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I disagree with this. Some of the more extravagant engineering prowess has divested from insane eccentric billionaires Like the other commenter said the larger

by vablings 10mo ago

I disagree with this. Some of the more extravagant engineering prowess has divested from insane eccentric billionaires Like the other commenter said the larger issue is the monopolization (see groq x nvidia for a glaring example) and other forms of rent seeking that clamp down on market fairness and efficiency

mike50 10mo ago
Mega yachts are not airplanes, computers, software or some other cutting edge or basic research technology. It's a boat that other then adding starlink hasn't meaningfully changed for decades.
- vablings 9mo ago
  Mega yachts are designed using CAD software, the prototypes are milled or even sometimes now 3d printed out of huge foam panel. Advanced hulls are constructed from a number of materials and methods. All of these things required bespoke skilled labor that cannot be replaced with robots or AI. I think mega yachts are stupid, that doesn't mean they shouldn't exist and to act like they are the same as even 20 years ago is willfully ignorant
hakfoo 9mo ago
It feels like the quality of our eccentric billionaires has gone downhill. We've all seen the comic where the villian tells Spider-Man "I don't want to cure cancer, I want to turn people into dinosaurs." I would respect that a hell of a lot more than whatever Bezos/Musk/Zuckerberg/etc are doing with their money. Hell, I'd settle for Howard Hughes levels of madness-mixed-with-genius. Everyone just buys the same Billionaire Starter Pack these days consisting of ugly yachts and mansions, and the obligatory rocket company. The change is just spent on aggressive hoard-management and political machinations. Is their heart even in any of those ventures? When they wake up, so they say "I spent the first 40 years of my life selling my soul so I can do this, and it was so worth it?" I know if you dropped twelve figures in my lap, I'd be saying things like "who can I hire to help me engineer an army of superintelligent dragon creatures" or "let's level Peoria, Arizona and rebuild it as a car-free zone with the density of midtown Mahnattan", not "let's buy Yahoo, because all the other depressing media outlets are spoken for already."

mike50 10mo ago

Mega yachts are not airplanes, computers, software or some other cutting edge or basic research technology. It's a boat that other then adding starlink hasn't meaningfully changed for decades.

vablings 9mo ago
Mega yachts are designed using CAD software, the prototypes are milled or even sometimes now 3d printed out of huge foam panel. Advanced hulls are constructed from a number of materials and methods. All of these things required bespoke skilled labor that cannot be replaced with robots or AI. I think mega yachts are stupid, that doesn't mean they shouldn't exist and to act like they are the same as even 20 years ago is willfully ignorant

hakfoo 9mo ago

It feels like the quality of our eccentric billionaires has gone downhill. We've all seen the comic where the villian tells Spider-Man "I don't want to cure cancer, I want to turn people into dinosaurs." I would respect that a hell of a lot more than whatever Bezos/Musk/Zuckerberg/etc are doing with their money. Hell, I'd settle for Howard Hughes levels of madness-mixed-with-genius. Everyone just buys the same Billionaire Starter Pack these days consisting of ugly yachts and mansions, and the obligatory rocket company. The change is just spent on aggressive hoard-management and political machinations. Is their heart even in any of those ventures? When they wake up, so they say "I spent the first 40 years of my life selling my soul so I can do this, and it was so worth it?" I know if you dropped twelve figures in my lap, I'd be saying things like "who can I hire to help me engineer an army of superintelligent dragon creatures" or "let's level Peoria, Arizona and rebuild it as a car-free zone with the density of midtown Mahnattan", not "let's buy Yahoo, because all the other depressing media outlets are spoken for already."