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[flagged]

AussieWog93 5y ago
If those founders hadn't changed the world, they wouldn't be rich. Sure, Dropbox and Stripe aren't dismantling apartheid or eradicating polio, but these products do solve real problems and make life a little bit more bearable for millions of people. We should give credit where credit's due and acknowledge this impact.
- sangnoir 5y ago
  > If those founders hadn't changed the world, they wouldn't be rich Good to know I'm changing the world with my CRUD apps - more than all the volunteers in the world since I'm (slowly) getting rich, and they aren't.
  - AussieWog93 5y ago
    I know you're just trying to make a point, but in all seriousness what you're saying could be true. If your CRUD apps are used by tens of thousands of people to make life slightly better - or even if the money you make from your CRUD apps allows your wife and kids to live a free life and not have to worry about making ends meet - you could potentially be making a far greater impact than even someone who devotes their life to volunteering.
tester756 5y ago
I'd call it "changed the world relevantly" and "changed the world irrelevantly"
ridiculousthrow 5y ago
[flagged]
Msw242 5y ago
How have dropbox and stripe not changed the world? I remember paper filing cabinets, PCI compliance, jump drives, etc.
- amusedcyclist 5y ago
  I think just modern computing in general replaced those not dropbox or stripe in particular
  - Msw242 5y ago
    Interface design absolutely matters. The iPod wasn't the first handheld digital media player, but they changed the world with interface design.
    - amusedcyclist 5y ago
      I agree that it matters, but google drive/ ms word are both significantly more important than dropbox in terms of moving paperwork to computers
ianbutler 5y ago
I mean just because you don't see it as having changed the world doesn't mean it hasn't. I've worked at companies that couldn't use stripe / existed before it was a thing and accepting payments was/is a difficult problem subject to all the regulation from multiple countries and building and maintaining it yourself is a total crapshoot. Starting a business and accepting money with stripe is super simple comparatively. A lot of world changing happens behind the scenes and isn't necessarily super flashy. They lowered the barrier to entry making it much easier for anyone building new things to get their customers paying which is world changing for people involved in doing business and business has always been a huge part of humanity whether you like it or not. I wonder how many things exist because one person somewhere was able to integrate stripe over a few hours and start making money versus needing a team to maintain a payments system.
dang 5y ago
"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." "Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[flagged]

If those founders hadn't changed the world, they wouldn't be rich. Sure, Dropbox and Stripe aren't dismantling apartheid or eradicating polio, but these products do solve real problems and make life a little bit more bearable for millions of people. We should give credit where credit's due and acknowledge this impact.

sangnoir 5y ago
> If those founders hadn't changed the world, they wouldn't be rich Good to know I'm changing the world with my CRUD apps - more than all the volunteers in the world since I'm (slowly) getting rich, and they aren't.
- AussieWog93 5y ago
  I know you're just trying to make a point, but in all seriousness what you're saying could be true. If your CRUD apps are used by tens of thousands of people to make life slightly better - or even if the money you make from your CRUD apps allows your wife and kids to live a free life and not have to worry about making ends meet - you could potentially be making a far greater impact than even someone who devotes their life to volunteering.

tester756 5y ago

I'd call it "changed the world relevantly" and "changed the world irrelevantly"

ridiculousthrow 5y ago

[flagged]

Msw242 5y ago

How have dropbox and stripe not changed the world? I remember paper filing cabinets, PCI compliance, jump drives, etc.

amusedcyclist 5y ago
I think just modern computing in general replaced those not dropbox or stripe in particular
- Msw242 5y ago
  Interface design absolutely matters. The iPod wasn't the first handheld digital media player, but they changed the world with interface design.
  - amusedcyclist 5y ago
    I agree that it matters, but google drive/ ms word are both significantly more important than dropbox in terms of moving paperwork to computers

ianbutler 5y ago

I mean just because you don't see it as having changed the world doesn't mean it hasn't. I've worked at companies that couldn't use stripe / existed before it was a thing and accepting payments was/is a difficult problem subject to all the regulation from multiple countries and building and maintaining it yourself is a total crapshoot. Starting a business and accepting money with stripe is super simple comparatively. A lot of world changing happens behind the scenes and isn't necessarily super flashy. They lowered the barrier to entry making it much easier for anyone building new things to get their customers paying which is world changing for people involved in doing business and business has always been a huge part of humanity whether you like it or not. I wonder how many things exist because one person somewhere was able to integrate stripe over a few hours and start making money versus needing a team to maintain a payments system.

dang 5y ago

"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." "Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html