4 ms·

I remember hearing people say things like "it's not about profits, it's about eyeballs," and thinking, you can't pay the rent with eyeballs.

sophacles 4y ago
This is why a good physics education is important... Under certain conditions the standard model includes several spontaneous transformations from eyeballs -> cash. The trick is getting a critical mass of eyeballs for the conversions to be frequent enough to pay the bills.
- mistermann 4y ago
  I think you mean metaphysics?
  - toxicFork 4y ago
    When you have enough eyeballs they will collapse into a plasma state from their own mass and then you can harvest that into work or electricity then sell that for money
    - klyrs 4y ago
      obligatory https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/
    - mistermann 4y ago
      How to invoke unseriousness in humans: mention metaphysics.
- xdavidliu 4y ago
  > the standard model I do not think it means what you think it means.
  - sophacles 4y ago
    I'm talking about literal eyeballs transmuting to cash as if it's the result of particle physics. I don't think you should read anything more than "its a joke" into my comment.
  - toxicFork 4y ago
    That's exactly why a good physics education is important
- wishfish 4y ago
  I hope an RPG designer read your joke. I'd love to see a "transmute eyeballs to gold" alchemical recipe show up. Would be hilarious. Especially in an MMORPG where it's crucial to their bottom line to keep players' attention for as long as possible.
MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
I remember people talking about internal rivalries at IBM and Microsoft over user's eyeballs. Every app wants to be the main productivity app., king of the eyeballs!
paulpauper 4y ago
Facebook and Instagram showed that eyeballs can be very lucrative . The old web 1.0 sites simply didn't have good ways to monetize it , unlike today. Mobile advertising didn't exist, neither did tracking and big data.
- rmah 4y ago
  This may sound like a tautology, but those eyeballs were only "lucrative" because they could be converted to money. As the person you were responding to implied.
  - danenania 4y ago
    I think that was always the plan. Eyeballs in the short term, profits in the long term.
amelius 4y ago
I bet even the founders of Google didn't even know at first how much eyeballs are worth.
- stockboss 4y ago
  That's an oversimplification of Google's business model vs something like Facebook. Facebook is selling pure eyeballs because their ads are intrusive and unsolicited, with the somewhat flawed assumption that just because someone talked about something, they are keen to buy it. Google is selling purchase intent. When someone specifically asks Google where to find something, they have far higher purchase intent than if they simply talked about it on their page.

sophacles 4y ago

This is why a good physics education is important... Under certain conditions the standard model includes several spontaneous transformations from eyeballs -> cash. The trick is getting a critical mass of eyeballs for the conversions to be frequent enough to pay the bills.

mistermann 4y ago
I think you mean metaphysics?
- toxicFork 4y ago
  When you have enough eyeballs they will collapse into a plasma state from their own mass and then you can harvest that into work or electricity then sell that for money
  - klyrs 4y ago
    obligatory https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/
  - mistermann 4y ago
    How to invoke unseriousness in humans: mention metaphysics.
xdavidliu 4y ago
> the standard model I do not think it means what you think it means.
- sophacles 4y ago
  I'm talking about literal eyeballs transmuting to cash as if it's the result of particle physics. I don't think you should read anything more than "its a joke" into my comment.
- toxicFork 4y ago
  That's exactly why a good physics education is important
wishfish 4y ago
I hope an RPG designer read your joke. I'd love to see a "transmute eyeballs to gold" alchemical recipe show up. Would be hilarious. Especially in an MMORPG where it's crucial to their bottom line to keep players' attention for as long as possible.

MonkeyMalarky 4y ago

I remember people talking about internal rivalries at IBM and Microsoft over user's eyeballs. Every app wants to be the main productivity app., king of the eyeballs!

paulpauper 4y ago

Facebook and Instagram showed that eyeballs can be very lucrative . The old web 1.0 sites simply didn't have good ways to monetize it , unlike today. Mobile advertising didn't exist, neither did tracking and big data.

rmah 4y ago
This may sound like a tautology, but those eyeballs were only "lucrative" because they could be converted to money. As the person you were responding to implied.
- danenania 4y ago
  I think that was always the plan. Eyeballs in the short term, profits in the long term.

amelius 4y ago

I bet even the founders of Google didn't even know at first how much eyeballs are worth.

stockboss 4y ago
That's an oversimplification of Google's business model vs something like Facebook. Facebook is selling pure eyeballs because their ads are intrusive and unsolicited, with the somewhat flawed assumption that just because someone talked about something, they are keen to buy it. Google is selling purchase intent. When someone specifically asks Google where to find something, they have far higher purchase intent than if they simply talked about it on their page.