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This is a typical startup contraction. Remember when the "PC bubble burst" and dozens of companies went bust, all with similar but slightly different business p

This is a typical startup contraction. Remember when the "PC bubble burst" and dozens of companies went bust, all with similar but slightly different business plans. It turned out that being able to execute efficiently was the winning strategy, not features, not fancy graphics, not custom cases. Just ruthless efficiency. A couple of years ago I went to UAV expo in Las Vegas and even then it was clear that a lot of drone companies were technology looking for a use case. And there were demonstrations of drones that did things much better (like mapping a traffic accident scene) than existing technology that saved both time and got the highways re-opened faster. Racing them with PoV cameras continues to be a lot of fun, it just isn't the multi-billion dollar sport yet, give it time.

TheSoftwareGuy 7y ago
People always seem to underestimate the power of boring efficiency
dehrmann 7y ago
> technology looking for a use case Did someone say blockchain?
- faissaloo 7y ago
  Blockchain already has a usecase: currency That's it, it's that simple
  - Cthulhu_ 7y ago
    Except that that's already failed; it's used as an investment product, a get-rich-quick scheme, dealing in illegal products and services, untraceable exchange of currency (e.g. ransomware) and money laundering. Nobody pays with crypto. Except people that made a lot of money off of crypto and have a vested interest in its success.
    - kirsebaer 7y ago
      Illegal products is an enormous market.
    - twic 7y ago
      > Except that that's already failed; it's used [...] dealing in illegal products and services This actually is a currency use case. It's an illegal one, but it's a really useful one. It's not clear to me that it's a use case that requires a blockchain, but i don't think there are currently any viable competitors.
      - Frondo 7y ago
        Is it, though? I'm not saying I buy a lot of street drugs, but I know some people who know some people who do, and have literally never seen or heard mention of Bitcoin for this. You know what I have seen being used, that surprised the hell out of me at first? Venmo. Turns out people buy their friends a lot of sushi.
        twic 7y ago
        Interesting. I know of one person who mail-orders interesting things, and uses bitcoin for that.
        Frondo 7y ago
        I've heard that anecdotally too, and tbh I would never ingest something a stranger sent me in the mail. I'm sure it's mostly fine, but there's a level of trust that whisper networks provide that is simply absent in an online setting. Heck, bitcoin itself purports to do exchanges in a trustless setting; trustless is the last environment you want to have for things you're putting in your body.
        faissaloo 7y ago
        Actually darknet drug sites do have a review system, it's not like people just order randomly.
  - scotty79 7y ago
    I'd say bitcoin usecase is being decrapified gold.
    - dangerbird2 7y ago
      Except gold has a real industrial value (electronics), and is an exponentially more stable and liquid asset than bitcoin (albeit not as stable as goldbug scamsters claim)
      - scotty79 7y ago
        > Except gold has a real industrial value Apparently nobody cares because only a small fraction of gold is used for that purpose. Most is used to sit on it. Stable... hard to tell, let's see after a millenium or two. Gold had a pretty good run till now, but hauling one asteroid towards earth or figuring out how to cheaply filter it out of ocean water will drop its value to dirt cheap. More liquid... probably. Market for gold is still larger for now. Let's check that after a decade or two. Trends don't look too optimistic for gold when compared to btc.
        dehrmann 7y ago
        > Apparently nobody cares because only a small fraction of gold is used for that purpose. It's better for electronics than copper, so there's that. > but hauling one asteroid towards earth Seems impractical, expensive, and the yield isn't clear. > or figuring out how to cheaply filter it out of ocean water will drop its value to dirt cheap. You should check your math on this. 342,600,000 pounds of gold have been mined[1], but the oceans hold 20,000,000 pounds[2]. 1: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21969100 https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21969100 2: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gold-ocean-sea-hoax-science-water-boom-rush-treasure https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gold-ocean-sea-hoax-sc...
- westpfelia 7y ago
  This is good for Bitcoin.

TheSoftwareGuy 7y ago

People always seem to underestimate the power of boring efficiency

dehrmann 7y ago

> technology looking for a use case Did someone say blockchain?

faissaloo 7y ago
Blockchain already has a usecase: currency That's it, it's that simple
- Cthulhu_ 7y ago
  Except that that's already failed; it's used as an investment product, a get-rich-quick scheme, dealing in illegal products and services, untraceable exchange of currency (e.g. ransomware) and money laundering. Nobody pays with crypto. Except people that made a lot of money off of crypto and have a vested interest in its success.
  - kirsebaer 7y ago
    Illegal products is an enormous market.
  - twic 7y ago
    > Except that that's already failed; it's used [...] dealing in illegal products and services This actually is a currency use case. It's an illegal one, but it's a really useful one. It's not clear to me that it's a use case that requires a blockchain, but i don't think there are currently any viable competitors.
    - Frondo 7y ago
      Is it, though? I'm not saying I buy a lot of street drugs, but I know some people who know some people who do, and have literally never seen or heard mention of Bitcoin for this. You know what I have seen being used, that surprised the hell out of me at first? Venmo. Turns out people buy their friends a lot of sushi.
      - twic 7y ago
        Interesting. I know of one person who mail-orders interesting things, and uses bitcoin for that.
        Frondo 7y ago
        I've heard that anecdotally too, and tbh I would never ingest something a stranger sent me in the mail. I'm sure it's mostly fine, but there's a level of trust that whisper networks provide that is simply absent in an online setting. Heck, bitcoin itself purports to do exchanges in a trustless setting; trustless is the last environment you want to have for things you're putting in your body.
        faissaloo 7y ago
        Actually darknet drug sites do have a review system, it's not like people just order randomly.
- scotty79 7y ago
  I'd say bitcoin usecase is being decrapified gold.
  - dangerbird2 7y ago
    Except gold has a real industrial value (electronics), and is an exponentially more stable and liquid asset than bitcoin (albeit not as stable as goldbug scamsters claim)
    - scotty79 7y ago
      > Except gold has a real industrial value Apparently nobody cares because only a small fraction of gold is used for that purpose. Most is used to sit on it. Stable... hard to tell, let's see after a millenium or two. Gold had a pretty good run till now, but hauling one asteroid towards earth or figuring out how to cheaply filter it out of ocean water will drop its value to dirt cheap. More liquid... probably. Market for gold is still larger for now. Let's check that after a decade or two. Trends don't look too optimistic for gold when compared to btc.
      - dehrmann 7y ago
        > Apparently nobody cares because only a small fraction of gold is used for that purpose. It's better for electronics than copper, so there's that. > but hauling one asteroid towards earth Seems impractical, expensive, and the yield isn't clear. > or figuring out how to cheaply filter it out of ocean water will drop its value to dirt cheap. You should check your math on this. 342,600,000 pounds of gold have been mined[1], but the oceans hold 20,000,000 pounds[2]. 1: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21969100 https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21969100 2: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gold-ocean-sea-hoax-science-water-boom-rush-treasure https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gold-ocean-sea-hoax-sc...
westpfelia 7y ago
This is good for Bitcoin.