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Finally, someone is saying it. The ideas in silicon valley that are being produced now are just so boring. I can't remember the last time I said : wow, or even

Finally, someone is saying it. The ideas in silicon valley that are being produced now are just so boring. I can't remember the last time I said : wow, or even just thought - well, that's different. Sure, it's great to make a better database examiner, but if you're young and you have nothing to lose, why not try something really fresh. Something brand new? That webcam figure is fresh, for example.

vaksel 18y ago
truly innovative ideas are almost impossible to make money with, so people settle for doing things that they know will sell(either to users or another company)
- mixmax 18y ago
  From the Wikipedia article on Silicon Valley "It was in Silicon Valley that the integrated circuit, the microprocessor, the microcomputer, among other key technologies, were developed, and has been the site of electronic innovation for over four decades" These were all truly innovative ideas, and they made enough money to give Silicon Valley it's name. The problem with truly innovative ideas is not that they are impossible to make money with. The problem is that it's a homerun business where a few succeed and most fail. VC's have known this for ages, which is why they invest in innovation.
pg 18y ago
Occam's razor suggests that the reason the current ideas seem boring is that you don't understand yet which ones have big potential. Microprocessors seem a great idea in retrospect, because we've seen now what they turned into, but initially hardly anyone cared about them, even within Intel.
- Shamiq 18y ago
  I'm sorry, I don't follow how you're applying Occam's Razor here.
  - pg 18y ago
    If something is true of every period, you can explain it without recourse to a theory about why it's true of this particular period.
- markessien 18y ago
  It may not be possible to understand what they can become, but one can look at the industry and know roughly what will happen. Let's say some guy comes up with some really great hubcaps.He can grow to become the best hubcap maker in the world. But he's still just making hubcaps, and most people don't care about them. But the people who do stuff in media, for example music or tv, always have potential to change the industry. Same with anything communication related. These are core industries that are fundamental to human beings - so startups in those areas always have huge potential. Like muxtape for example, or justin.tv, those startups can change the world. They are not changing the world yet, but I can see that with the right things in place, they can change the world. It's the same with microprocessors, anyone who was in the field knew that if size went down, price went down and so on, microprocessors would make a huge difference. They did not predict the apps that would be enabled because of them. Why did they not? Microprocessors created a platform, and a platform opens a brand new field for new people to create ideas within. When a startup works on something that creates a new type of platform, then breakout ideas can happen on the platform. Hubcaps are not a platform that others can build on. They're the end of a line.
  - Shamiq 18y ago
    Hubcaps as platforms sounds like the most interesting idea I've heard in a long time (I understand this was not the point you were trying to make). --Hubcap based games: Who can log the least number of hours? (if it spins,we can measure distance traveled) --Hubcap based communications: My cars recognize and exchange information (shopping lists, to-do lists, language courses) --Hubcap based entertainment: Quickly transfer songs/files/etc. -- hooks into your audio system. --Hubcap based computing: Use those idle cycles while your sitting at the light to help with gene folding. --Hubcap based energy: Spinners? Naw, they just charge my car's battery (self-powered units). Braindumps are fun!
trapper 18y ago
This seems to be a very unpopular opinion around here. There have been few web businesses I think of as "wow" as well. This era isn't about the technological innovation (there has been little really in the last few years of software), it's about usability innovation. Mainly making things simpler and putting a framework around marketing your wares. This is great, and needed, but not so interesting. Another friend sharing widget video thingy? Bleh.

vaksel 18y ago

truly innovative ideas are almost impossible to make money with, so people settle for doing things that they know will sell(either to users or another company)

mixmax 18y ago
From the Wikipedia article on Silicon Valley "It was in Silicon Valley that the integrated circuit, the microprocessor, the microcomputer, among other key technologies, were developed, and has been the site of electronic innovation for over four decades" These were all truly innovative ideas, and they made enough money to give Silicon Valley it's name. The problem with truly innovative ideas is not that they are impossible to make money with. The problem is that it's a homerun business where a few succeed and most fail. VC's have known this for ages, which is why they invest in innovation.

pg 18y ago

Occam's razor suggests that the reason the current ideas seem boring is that you don't understand yet which ones have big potential. Microprocessors seem a great idea in retrospect, because we've seen now what they turned into, but initially hardly anyone cared about them, even within Intel.

Shamiq 18y ago
I'm sorry, I don't follow how you're applying Occam's Razor here.
- pg 18y ago
  If something is true of every period, you can explain it without recourse to a theory about why it's true of this particular period.
markessien 18y ago
It may not be possible to understand what they can become, but one can look at the industry and know roughly what will happen. Let's say some guy comes up with some really great hubcaps.He can grow to become the best hubcap maker in the world. But he's still just making hubcaps, and most people don't care about them. But the people who do stuff in media, for example music or tv, always have potential to change the industry. Same with anything communication related. These are core industries that are fundamental to human beings - so startups in those areas always have huge potential. Like muxtape for example, or justin.tv, those startups can change the world. They are not changing the world yet, but I can see that with the right things in place, they can change the world. It's the same with microprocessors, anyone who was in the field knew that if size went down, price went down and so on, microprocessors would make a huge difference. They did not predict the apps that would be enabled because of them. Why did they not? Microprocessors created a platform, and a platform opens a brand new field for new people to create ideas within. When a startup works on something that creates a new type of platform, then breakout ideas can happen on the platform. Hubcaps are not a platform that others can build on. They're the end of a line.
- Shamiq 18y ago
  Hubcaps as platforms sounds like the most interesting idea I've heard in a long time (I understand this was not the point you were trying to make). --Hubcap based games: Who can log the least number of hours? (if it spins,we can measure distance traveled) --Hubcap based communications: My cars recognize and exchange information (shopping lists, to-do lists, language courses) --Hubcap based entertainment: Quickly transfer songs/files/etc. -- hooks into your audio system. --Hubcap based computing: Use those idle cycles while your sitting at the light to help with gene folding. --Hubcap based energy: Spinners? Naw, they just charge my car's battery (self-powered units). Braindumps are fun!

trapper 18y ago

This seems to be a very unpopular opinion around here. There have been few web businesses I think of as "wow" as well. This era isn't about the technological innovation (there has been little really in the last few years of software), it's about usability innovation. Mainly making things simpler and putting a framework around marketing your wares. This is great, and needed, but not so interesting. Another friend sharing widget video thingy? Bleh.