5 ms·

Not having a billion dollars is depressing for you? This takes first world problems to a whole new level.

seiji 14y ago
It's much more subtle. The problem isn't money. The problem is: "it could have been me!" "Why didn't I do this?" We were all sapient when this mess started. (Hell, it's still starting. When the iPhone launched, Blackberry had 10 million devices in the entire world (sold over 8 years). Apple sold over 70 million iPhones in the past two quarters. We're still very much in the technology up and to the right phase.) Back to the depressing bit -- you must face the fact you did not do this. You are not rich. You must admit to yourself they won because they were either: first, smarter, or they cheated. It's easy to say they cheated. They stole data. They "hacked." They lied on contracts. They ignored authority and did it anyway. They had their magical parent funds to fall back on (see: microsoft). We are not them, but that means we can blindside them next time. With the saturation of technology, companies providing ego-level services seem important because it's what brains will gravitate towards. With the saturation of technology, we get these never-before-seen billion user companies. The first is unique, then it becomes passé. Let them figure the basics out then zoom past them next time. Remember: companies are slow moving monuments to failure. Use their size against them. Life isn't fair. If "teh social" is the most important accomplishment of humanity (you would think based on how much people talk about it), please shoot me now. As for me, I'm still betting on PointCast.
joelrunyon 14y ago
It's less about the billion dollars and more about continuing to work without submitting to the temptation of comparison.
RedwoodCity 14y ago
The title was simply meant to get your attention. If you read the whole article the advice given could be applied to anyone working at or running a tech company who is frustrated with their life. You might be surprised to know that many people in third world countries are frustrated with their lives too. For example there are multiple Asian countries with higher suicide rates than the US and Canada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_ra... If anything this kind of venting and sharing is a healthy coping mechanism.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
randomdata 14y ago
Money is simply a metric of how people value you. It is a little disheartening to know that nobody cares about what you are doing when you've poured in so much effort. It's not that anyone actually needs billions of dollars, but if you are not making millions/billions of dollars, you start to question what is wrong with you that causes people to not care, when they obviously do care about these other people.
- Mz 14y ago
  Flaw in your logic: They probably don't care about those people either. They only value the product. It is not the same thing.
  - randomdata 14y ago
    It's not really logic though, just irrational human emotion. If we could look at it logically, we'd realize that $1B makes you no better than $1M, or $100K, or even less than that.
    - Mz 14y ago
      I don't agree. I am the type of person who thinks exactly like that. If I am doing badly at a videogame, clearly the game hates me. People like me probably invented gods/religion. I take things personally. Not everyone does. I had to explicitly explain this type of view to my oldest son. He views things in terms of cause and effect rather than "motive". It is something on my mind a lot here lately. I have serious financial problems and have for quite a long time. A few months ago, I ended up homeless. The amount of money I need to clean up my financial mess is a drop in the bucket compared to what I am saving American tax payers by getting myself and my sons well. Saying that almost never gets me any support online. What seems to get some support is when I say my webites will cease to exist because I can't afford it. Donations have kept them online for three years. In other words, people care about my work. But they mostly don't care about me personally. That has its good points and bad points but is counterintuitive for me. I'm a bleeding heart who cares too damn much about other people. Edit: Let's a do a little experiment to make my point. I currently have 23 cents in the bank and I don't know how I and my sons will survive (as in get enough to eat) for the rest of the month. Do you and other people give a damn about me? Enough to donate money on my sites? (Call the goal of this experiment $500 this weekend.) I am guessing the answer is a resounding "NO". I am guessing you will be the first person to prove me right and not give me one thin dime.

seiji 14y ago

It's much more subtle. The problem isn't money. The problem is: "it could have been me!" "Why didn't I do this?" We were all sapient when this mess started. (Hell, it's still starting. When the iPhone launched, Blackberry had 10 million devices in the entire world (sold over 8 years). Apple sold over 70 million iPhones in the past two quarters. We're still very much in the technology up and to the right phase.) Back to the depressing bit -- you must face the fact you did not do this. You are not rich. You must admit to yourself they won because they were either: first, smarter, or they cheated. It's easy to say they cheated. They stole data. They "hacked." They lied on contracts. They ignored authority and did it anyway. They had their magical parent funds to fall back on (see: microsoft). We are not them, but that means we can blindside them next time. With the saturation of technology, companies providing ego-level services seem important because it's what brains will gravitate towards. With the saturation of technology, we get these never-before-seen billion user companies. The first is unique, then it becomes passé. Let them figure the basics out then zoom past them next time. Remember: companies are slow moving monuments to failure. Use their size against them. Life isn't fair. If "teh social" is the most important accomplishment of humanity (you would think based on how much people talk about it), please shoot me now. As for me, I'm still betting on PointCast.

joelrunyon 14y ago

It's less about the billion dollars and more about continuing to work without submitting to the temptation of comparison.

RedwoodCity 14y ago

The title was simply meant to get your attention. If you read the whole article the advice given could be applied to anyone working at or running a tech company who is frustrated with their life. You might be surprised to know that many people in third world countries are frustrated with their lives too. For example there are multiple Asian countries with higher suicide rates than the US and Canada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_ra... If anything this kind of venting and sharing is a healthy coping mechanism.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

randomdata 14y ago

Money is simply a metric of how people value you. It is a little disheartening to know that nobody cares about what you are doing when you've poured in so much effort. It's not that anyone actually needs billions of dollars, but if you are not making millions/billions of dollars, you start to question what is wrong with you that causes people to not care, when they obviously do care about these other people.

Mz 14y ago
Flaw in your logic: They probably don't care about those people either. They only value the product. It is not the same thing.
- randomdata 14y ago
  It's not really logic though, just irrational human emotion. If we could look at it logically, we'd realize that $1B makes you no better than $1M, or $100K, or even less than that.
  - Mz 14y ago
    I don't agree. I am the type of person who thinks exactly like that. If I am doing badly at a videogame, clearly the game hates me. People like me probably invented gods/religion. I take things personally. Not everyone does. I had to explicitly explain this type of view to my oldest son. He views things in terms of cause and effect rather than "motive". It is something on my mind a lot here lately. I have serious financial problems and have for quite a long time. A few months ago, I ended up homeless. The amount of money I need to clean up my financial mess is a drop in the bucket compared to what I am saving American tax payers by getting myself and my sons well. Saying that almost never gets me any support online. What seems to get some support is when I say my webites will cease to exist because I can't afford it. Donations have kept them online for three years. In other words, people care about my work. But they mostly don't care about me personally. That has its good points and bad points but is counterintuitive for me. I'm a bleeding heart who cares too damn much about other people. Edit: Let's a do a little experiment to make my point. I currently have 23 cents in the bank and I don't know how I and my sons will survive (as in get enough to eat) for the rest of the month. Do you and other people give a damn about me? Enough to donate money on my sites? (Call the goal of this experiment $500 this weekend.) I am guessing the answer is a resounding "NO". I am guessing you will be the first person to prove me right and not give me one thin dime.