54 karma · joined September 17, 2014
Apple has a problem with leadership. When managers aren't buying into a vision, mostly because it's murky at best, that is a big problem.
SV hubris believing you can go into any industry and disrupt the incompetent incumbents is laughable. FB found this out with phones and it sounds like Apple and Google are now figuring it out with cars.
The Netflix idea works here too: Apple and Google have to become more like GM and BMW before GM and BMW become more like Apple and Google. GM will have an awesome electric with a better range than a Tesla Model 3 this year! If they ever figure out aesthetics and software they will win.
Finally this article highlights what Musk has done at Tesla. They are the closest SV company to actually figure out manufacturing. It still remains to be seen but if they do it Tesla will be the market leader in cars.
Wal-Mart made the wise decision of going solo and launching their own app a little bit later. From what I hear Wal-Mart labs has a great staff.
Our prestigious universities like MIT are institutions that are aspirational to so many. Those who have taken the long and arduous path from student to researcher and then professors deserve the fruits of there labor. This is a slap in the face to so many people who have dedicated their lives to the advancement of knowledge.
I've also been working on FIRE, entrepreneurship and hobbies that could provide income. But the most important thing and what I wish I knew when I was starting my adult life is that obtaining true happiness from a career is bullshit. I now enjoy spending my time with family and on my own interests. I just wish I had more of that time.
Corporate governance is a huge problem in the market right now. Like others have mentioned workers and stockholders will pay for the ineptness of this board. Short term gain via activist investors is leading to crappy mergers, stupid breakups, and what should be illegal inversions.
I actually believe this is another sign of a top in the market when you see "investors" trying to squeeze the last bit of gains though these types of schemes.
Why aren't Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt being acquihired? Why isn't David Byttow making 1 million plus as a full stack engineer for the NYSE? It's because companies, even those heavily dependent on their systems, see tech workers as a cost instead of THE business.
This will more than likely never change. Underpaid engineers vastly outperform their salaries. But when things like this happen I can't help but feel a little glee.
During my freshman year of college I stopped following the news. I was so focused on starting off well in school that I avoided most distractions. I found that those months were some of the most focused and productive I've ever had. Sadly I fell back into the habit of reading news articles and catching cable news at night. But I've been trying to stop, although my smartphone is making it very difficult.
Like Aaron points out I can't point to one thing I've read or heard on the news that has turned into actionable information. I also agree that reading better developed thoughts on a specific subject would be more beneficial.
Lastly I'd like to say I really miss Aaron. This post is an example of his brilliance. Depression is a horrible disease and the circumstances surrounding his suicide make it all the more tragic.
RIP aaronsw.
That being said I don't think our solar system contains a more advanced being than humans. But what life, in some form, demonstrates is that it is possible, in some place very far away, there are living beings as advanced or more than we are. I would really love to be alive to meet them.
Also, my experience is not unique. During the course many students voiced their frustration. Your site crashed the first day, content was posted late and the example code had bugs in it.
That was the time to offer refunds, privately, to every one of your customers. Not here, publicly, to one person exposing your company.
They abandoned Make games with us and have been spamming my inbox with at least 3 different business models since then, this being their latest one.
The online gaming course had buggy code and horrible stumbling lessons. I heard about them on here and was conned out of $100. Stay away from these scammers.
Education in America is over. Public schools are completely underfunded, mismanaged and ignored. Universities have become businesses that offer a horrendous ROI. If your lucky enough to get in an Ivy or you'd like to work in academia (good luck in both cases), go. Otherwise save your money and figure out your own path because our previous highway to middle-class has crumbled.
Also for those veiled "illegal alien" racist I hope your smug attempt to caste a group of people as beneath you gives you the complacency you so crave.
This option is not available to everyone. I don't think you should have to spend that much in order to come to the U.S. But I also wouldn't blame someone without those resources trying to better themselves in any way possible.
This seems like common sense. I know I wouldn't mind working or even not having as much financial freedom as I'd like as long as I found my work fulfilling and important. The problem is most jobs are unfulfilling and pointless. That's why you see a deluge of applicants for jobs at Google and Facebook while others go the startup route.
Here's where money comes into the picture. If you don't want to move to SV or start a company you don't have any other option than to trade your time for money. The key is to minimize that amount of time.