not? Don't you think local government has a stake in building the startup ecosystem in the city?

I think there's some serious opportunity for some jurisdiction to pwn Open Source startups with significant tax incentives for Open Source development.

What about tax incentives on salaries for developers who release code under an OSI license? Incentives for "soft" Open Source work like community management? Infrastructure like an accelerator space, business development aid?

Building a market helps, too. Vancouver has made it city policy to put Open Source software on an equal footing with proprietary software.

http://eaves.ca/2009/05/14/vancouver-enters-the-age-of-the-o...

Other governments have chosen to use OSS exclusively.

If there's not yet an established Open Source startup hub (and I think there's not), there's an opportunity for cities around the world to claim that mantle. And that's going to take the contributions of all stakeholders.


Procurement is definitely an area that should be looked at. Open data too, since it creates opportunities - it's a disgrace that we give Google transit data but locals can't compete.

Cheap, fast internet connections: the city could engage with Ile Sans Fil. Municipal fiber too.

The biggest challenges are not technological. On the political front, I think we're falling far short of what we'd need to compete.


"it's a disgrace that we give Google transit data but locals can't compete"

my city and transit system offers that info to locals if they want to compete.


Does this need to be said? Is there anyone suggesting that there is a tech bubble like there was in 2000?

I mean that literally. Is there a single person on the face of the earth voicing that opinion? Because I haven't heard it.

The tech bubble in 2000 was more than overvalued companies, over hyped stories, and big promises. What I see now is the same thing that happens every day in other financial sectors.


Apple is the forbidden fruit. Tempting, seductive and ill get you kicked out of paradise.


You might be right about forbidden fruit, but Apples aren't mentioned in Genesis at all. It turns out that the first reference to the Apple in the Torah is this:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+32:1...

Based on 40% of the verses in the Bible that mention Apples being in the Song of Solomon, Apple is definitely a naughty little fruit. :D


That's interesting. Did you know that apple's original logo depicts Isaac Newton under an apple tree?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Apple_fir...


Song of Solomon 8:5 (New International Version, ©2010)

   Friends

 5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness 
   leaning on her beloved?

   She

   Under the apple tree I roused you; 
   there your mother conceived you, 
   there she who was in labor gave you birth.


I guess we won't be seeing a RIM, Microsoft merger any time soon then.


Don't go to the library. I don't want people taking my seat.


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