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Another top HN news item today is that Andy Rubin's new startup, "Essential", raised $300m today. Fun fact and by coincidence, Andy Rubin's last official gig p

Another top HN news item today is that Andy Rubin's new startup, "Essential", raised $300m today. Fun fact and by coincidence, Andy Rubin's last official gig prior to this startup was head of Google's robotics division and oversaw Boston Dynamics. Larry Page convinced Rubin to run the division after moving Sundar Pichai (Now Google's CEO) to takeover the Android project. And so the tech world turns! (1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rubin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rubin Edited per comment below for clarity

deleted 9y ago
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foobarian 9y ago
Quoth the Tao of Programming: 7.1 A novice asked the Master: "In the East, there is a great tree-structure that men call 'Corporate Headquarters'. It is bloated out of shape with vice presidents and accountants. It issues a multitude of memos, each saying 'Go Hence!' or 'Go Hither!' and nobody knows what is meant. Every year new names are put onto the branches, but all to no avail. How can such an unnatural entity exist?" The Master replied: "You perceive this immense structure and are disturbed that it has no rational purpose. Can you not take amusement from its endless gyrations? Do you not enjoy the untroubled ease of programming beneath its sheltering branches? Why are you bothered by its uselessness?"
- jklinger410 9y ago
  The wheels move the tank but they do not steer it.
  - lodi 9y ago
    But... they do? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_steering_systems#Double_differential https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_steering_systems#Double_d...
    - killin_dan 9y ago
      It was hyperbole. I never knew tank steering systems could be so interesting, though.
- stewbrew 9y ago
  The master doesn't know self-balancing trees?
KKKKkkkk1 9y ago
You know how someone who's an expert in field X will sometimes assume that they can tackle problems in unrelated field Y and do just as well as the experts in Y? Only to be humbled by the experience? Well, robotics is Silicon Valley's Y.
- lpasselin 9y ago
  What would be robotics' Silicon Valley?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - visarga 9y ago
    You mean what would be robotics' Y?
  - a_bonobo 9y ago
    All the big robotics companies are in Tokyo, to quote Wikipedia: >The Robotics industry is more important in Japan than any other country in the world. Japan employs over a quarter of a million industrial robot workers. In the next 15 years, Japan estimates that number to jump to over one million and they expect revenue for robotics to be near $70 billion by 2025.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_robotics#Japanese_robotics_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_robotics#Japanese_rob... When in Japan I've interacted with robots in a shopping mall: they had replaced their information stands by robots with ipads, so you could either ask them a question (didn't work due to the mall's noise) or just enter the relevant information on their belly's iPad-like devices.
    - lacker 9y ago
      Reminds me of when all the advanced cell phone development was in Tokyo....
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - 9y ago
flor1s 9y ago
From that link: 'Rubin also went to SoftBank Group Corp. and negotiated a deal to include Essential in the firm's nearly $100 billion technology fund, but the investment was nixed after Apple joined the fund, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. At the Code technology conference last week, Rubin confirmed the SoftBank talks and said the deal didn't happen because another investor that was a potential rival joined the fund and would have become an Essential backer. He didn't name Apple. "I just went to other investors," Rubin said. "I'm lucky to have good support from people that want to support these crazy, big, audacious things."' And so the tech world turns :)

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foobarian 9y ago

Quoth the Tao of Programming: 7.1 A novice asked the Master: "In the East, there is a great tree-structure that men call 'Corporate Headquarters'. It is bloated out of shape with vice presidents and accountants. It issues a multitude of memos, each saying 'Go Hence!' or 'Go Hither!' and nobody knows what is meant. Every year new names are put onto the branches, but all to no avail. How can such an unnatural entity exist?" The Master replied: "You perceive this immense structure and are disturbed that it has no rational purpose. Can you not take amusement from its endless gyrations? Do you not enjoy the untroubled ease of programming beneath its sheltering branches? Why are you bothered by its uselessness?"

jklinger410 9y ago
The wheels move the tank but they do not steer it.
- lodi 9y ago
  But... they do? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_steering_systems#Double_differential https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_steering_systems#Double_d...
  - killin_dan 9y ago
    It was hyperbole. I never knew tank steering systems could be so interesting, though.
stewbrew 9y ago
The master doesn't know self-balancing trees?

KKKKkkkk1 9y ago

You know how someone who's an expert in field X will sometimes assume that they can tackle problems in unrelated field Y and do just as well as the experts in Y? Only to be humbled by the experience? Well, robotics is Silicon Valley's Y.

lpasselin 9y ago
What would be robotics' Silicon Valley?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- visarga 9y ago
  You mean what would be robotics' Y?
- a_bonobo 9y ago
  All the big robotics companies are in Tokyo, to quote Wikipedia: >The Robotics industry is more important in Japan than any other country in the world. Japan employs over a quarter of a million industrial robot workers. In the next 15 years, Japan estimates that number to jump to over one million and they expect revenue for robotics to be near $70 billion by 2025.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_robotics#Japanese_robotics_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_robotics#Japanese_rob... When in Japan I've interacted with robots in a shopping mall: they had replaced their information stands by robots with ipads, so you could either ask them a question (didn't work due to the mall's noise) or just enter the relevant information on their belly's iPad-like devices.
  - lacker 9y ago
    Reminds me of when all the advanced cell phone development was in Tokyo....
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - 9y ago

flor1s 9y ago

From that link: 'Rubin also went to SoftBank Group Corp. and negotiated a deal to include Essential in the firm's nearly $100 billion technology fund, but the investment was nixed after Apple joined the fund, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. At the Code technology conference last week, Rubin confirmed the SoftBank talks and said the deal didn't happen because another investor that was a potential rival joined the fund and would have become an Essential backer. He didn't name Apple. "I just went to other investors," Rubin said. "I'm lucky to have good support from people that want to support these crazy, big, audacious things."' And so the tech world turns :)