3 ms·

Pretty amusing to compare snapchat to SpaceX.

toomuchtodo 10y ago
My argument is by design. Even if SpaceX isn't profitable, for far less than what Snap is spending on infrastructure, they're delivering payloads to orbit. smh.
- artursapek 10y ago
  I don't mean profitability - I just think it's funny to compare a company that makes an utterly unnecessary toy to a company trying to turn us into a multi-planetary species. And the fact that they spend so much more money is even more amusing.
  - celim307 10y ago
    > utterly unnecessary toy I don't get why people dismiss anything that isn't immediately pragmatic as useless. Snapchat is an addicting communication tool that motivates people to share and stay in touch. Isn't one of the core tenants of advancement as a species cooperation and affection? Isn't improving the quality of our personal relationships something worthwhile to pursue in its own? Most people dismiss snapchat interactions as fleeting and shallow, but since when are close relationships built on 100% esoteric mind melds? Getting a giggle out of my girlfriend with a silly emoji can still strengthen our bond
    - hueving 10y ago
      >Snapchat is an addicting communication tool that motivates people to share and stay in touch. So is MySpace, so is Facebook, so is twitter. >Isn't one of the core tenants of advancement as a species cooperation and affection? There isn't much evidence that tools to help you isolate yourself into echo chambers are advancements at all. >Getting a giggle out of my girlfriend with a silly emoji can still strengthen our bond Somehow couples were communicating before snapchat. How do you think people got by before they could send pictures of themselves with oversized tongues and dog ears?
      - koolba 10y ago
        > How do you think people got by before they could send pictures of themselves with oversized tongues and dog ears? Those were dark times indeed. Some people even had to resort to using physical means of communication, namely paper and ink. To make matters worse, it left open the possibility that the receiver of your communique may not dispose of it properly. I've heard reports of people keeping such "private messages" around for 30, 40, sometimes 50+ years!
    - adventured 10y ago
      It's worse than that. Snapchat is clearly very pragmatic to its users. There are few things more important to people than communication, and that will always be true. Might as well proclaim the telegraph, telephone call or email to be a ridiculous toy (except Snap is far superior to any of those given its capabilities). It's the same premise that has people shake their heads in outrage at sports team valuations. It's worldview bias, projecting onto other people what one's own values are.
    - artursapek 10y ago
      Communication is obviously not unnecessary, but Snapchat could not exist and everything would be pretty much the same.
    - Eridrus 10y ago
      Snapchat is clearly in the entertainment category, competing for eyeballs, where the value they add over the next best option is small compared to the rewards they get for being able to advertise to those eyeballs. This is a problem with most of capitalism but is much more pronounced in ad supported models since there's no way for a slightly inferior product to get an edge by being slightly cheaper.
- jimmywanger 10y ago
  What makes delivering payloads to orbit qualitatively better than sending pictures to friends?
  - castis 10y ago
    If snapchat is 100% successful in their current endeavors, you still get to send poop emojis to your friends down the street. If spacex is 100% successful, you get to send poop emojis to your friends on another planet.
    - koolba 10y ago
      > If snapchat is 100% successful in their current endeavors, you still get to send poop emojis to your friends down the street. I don't use snapchat yet I still send poop emojis to my friends down the street. Whether they succeed or fail will have no impact on my poop emoji sending capability.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]

My argument is by design. Even if SpaceX isn't profitable, for far less than what Snap is spending on infrastructure, they're delivering payloads to orbit. smh.

artursapek 10y ago
I don't mean profitability - I just think it's funny to compare a company that makes an utterly unnecessary toy to a company trying to turn us into a multi-planetary species. And the fact that they spend so much more money is even more amusing.
- celim307 10y ago
  > utterly unnecessary toy I don't get why people dismiss anything that isn't immediately pragmatic as useless. Snapchat is an addicting communication tool that motivates people to share and stay in touch. Isn't one of the core tenants of advancement as a species cooperation and affection? Isn't improving the quality of our personal relationships something worthwhile to pursue in its own? Most people dismiss snapchat interactions as fleeting and shallow, but since when are close relationships built on 100% esoteric mind melds? Getting a giggle out of my girlfriend with a silly emoji can still strengthen our bond
  - hueving 10y ago
    >Snapchat is an addicting communication tool that motivates people to share and stay in touch. So is MySpace, so is Facebook, so is twitter. >Isn't one of the core tenants of advancement as a species cooperation and affection? There isn't much evidence that tools to help you isolate yourself into echo chambers are advancements at all. >Getting a giggle out of my girlfriend with a silly emoji can still strengthen our bond Somehow couples were communicating before snapchat. How do you think people got by before they could send pictures of themselves with oversized tongues and dog ears?
    - koolba 10y ago
      > How do you think people got by before they could send pictures of themselves with oversized tongues and dog ears? Those were dark times indeed. Some people even had to resort to using physical means of communication, namely paper and ink. To make matters worse, it left open the possibility that the receiver of your communique may not dispose of it properly. I've heard reports of people keeping such "private messages" around for 30, 40, sometimes 50+ years!
  - adventured 10y ago
    It's worse than that. Snapchat is clearly very pragmatic to its users. There are few things more important to people than communication, and that will always be true. Might as well proclaim the telegraph, telephone call or email to be a ridiculous toy (except Snap is far superior to any of those given its capabilities). It's the same premise that has people shake their heads in outrage at sports team valuations. It's worldview bias, projecting onto other people what one's own values are.
  - artursapek 10y ago
    Communication is obviously not unnecessary, but Snapchat could not exist and everything would be pretty much the same.
  - Eridrus 10y ago
    Snapchat is clearly in the entertainment category, competing for eyeballs, where the value they add over the next best option is small compared to the rewards they get for being able to advertise to those eyeballs. This is a problem with most of capitalism but is much more pronounced in ad supported models since there's no way for a slightly inferior product to get an edge by being slightly cheaper.
jimmywanger 10y ago
What makes delivering payloads to orbit qualitatively better than sending pictures to friends?
- castis 10y ago
  If snapchat is 100% successful in their current endeavors, you still get to send poop emojis to your friends down the street. If spacex is 100% successful, you get to send poop emojis to your friends on another planet.
  - koolba 10y ago
    > If snapchat is 100% successful in their current endeavors, you still get to send poop emojis to your friends down the street. I don't use snapchat yet I still send poop emojis to my friends down the street. Whether they succeed or fail will have no impact on my poop emoji sending capability.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]