5 ms·

Tech startups are taking on the oil business

34 points by elpeper 11y ago

codecamper 11y ago
woo hoo! use those brightest minds to dig up more fossil fuels & inject that carbon into the atmosphere for 8 more generations to come! brilliant.
- joeyspn 11y ago
  Not sure if it’s different than using the brightest minds of our generation to sell ads and contribute to build a panopticon society.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - confluence 11y ago
    I think we've concluded in this thread that bright minds used in any significant capacity can be a dangerous threat to society at large.
- chronic40 11y ago
  Then turn off your computer to save electricity and the planet!
  - confluence 11y ago
    I know you're trying to make a point, but it's poorly done. Domestic energy use is in no way comparable to industrial use which comprises the vast majority of the contribution to global warming, specifically factory farming, heavy industry and transportation.
    - patrickaljord 11y ago
      > specifically factory farming, heavy industry and transportation And how do you think the device you're using to read this was built and transported to you?
      - confluence 11y ago
        You've just made my point. A kilo of meat uses many times its weight in water, grain and fuel to produce. The same goes for many manufactured goods, my device included. But domestic electricity usage of a computer? Yeah, that's immaterial and makes the point poorly.
        patrickaljord 11y ago
        The point is not that you should stop using your laptop, rather that you should not have bought it in the first place to avoid encouraging the practices you dislike. If you keep buying and using your laptop, that means you're ok with everything that went into the process of building and transporting it to you, as you're helping financing the very process you denounce. It's like buying and eating meat of protected species and saying "hey, I didn't kill the poor thing".
- stephen_cagle 11y ago
  Your sentiment is in the right place, but it seems distracting to bring them up in this case. :|
rubiquity 11y ago
I hope to see intersting discussion around this article and these companies. I live in Calgary and I've always been intrigued by the gigantic oil and gas industry in my backyard. The problem is that when I look at those companies, despite their obvious inefficiencies, they are the antithesis to a typical startup. Oil and gas companies typically: - Are run by people with no appreciation for technology (this might change in 10-30 years when these people die - I wish I was kidding in my language about death but that's exactly how people around here describe it: just waiting for the "Blue Chippers" to die off.) - Are enterprises so deals will take forever to close - Typically only buy software from software companies that look like them (Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, etc.) - Toss all cost saving measures out the window as soon as the barrel price shoots back up I think it's an interesting industry with tons of data and tons of problems that need solving but a very hard one to crack.
- iolothebard 11y ago
  Devon is in your back yard. They are significantly invested in technology. Living in Oklahoma all the oil & gas companies here are in my experience. Perhaps you're just ignorant to what it is they actually do in their IT departments or are only considering small companies. A field worker or landman might not know what goes on either.
  - rubiquity 11y ago
    I'm aware of Devon but isn't that a recent thing? And I'm guessing you're referring to their use of OpenStack and buying RHEL licenses/support? What's interesting is that several people up here have used Devon as the poster child for reserved technology practices. Encana/Cenovus tend to have the recognition of being technology forward. Maybe Devon has changed since they sold off half of their Canadian assets. I agree my ignorance/attitude towards the industry isn't the best. I've always felt as a software startup the service companies would be your best bet.
  - calgaryeng 11y ago
    The technology that Devon invests in is not the type that Hacker News talks about.
saosebastiao 11y ago
Anybody from Tachyus here? I've always been intrigued by the company but never really understood what form of analytics they are doing, and the descriptions are always really vague. Is it OR modeling? Data mining? Do you have any use case examples?
curiousjorge 11y ago
how do you approach oil businesses to try out your analytics or enterprise software if you haven't built one yet?

34 points by elpeper 11y ago

woo hoo! use those brightest minds to dig up more fossil fuels & inject that carbon into the atmosphere for 8 more generations to come! brilliant.

joeyspn 11y ago
Not sure if it’s different than using the brightest minds of our generation to sell ads and contribute to build a panopticon society.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- confluence 11y ago
  I think we've concluded in this thread that bright minds used in any significant capacity can be a dangerous threat to society at large.
chronic40 11y ago
Then turn off your computer to save electricity and the planet!
- confluence 11y ago
  I know you're trying to make a point, but it's poorly done. Domestic energy use is in no way comparable to industrial use which comprises the vast majority of the contribution to global warming, specifically factory farming, heavy industry and transportation.
  - patrickaljord 11y ago
    > specifically factory farming, heavy industry and transportation And how do you think the device you're using to read this was built and transported to you?
    - confluence 11y ago
      You've just made my point. A kilo of meat uses many times its weight in water, grain and fuel to produce. The same goes for many manufactured goods, my device included. But domestic electricity usage of a computer? Yeah, that's immaterial and makes the point poorly.
      - patrickaljord 11y ago
        The point is not that you should stop using your laptop, rather that you should not have bought it in the first place to avoid encouraging the practices you dislike. If you keep buying and using your laptop, that means you're ok with everything that went into the process of building and transporting it to you, as you're helping financing the very process you denounce. It's like buying and eating meat of protected species and saying "hey, I didn't kill the poor thing".
stephen_cagle 11y ago
Your sentiment is in the right place, but it seems distracting to bring them up in this case. :|

rubiquity 11y ago

I hope to see intersting discussion around this article and these companies. I live in Calgary and I've always been intrigued by the gigantic oil and gas industry in my backyard. The problem is that when I look at those companies, despite their obvious inefficiencies, they are the antithesis to a typical startup. Oil and gas companies typically: - Are run by people with no appreciation for technology (this might change in 10-30 years when these people die - I wish I was kidding in my language about death but that's exactly how people around here describe it: just waiting for the "Blue Chippers" to die off.) - Are enterprises so deals will take forever to close - Typically only buy software from software companies that look like them (Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, etc.) - Toss all cost saving measures out the window as soon as the barrel price shoots back up I think it's an interesting industry with tons of data and tons of problems that need solving but a very hard one to crack.

iolothebard 11y ago
Devon is in your back yard. They are significantly invested in technology. Living in Oklahoma all the oil & gas companies here are in my experience. Perhaps you're just ignorant to what it is they actually do in their IT departments or are only considering small companies. A field worker or landman might not know what goes on either.
- rubiquity 11y ago
  I'm aware of Devon but isn't that a recent thing? And I'm guessing you're referring to their use of OpenStack and buying RHEL licenses/support? What's interesting is that several people up here have used Devon as the poster child for reserved technology practices. Encana/Cenovus tend to have the recognition of being technology forward. Maybe Devon has changed since they sold off half of their Canadian assets. I agree my ignorance/attitude towards the industry isn't the best. I've always felt as a software startup the service companies would be your best bet.
- calgaryeng 11y ago
  The technology that Devon invests in is not the type that Hacker News talks about.

saosebastiao 11y ago

Anybody from Tachyus here? I've always been intrigued by the company but never really understood what form of analytics they are doing, and the descriptions are always really vague. Is it OR modeling? Data mining? Do you have any use case examples?

curiousjorge 11y ago

how do you approach oil businesses to try out your analytics or enterprise software if you haven't built one yet?