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I have to admit, this article is really awful. I initially upvoted this too quickly, after only reading the first page and seeing that there were five more to g

by tansey 15y ago

I have to admit, this article is really awful. I initially upvoted this too quickly, after only reading the first page and seeing that there were five more to go. After reading most of the article, you're right-- it's pure fluff. I suppose it's tough to actually discuss how this technology works since there are so many security issues involved, but I feel like I learned almost nothing about Palantir's system. All I learned was that they have a bunch of fun anecdotes about their founders and CEO, and that it apparently has been used to somehow solve cases. Pretty weak. I wish I could take back my upvote.

dmaz 15y ago
The article is lacking, but keep in mind the publication is Businessweek; the focus is not so much on the technology. The government contracting market is open for disruption, Karp makes clear what they are doing when he says “You will be getting results right away instead of waiting two to three years with our competitors.” The business model of massive contracts to design software from the ground up for each need of the government must die.
brown9-2 15y ago
Their main products are oriented towards integrating structured and unstructured data from lots of different data sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir_Technologies#Palantir_Government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir_Technologies#Palantir_... Other articles on the company make it more clear that the reason why they need so many "forward-deployed engineers" are because they heavily customize the installed software for each customer, i.e. you have to do a lot of custom work pulling data out of Proprietary Customer Database X to feed it into the system (and back out). See "Why Palantir Makes My Head Hurt" http://kellblog.com/2011/06/27/why-palantir-makes-my-head-hurt/ http://kellblog.com/2011/06/27/why-palantir-makes-my-head-hu...
bane 15y ago
Right "crazy skinny guy with bad hair, can't drive a car, but studied under a Marxist and funded by a rich Libertarian, can solve crimes and fight terrorists". Sounds like a pitch for a bad 80's tv show.

by tansey 15y ago

dmaz 15y ago

The article is lacking, but keep in mind the publication is Businessweek; the focus is not so much on the technology. The government contracting market is open for disruption, Karp makes clear what they are doing when he says “You will be getting results right away instead of waiting two to three years with our competitors.” The business model of massive contracts to design software from the ground up for each need of the government must die.

brown9-2 15y ago

Their main products are oriented towards integrating structured and unstructured data from lots of different data sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir_Technologies#Palantir_Government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir_Technologies#Palantir_... Other articles on the company make it more clear that the reason why they need so many "forward-deployed engineers" are because they heavily customize the installed software for each customer, i.e. you have to do a lot of custom work pulling data out of Proprietary Customer Database X to feed it into the system (and back out). See "Why Palantir Makes My Head Hurt" http://kellblog.com/2011/06/27/why-palantir-makes-my-head-hurt/ http://kellblog.com/2011/06/27/why-palantir-makes-my-head-hu...

bane 15y ago

Right "crazy skinny guy with bad hair, can't drive a car, but studied under a Marxist and funded by a rich Libertarian, can solve crimes and fight terrorists". Sounds like a pitch for a bad 80's tv show.