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When will you Americans get this? Europe is not a country, (also a pet peeve, Africa is not a country). There is no over-arching European culture, and I don't t

by sjf 17y ago

When will you Americans get this? Europe is not a country, (also a pet peeve, Africa is not a country). There is no over-arching European culture, and I don't think any one would ever claim that there is.

davidw 17y ago
Paul Böhm is from Austria. Your point about Europe is valid of course, but please direct your ire at your fellow European:-)
- ahoyhere 17y ago
  last.fm is from Austria. There are others. Metalab, the hackerspace the author of the article started, is partially funded by the govt but I find it hard to believe it was willed into being by govt committee. This article is so strange... and it sounds just like the US, except instead of search engines, it's some kind of war tech (whether it's weaponry, vehicles, planes, or spy stuff). Telecoms and resource companies (e.g. mineral oil), power, postal services, and so on, have a similar history in the US... but who would write about the "US Method of Startups: Waterfall" and use the postal service as an example? Not to mention the bailouts (of railroads, of utilities, of car makers, of banks...).
  - davidw 17y ago
    I think there are some sour grapes or frustration there, given the guy's involvement with startups - maybe something hasn't been going well for him and/or he's run into lots of bureaucrats or obstacles, something which does happen in Europe. Hopefully he can get around those difficulties. > last.fm is from Austria. I went to Dornbirn and met one of the guys formerly involved with Last.fm, who is now doing some other kind of startup. Nice place.
    - ahoyhere 17y ago
      You might be right. I also think Austrians especially have no idea how good they've got it. They think the US is different because if you just take trips to NYC or other major destinations, you don't get a feel for it. I'm grateful for what it's like to live in Austria. Typically at least once a day, something will remind me of how much better it is here. I don't even care about the taxes.
CaptainCrap 17y ago
Despite what you may believe (or want to believe) that's not completely true. Europeans tend to exaggerate internal differences to an extreme and are not able to see the big picture. There exists a culture that is uniquely European as opposed to American, or Chinese. For example, when Americans talk about European tendencies towards bureaucracy they're right, and it's something that affects all of Europe (yes, that includes you, "but we're not like all you continental types" UK). Ironically, this narrowmindedness ("we're not all the same") is a feature of said European culture.
- ahoyhere 17y ago
  Yeah, the countries don't have nearly as much in common as US states, of course, but the longer you spend in "Europe" (whichever countries you pick, it seems to me), the more subtle but serious differences to the US you notice... that seem fairly cross-cultural within Europe. I haven't been anywhere that reminded me of the US' typical daily grind.

by sjf 17y ago

davidw 17y ago

Paul Böhm is from Austria. Your point about Europe is valid of course, but please direct your ire at your fellow European:-)

ahoyhere 17y ago
last.fm is from Austria. There are others. Metalab, the hackerspace the author of the article started, is partially funded by the govt but I find it hard to believe it was willed into being by govt committee. This article is so strange... and it sounds just like the US, except instead of search engines, it's some kind of war tech (whether it's weaponry, vehicles, planes, or spy stuff). Telecoms and resource companies (e.g. mineral oil), power, postal services, and so on, have a similar history in the US... but who would write about the "US Method of Startups: Waterfall" and use the postal service as an example? Not to mention the bailouts (of railroads, of utilities, of car makers, of banks...).
- davidw 17y ago
  I think there are some sour grapes or frustration there, given the guy's involvement with startups - maybe something hasn't been going well for him and/or he's run into lots of bureaucrats or obstacles, something which does happen in Europe. Hopefully he can get around those difficulties. > last.fm is from Austria. I went to Dornbirn and met one of the guys formerly involved with Last.fm, who is now doing some other kind of startup. Nice place.
  - ahoyhere 17y ago
    You might be right. I also think Austrians especially have no idea how good they've got it. They think the US is different because if you just take trips to NYC or other major destinations, you don't get a feel for it. I'm grateful for what it's like to live in Austria. Typically at least once a day, something will remind me of how much better it is here. I don't even care about the taxes.

CaptainCrap 17y ago

Despite what you may believe (or want to believe) that's not completely true. Europeans tend to exaggerate internal differences to an extreme and are not able to see the big picture. There exists a culture that is uniquely European as opposed to American, or Chinese. For example, when Americans talk about European tendencies towards bureaucracy they're right, and it's something that affects all of Europe (yes, that includes you, "but we're not like all you continental types" UK). Ironically, this narrowmindedness ("we're not all the same") is a feature of said European culture.

ahoyhere 17y ago
Yeah, the countries don't have nearly as much in common as US states, of course, but the longer you spend in "Europe" (whichever countries you pick, it seems to me), the more subtle but serious differences to the US you notice... that seem fairly cross-cultural within Europe. I haven't been anywhere that reminded me of the US' typical daily grind.