4 ms·

While I imagine it just means they sponsored the academic institution, likely a good thing, but there's something unshakeably "idiocracy"-flavored dystopian abo

While I imagine it just means they sponsored the academic institution, likely a good thing, but there's something unshakeably "idiocracy"-flavored dystopian about fast food product placement on professors.

TeMPOraL 2y ago
It turns from Idiocracy-flavored comedy-dystopian into bona fide dystopian rather quickly once you dig into what a multinational corporation does around and besides the product they're recognized for. "Taco Bell Distinguished Professor of hospitality business management" may sound funny, but if I ever heard about McDonald's Professor of Genetics, or Disney's Professor of Applied Robotics, I'd start getting worried. (In other words, "Continuum" vibes. An underrated Canadian sci-fi show featuring "Corporate Congress" and a bunch of luxury brands of today turning into serious industrial/energy/medical players under 50 years from now.)
- troupo 2y ago
  > Disney's Professor of Applied Robotics Disney's robotics are legit though, they do a lot of work and research in that area
  - Freak_NL 2y ago
    I think they had a skunkworks spin-off out in a Connecticut suburb working on hyper-feminine, hyper-realistic androids at some point.
  - TeMPOraL 2y ago
    That's precisely my point. Disney may still be mostly a kids' brand, but I bet their robotics department would hold its own if corporate decided to enter heavy industry or military robotics markets. The brand may seem like a joke, but the expertise isn't.
    - sethammons 2y ago
      I think the reply was to point out that people respect disney robotics. I bet more people know about disney robotics than boston dynamics. I think it is a "you"-thing thinking others also devalue disney because "kid movies" or some other property. There is no joke because people respect them already. Now, the fast food folks? That is silly. Unless it is about production efficiency from McDonalds. Or marketing by coke. Innovation and imagineering (cough, largely robotics) are synonymous with the image of disney.
      - TeMPOraL 2y ago
        > Innovation and imagineering (cough, largely robotics) are synonymous with the image of disney. Maybe it's' indeed a "me" problem, but I only vaguely know about "imagineering" thing via HN; it's not something I think I'd stumbled on otherwise. As far as I can tell, for most people I know, Disney is the kids programming producer that often makes stuff adults enjoy just as much, if not more, than kids, plus the company that took over Star Wars. A subset of them is also aware that the House of Mouse has a scary legal department. > There is no joke because people respect them already. Now, the fast food folks? That is silly. Unless it is about production efficiency from McDonalds. McDonald's must be a powerhouse in logistics and process engineering - and in case of the latter, it's not a big leap from making food to making drugs or advanced materials. I know a little bit about adjacent fields from the software side; the food processing plant and a chemical manufacturing plant use pretty much the same tools and processes.

TeMPOraL 2y ago

It turns from Idiocracy-flavored comedy-dystopian into bona fide dystopian rather quickly once you dig into what a multinational corporation does around and besides the product they're recognized for. "Taco Bell Distinguished Professor of hospitality business management" may sound funny, but if I ever heard about McDonald's Professor of Genetics, or Disney's Professor of Applied Robotics, I'd start getting worried. (In other words, "Continuum" vibes. An underrated Canadian sci-fi show featuring "Corporate Congress" and a bunch of luxury brands of today turning into serious industrial/energy/medical players under 50 years from now.)

troupo 2y ago
> Disney's Professor of Applied Robotics Disney's robotics are legit though, they do a lot of work and research in that area
- Freak_NL 2y ago
  I think they had a skunkworks spin-off out in a Connecticut suburb working on hyper-feminine, hyper-realistic androids at some point.
- TeMPOraL 2y ago
  That's precisely my point. Disney may still be mostly a kids' brand, but I bet their robotics department would hold its own if corporate decided to enter heavy industry or military robotics markets. The brand may seem like a joke, but the expertise isn't.
  - sethammons 2y ago
    I think the reply was to point out that people respect disney robotics. I bet more people know about disney robotics than boston dynamics. I think it is a "you"-thing thinking others also devalue disney because "kid movies" or some other property. There is no joke because people respect them already. Now, the fast food folks? That is silly. Unless it is about production efficiency from McDonalds. Or marketing by coke. Innovation and imagineering (cough, largely robotics) are synonymous with the image of disney.
    - TeMPOraL 2y ago
      > Innovation and imagineering (cough, largely robotics) are synonymous with the image of disney. Maybe it's' indeed a "me" problem, but I only vaguely know about "imagineering" thing via HN; it's not something I think I'd stumbled on otherwise. As far as I can tell, for most people I know, Disney is the kids programming producer that often makes stuff adults enjoy just as much, if not more, than kids, plus the company that took over Star Wars. A subset of them is also aware that the House of Mouse has a scary legal department. > There is no joke because people respect them already. Now, the fast food folks? That is silly. Unless it is about production efficiency from McDonalds. McDonald's must be a powerhouse in logistics and process engineering - and in case of the latter, it's not a big leap from making food to making drugs or advanced materials. I know a little bit about adjacent fields from the software side; the food processing plant and a chemical manufacturing plant use pretty much the same tools and processes.