thkim

9 ms·

31.
by thkim 7y ago
which part is propaganda?
32.
by thkim 7y ago
I doubt it. Chinese system only works when they are playing catch up. There is no incentive for being a pioneer in a culture where IP is not protected. The system doesn't work when they need to push above everyone else.
33.
by thkim 7y ago
It may be a big revenue business but margins are extremely thin. That's one of the reasons why there hasn't been much innovation. Amazon could be a different story, but the virtue of brokering a standard product is same as retaili
34.
by thkim 7y ago
Uber can't make money from taxi service. It's trying to mimic Amazon model where profit comes from subsidiary service. Uber is yet to find such thing. Without valid profit source I don't understand how SEC approves an IPO for
35.
by thkim 8y ago
Paying is the easiest way to acquire a user. If you can't retain, that's a product problem. There is no need to rule out paying to acquire a user. What author probably meant is that you don't spend on marketing unless ROI is
36.
by thkim 8y ago
targeted advertisement is not by itself inferior or superior to untargeted advertisement. Method can only be effective when used correctly.
37.
by thkim 8y ago
Put that hair upside down, you get UNIX beard...
38.
by thkim 8y ago
Given $8bn valuation, I think Qualtrics is spending heavily on marketing which keeps their net profit low. I think their operating margin is near 50% (being a software company it is possible), which means about $200mm in operating income. I
39.
by thkim 8y ago
Similar case in the rates world is LIBOR fixing. It's an outdated scheme that managed to escape regulatory attention for a very long time. By design there is a trust issue yet so much of the global financial system depended upon it. I
40.
by thkim 9y ago
central bank scheme is not perfect. however central bank has proven to be very effective at providing stability to currency. bitcoin's scheme is vastly inferior. protection from hyperinflation is not a great benefit compared to unstabl
41.
by thkim 9y ago
pro: better compatibility with external libraries, syntax is nicer con: GUI programming will suck unless .net adds "visual python" I don't have statistics but I imagine people would prefer sticking to VB for ease of adding bu
42.
by thkim 9y ago
everyone gets taxed in the scheme, even the board of governors at the fed, so whats your point? who benefits? government tax income increases? so what? does fed get a pay raise everytime they do this? you are really over your head.
43.
by thkim 9y ago
i am saying that when bitcoin value takes a hit by some global event, and people panic to sell, there is nothing that will stop the value from gyrating to zero. what are you talking about? what does charging interest or reserve have anythin
44.
by thkim 9y ago
you are confusing between investment and speculation. buying amazon stock with an outlook for income potential is an investment. buying something that has no way of recouping investment other than capital appreciation is speculation. even i
45.
by thkim 9y ago
i take back what i said. i apologize. i read it not as a general statement but as a defense on bitcoin. taking risk on something that does not have any income potential and passing it off to late joiners is very essence of ponzi scheme.
46.
by thkim 9y ago
the guy I was replying to was saying a ponzi scheme is how markets work, which is definitely not true. a) this is valid point, but bitcoin is failing currency. if there was a central authority then its value would have been stabilized. neve
47.
by thkim 9y ago
no, it is not how normal markets work. a stock, bond, real estate "generates income". that's why it has value. bitcoin does not.
48.
by thkim 9y ago
bitcoin is just extortion on craze of the crowd. if no income is been generated by it, then its value is arbitrary. an investment asset needs a cash flow to repay investment and then some. bitcoin has none. i admit bitcoin is not the only a
49.
by thkim 9y ago
yes, bitcoin is single linked list that's not even sharded. design is very flawed. can't believe these bitcoin followers think it's holy grail of technology. bitcoin can't even handle the current volume well. it requires
50.
by thkim 9y ago
are you seriously saying their assets and power to generate income amount to nothing? you need to think. bitcoin does not generate income.
51.
by thkim 9y ago
you are confusing what stock is. it has stream of dividend to recoup investment. bitcoin, no.
52.
by thkim 9y ago
i'm not sure what you mean by euro crisis but if you are asking why euro failed, it shows exactly why bitcoin will not work. euro is an attempt to use single currency for different economies. euro failed because it ignores simple fact
53.
by thkim 9y ago
I don't know a book to recommend. basic scheme is explained in any money & banking textbook. if you know what a bank run is, why it occurs and how it is being prevented then you will see why bitcoin's decentralization makes no
54.
by thkim 9y ago
it's already posing a significant threat in smaller economies like South Korea. a lot of people (even here on hacker news) don't seem to understand the consequences of bitcoin & cryptocurrency. i am very concerned. a lot of bi
55.
by thkim 9y ago
you're thinking leverage is only way to pose a system risk to economy. it is not. leverage amplifies the risk, but just because there is no leverage that does not mean risk is not exposed to the system. when consumption goes down, busi
56.
by thkim 9y ago
it is not about morality. volatility is bad for any currency. it's simple truth.
57.
by thkim 9y ago
venezuela shows exactly why bitcoin cannot be used as currency. venezuela currency lost its value because the trust in central authority has evaporated, meaning it is now decentralized. look at it - venezuela currency value graph looks like
58.
by thkim 9y ago
us economy is big so bitcoin feels like a noise right now. in other countries, it is a real threat. it's going to take some years until us feels the heat, but by then it will be too late.
59.
by thkim 9y ago
bitcoin's price increase creates inflation because it makes holders wealthy. inflation is not a bad thing when driven by fundamental growth (value creation). bitcoin is not creating value.
60.
by thkim 9y ago
1 - money printing is not crony capitalism like what bitcoin creators tout them to be. it is a method of stabilizing value. when used wrong it can destroy economy (venezuela, zimbabwe), but that is a question of politics (voting wrong peopl

More ›