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So are we supposed to believe that incumbent tech companies have no investments in new tech? Canon is not working (or already passed) on the same stuff as Lytr

by dmbass 15y ago

So are we supposed to believe that incumbent tech companies have no investments in new tech? Canon is not working (or already passed) on the same stuff as Lytro? Samsung is not working (or already passed) on the same stuff as Nanosys? Cisco (or whoever) is not working (or already passed) on this type of stuff? Anybody have examples of modern (within 10 years) stealthy startups/incubators that invented new hardware that revolutionized something?

qq66 15y ago
Lots of networking and database companies have invented new hardware+software combinations, upon which they are promptly acquired by Cisco and Oracle, respectively.
jfoutz 15y ago
Roku? revolutionize is a strong word, but they've had a lot of impact. I'd throw makerbot out there as revolutionary, but that's still a very young market. - not stealthy though. Tesla motors?
GHFigs 15y ago
When I look at Lytro I think of E-Ink and FingerWorks, both companies that (like Lytro) grew out of academia and both of whose technology has been significant (arguably revolutionary) in the last decade.
- dmbass 15y ago
  Those are pretty good examples but it basically means that there is no reason to get excited about this now since it is many years away from making any kind of impact.
  - mooftard 15y ago
    Unless you are a hacker and want to work on this. hn, hn.
nl 15y ago
Anybody have examples of modern (within 10 years) stealthy startups/incubators that invented new hardware that revolutionized something? Tivo (just outside your 10 year limit though) Flip Video Roomba SpaceX Telsa
- ramchip 15y ago
  Can you really call something like Roomba a revolution? I've met a single person in my life with a Roomba. People everywhere still sweep manually.
  - nl 15y ago
    You have to look at it context - not every market works as quickly as the consumer tech market. In the vacuum cleaner market there have been two major revolutions in the last 30 years. The first was the Dyson. It was launched in 1986 and has slowly taken over the high end vacuum cleaner market. The Roomba seems to be following a similar path. I know a few people who use it, and it has been a huge success for the company.
    - mooftard 15y ago
      Dyson has taken over the consumer end of the market. Professionals do not use Dyson. Dyson doesn't have anything high end.
- dmbass 15y ago
  I see most of those as "revolutionary" applications of existing technologies/hardware. When I said hardware maybe I meant "technology"?

by dmbass 15y ago

qq66 15y ago

Lots of networking and database companies have invented new hardware+software combinations, upon which they are promptly acquired by Cisco and Oracle, respectively.

jfoutz 15y ago

Roku? revolutionize is a strong word, but they've had a lot of impact. I'd throw makerbot out there as revolutionary, but that's still a very young market. - not stealthy though. Tesla motors?

GHFigs 15y ago

When I look at Lytro I think of E-Ink and FingerWorks, both companies that (like Lytro) grew out of academia and both of whose technology has been significant (arguably revolutionary) in the last decade.

dmbass 15y ago
Those are pretty good examples but it basically means that there is no reason to get excited about this now since it is many years away from making any kind of impact.
- mooftard 15y ago
  Unless you are a hacker and want to work on this. hn, hn.

nl 15y ago

Anybody have examples of modern (within 10 years) stealthy startups/incubators that invented new hardware that revolutionized something? Tivo (just outside your 10 year limit though) Flip Video Roomba SpaceX Telsa

ramchip 15y ago
Can you really call something like Roomba a revolution? I've met a single person in my life with a Roomba. People everywhere still sweep manually.
- nl 15y ago
  You have to look at it context - not every market works as quickly as the consumer tech market. In the vacuum cleaner market there have been two major revolutions in the last 30 years. The first was the Dyson. It was launched in 1986 and has slowly taken over the high end vacuum cleaner market. The Roomba seems to be following a similar path. I know a few people who use it, and it has been a huge success for the company.
  - mooftard 15y ago
    Dyson has taken over the consumer end of the market. Professionals do not use Dyson. Dyson doesn't have anything high end.
dmbass 15y ago
I see most of those as "revolutionary" applications of existing technologies/hardware. When I said hardware maybe I meant "technology"?