5 ms·

Slack may fix email. Oculus may fix travel. The problem with these white whale ideas is that people don't realize "fix" == "kill".

jerf 11y ago
And I was pretty down on the whole "tablet" idea for a long time because it kept getting tried and tried and tried, and failed each time. Then Apple made the iPad. And while the tablet market may have slowed down and failed to conquer the universe or destroy all other laptop-like form factors, it is a solid market segment that isn't going to disappear that has made a lot of money since then. There are exceptions. That's why I don't phrase this in terms of "never ever try". I say you ought to go in with eyes wide open. Look at what has failed, see why, see if you've got a story that you can do better. It's basically very, very expensive market research that you can get for free. If you then want to put your money on these numbers and spin the wheel, at least you did your due diligence and hopefully maximized your chances.
fs111 11y ago
> Oculus may fix travel. bwahahahaha, are you for real?
- grayclhn 11y ago
  It's a little tongue in cheek. My flippant point was that these sort of "white whale" tech ideas don't seem to get fixed, they get replaced. But, yeah, I'd bet that a lot of travel gets replaced by some sort of immersive tech experience.
pavel_lishin 11y ago
> Slack may fix email. I disagree with this blanket statement. Slack may fix the fact that people are bad at using email at work, but it's not going to let me carry on irregular correspondence with old friends and family, and it won't let people send me receipts, bills and newsletters.
- grayclhn 11y ago
  Slack + facebook, then. Lack of receipts and newsletters may be a feature. :) (But, sure, as a blanket statement it misses a lot of important details.)
TeMPOraL 11y ago
> Slack may fix email. Let's hope not. It's not the e-mail that needs fixing, it's the whole rest of the Internet. E-mail is one of the few things that have not yet been captured and walled up by private companies. Slack "fixing" (i.e. killing) it would be a very bad thing for humanity.
- sliverstorm 11y ago
  Email is also literally one of my favorite things about the internet, once you get your incoming spam rate down. Flexible, multipurpose, venerable, and embodying all sorts of good engineering like excellent tolerance for spotty connections or disconnected clients.
- grayclhn 11y ago
  Just to be clear, I meant "fix" from the perspective of a hypothetical startup with the "we're going to fix email" motto/mindset.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
Apocryphon 11y ago
Why Slack and not HipChat or any other corporate chat client?

jerf 11y ago

And I was pretty down on the whole "tablet" idea for a long time because it kept getting tried and tried and tried, and failed each time. Then Apple made the iPad. And while the tablet market may have slowed down and failed to conquer the universe or destroy all other laptop-like form factors, it is a solid market segment that isn't going to disappear that has made a lot of money since then. There are exceptions. That's why I don't phrase this in terms of "never ever try". I say you ought to go in with eyes wide open. Look at what has failed, see why, see if you've got a story that you can do better. It's basically very, very expensive market research that you can get for free. If you then want to put your money on these numbers and spin the wheel, at least you did your due diligence and hopefully maximized your chances.

fs111 11y ago

> Oculus may fix travel. bwahahahaha, are you for real?

grayclhn 11y ago
It's a little tongue in cheek. My flippant point was that these sort of "white whale" tech ideas don't seem to get fixed, they get replaced. But, yeah, I'd bet that a lot of travel gets replaced by some sort of immersive tech experience.

pavel_lishin 11y ago

> Slack may fix email. I disagree with this blanket statement. Slack may fix the fact that people are bad at using email at work, but it's not going to let me carry on irregular correspondence with old friends and family, and it won't let people send me receipts, bills and newsletters.

grayclhn 11y ago
Slack + facebook, then. Lack of receipts and newsletters may be a feature. :) (But, sure, as a blanket statement it misses a lot of important details.)

TeMPOraL 11y ago

> Slack may fix email. Let's hope not. It's not the e-mail that needs fixing, it's the whole rest of the Internet. E-mail is one of the few things that have not yet been captured and walled up by private companies. Slack "fixing" (i.e. killing) it would be a very bad thing for humanity.

sliverstorm 11y ago
Email is also literally one of my favorite things about the internet, once you get your incoming spam rate down. Flexible, multipurpose, venerable, and embodying all sorts of good engineering like excellent tolerance for spotty connections or disconnected clients.
grayclhn 11y ago
Just to be clear, I meant "fix" from the perspective of a hypothetical startup with the "we're going to fix email" motto/mindset.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

Apocryphon 11y ago

Why Slack and not HipChat or any other corporate chat client?