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Minitel, Nokia communicator smartphones, mp3 - I'm sure that's a non-exhaustive list of really cutting edge European technologies that weirdly failed to become

by t_mann 4y ago

Minitel, Nokia communicator smartphones, mp3 - I'm sure that's a non-exhaustive list of really cutting edge European technologies that weirdly failed to become big until something similar came from the US. Kind of strange, what is it that explains the crushing commercial success of US tech?

Folcon 4y ago
A really large, broadly homogeneous market that speaks one language?
- aloisdg 4y ago
  and almost one century of soft power
2143 4y ago
Oh! Wasn't Nokia and MP3 a thing in US?
- t_mann 4y ago
  Nokia smartphone success was so underwhelming commercially (tech-wise they were a decade ahead) that most consider the smartphone era to only have begun with the iPhone (that came almost a decade later). mp3, which is just an audio code format, became a commercial hit mainly through US hard- and software (referring to the iPod and iTunes).
xwolfi 4y ago
It's non exhaustive for sure, technologies evolve and if you cut at the american part of the evolution you can always say that. But see for instance if you say "without a Dutch company, no modern processor can be made today" does it mean there's a crushing commercial success of European tech that no American company could reach until we landed on it ? Are the americans so far behind us that they need Europe to built their CPUs ? Does it matter to say it like that ? I had a minitel like all French people, it was a crushing commercial success as far as I could see and then the internet was just better. And one day a Chinese will make something else and that's fine :D
konschubert 4y ago
Because the US had nerdy hackers that wanted to build companies and make stuff that people want. Europe has nerdy hackers too, but they don't want to build companies, as it is considered bad taste here.
- konschubert 4y ago
  So the US got a startup economy with black jack and Angels, while Europe is trying to do innovation through corporates (think go90). Oh, and MBA copycats from Rocket Internet. (Obviously I am exaggerating)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- t_mann 4y ago
  So actual hard talent plus wanting to build business success is enough you think?
  - konschubert 4y ago
    An environment that makes it easy to start a business does help but is not strictly required.
    - t_mann 4y ago
      So what is it then that explains the success delta between Intel and ARM, between Apple and Grundig, between Facebook and studiVZ, if it's not necessarily the business-friendly environment?
      - konschubert 4y ago
        Grundig was founded 1930. It wasn’t managed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, it was managed by business people. StudiVZ - Germany was too small of a market to get a global network effect going. I don’t know about the management but I’m pretty sure Facebook had better access to VCs, since VCs basically didn’t exist in Germany at that time. Which kind of is my point: Nobody wanted to start a garage startup, so there was no need for VCs.

by t_mann 4y ago

Folcon 4y ago

A really large, broadly homogeneous market that speaks one language?

aloisdg 4y ago
and almost one century of soft power

2143 4y ago

Oh! Wasn't Nokia and MP3 a thing in US?

t_mann 4y ago
Nokia smartphone success was so underwhelming commercially (tech-wise they were a decade ahead) that most consider the smartphone era to only have begun with the iPhone (that came almost a decade later). mp3, which is just an audio code format, became a commercial hit mainly through US hard- and software (referring to the iPod and iTunes).

xwolfi 4y ago

It's non exhaustive for sure, technologies evolve and if you cut at the american part of the evolution you can always say that. But see for instance if you say "without a Dutch company, no modern processor can be made today" does it mean there's a crushing commercial success of European tech that no American company could reach until we landed on it ? Are the americans so far behind us that they need Europe to built their CPUs ? Does it matter to say it like that ? I had a minitel like all French people, it was a crushing commercial success as far as I could see and then the internet was just better. And one day a Chinese will make something else and that's fine :D

konschubert 4y ago

Because the US had nerdy hackers that wanted to build companies and make stuff that people want. Europe has nerdy hackers too, but they don't want to build companies, as it is considered bad taste here.

konschubert 4y ago
So the US got a startup economy with black jack and Angels, while Europe is trying to do innovation through corporates (think go90). Oh, and MBA copycats from Rocket Internet. (Obviously I am exaggerating)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
t_mann 4y ago
So actual hard talent plus wanting to build business success is enough you think?
- konschubert 4y ago
  An environment that makes it easy to start a business does help but is not strictly required.
  - t_mann 4y ago
    So what is it then that explains the success delta between Intel and ARM, between Apple and Grundig, between Facebook and studiVZ, if it's not necessarily the business-friendly environment?
    - konschubert 4y ago
      Grundig was founded 1930. It wasn’t managed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, it was managed by business people. StudiVZ - Germany was too small of a market to get a global network effect going. I don’t know about the management but I’m pretty sure Facebook had better access to VCs, since VCs basically didn’t exist in Germany at that time. Which kind of is my point: Nobody wanted to start a garage startup, so there was no need for VCs.