koji

Love it. Money should be thrown at these ideas like it's going out of style. Will the pogosticks needs GPS tracking and access control?

There are various ways to deal with this, and it can vary between programs. In general, the rider is responsible for ensuring the bicycle is kept in good order.

viaCycle's system allows riders to secure their bicycle between stations, so you're not forced to ride from to specific points until you're ready to check it back into the system. Enforcing a penalty for bikes that get stolen helps reinforce proper locking of the bicycle.

True Seattlites are water proof.

Seattle is located in King County, which has a mandatory helmet law for all riders, regardless of age. Melbourne, Australia has a program with helmet laws and it has struggled to maintain ridership. This is definitely a concern. Vancouver, BC is also launching a program in a similar situation, so people are watching it closely.

There is undoubtedly a solution out there, but it may take some time to see how users adopt helmet requirements. We're definitely excited about the Puget Sound planning that is going on. I would love to see bikeshare in my hometown!

This was a major factor we considered in our design. Every bicycle is GPS tracked, so you know their locations. The bicycles are designed to be rugged so they hold up to abuse, and regular maintenance is part of operations. There will always be issues, but nothing that can't be solved.

There are hundred of modern programs in operations around the world, and it seems the theft issue has been overblown: http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/149446485.html

Call a bike in Germany is definitely a great system! viaCycle strives to improve on this by geo-fencing the bicycles when they need to be checked back into the system (and so you are no longer charged for usage). This helps maintain distribution and gives users reliable, structured locations to get bicycles, so they're not just strewn across cities.

This is definitely a personal preference issue. I, for one, hate logos and branding on my clothing. I won't pay for clothing that advertises itself. I have met other people who are the exact opposite and care greatly about the branding and image. In the end, there's probably enough room in the market for clothing companies to go either way. I'm personally thankful for not having branding forced on me.

I think this is a great point. The key to happiness is not planning, because life will not accommodate those plans. The key is to be flexible when life happens. Anyone remember the book "Who Moved My Cheese?"

I agree that achieving your dreams often takes a lot of work, and often at the cost of other aspects of your life. Finding balance is key, but that's easier said than done. I think that's what we're all striving for, but if it was easy we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Personally, I'm working on segmenting my life. When it's time to work, work hard and focused. But remind yourself there's time to play. If you don't play, what's the point of working hard?

If anyone has figured out how to achieve your dreams while maintaining your life balance, please let us know!

I think this can also defined in the level of risk one's willing to accept. Fear-based is having a low risk tolerance. It's so easy to choose the safe route; steady corporate job, work your way up the ladder, etc. It's predefined and historically tested. But I fail to see a lot of happy people at the end of this line.

Making big life changes is hard, and a risk. The more I talk to people about this topic, though, the more I can see in their eyes that they wish they had taken bigger risks in their youth.

Perhaps the greatest contribution of the 'cloud' is that it allows startups to sprout just about anywhere. These are definitely exciting times we're in!

I'm a little surprised not to see Boston on the top 25 list.

I would love to see a map overlay indicating factors such as wealth and education in these regions to see how strong the correlation is.

I actually ventured out Easter Sunday to buy myself the new Nokia. I then discovered that all AT&T stores in my area were closed for the holiday. In the grand scheme of things it probably doesn't matter as far as sales go, but for building buzz it seems odd to schedule your launch when your retail stores are closed. I'd like to know what discussions (or lack thereof) occurred by the various marketing departments leading up to the launch.

I consider similar things to this every time I'm in a parking lot. If you think about it, all parking lots are poorly designed. It is obvious that people will need to walk to and from their cars when in a parking lot. However, you rarely see appropriate walking corridors (sidewalks, marked lanes, etc) specifically for pedestrians. This is especially noticeable, and dangerous, in the narrow confines of underground parking garages.

The bias to favor the car is clearly evident. Who is the customer? The car or the driver?