Disqus - Latest Comments for qdub

Re: A classic from Paul Graham

qdub — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:11:29 -0000

Right, so with each step you move towards a finished product, the materials moves further downstream along the river.

Re: Boxee

qdub — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:29:52 -0000

I'm definitely a believer in living room computing, see this post: http://qwang.net/20081015/unforseen-competition...

In the next 3 years we need dire improvements in UI and input method to make this a compelling way to use your TV...

Re: Once again, Twitter’s death is laid out. Once again, users will fail to notice

qdub — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:28:31 -0000

The biggest threat to Twitter is still status messaging in mainstream social networks and IM apps. Somebody find a way to log these things and aggregate them and you'll have a much more compelling product that Twitter.

Re: Why The Flow Of Innovation Has Reversed

qdub — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:50:23 -0000

Great thoughts. I wouldn't say *the* flow has reversed, but that a new flow in the reverse direction has emerged and is slowly validating its power. I for one still think the traditional flow has huge potential with its accidental discoveries, such as that the military-commissioned internet has great consumer/commercial use =)

Re: Musings of The Brain - I haven’t done one of these in a while. Here’s...

qdub — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:15:32 -0000

They have kick ass AJAX, and the "game" concept is dead-on, but don't have the design discipline. I would doubt they even AB test anything...

Re: To Splurge Or Not To Splurge

qdub — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:17:35 -0000

Only the issuing of stock is about ownership and raising money and capitalization. Every trade post listing is partly (often mostly) speculative by nature, and naked shorts both adds liquidity to markets and validate markets as a powerful signaler of truth.

Re: To Splurge Or Not To Splurge

qdub — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:14:37 -0000

I wouldn't underestimate the complexity of these securities, especially as an outsider to the industry.. And congress is most certainly unable to understand the valuation mechanics, as are 99.99% of the population, so no, he could not have "easily" summarized anything.

Re: Streaming vs File-Based Media

qdub — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:49:33 -0000

Then we will need new ways of selling permanent access to media for consumers who just have to have a feeling of possession. In the post-file world, we're really talking about "right-to-access" contracts.

Re: Verizon may consolidate mobile search with Google deal

qdub — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:43:28 -0000

I'm surprised VZ doesn't hold a grudge over the 700Mhz auctions...

Re: louisgray.com: Can Microblogs Just Talk To Each Other?

qdub — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:38:56 -0000

Nailed it! I'm surprised no one else has mentioned email yet, the quintessential federated technology.

And who makes a profit on email?

Re: From E*Trade To Twitter

qdub — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:18:51 -0000

Gotcha. Is there any reason to implement the "Twitter push" method, which is a application specific API, instead of just publishing to a feed and letting any aggregators import it? The latter seems much simpler to me...

Re: From E*Trade To Twitter

qdub — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:31:13 -0000

Now Twitter is a data-hub importing feed activity from elsewhere? Very Friendfeed like...

Re: WP plugin 2.0 breaks custom CSS styling

qdub — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:59:07 -0000

If you look for the HTML which draws the "add your comment" box, that content lives inside an iframe, and that iframe no longer borrows the CSS specified in the customer CSS header.

Re: How feasibly can we actually drop our global CO2 production?

qdub — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:52:56 -0000

You may find it interesting that economists have prioritized climate change as the least cost-effective global issue to pursue.

See TED video:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/bjorn_lombor...

Re: Eye-Fi raises round for wireless photo uploading cards

qdub — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:13:53 -0000

So you have to shoot your photos within WiFi range? Wouldn't 3G enabled cameras make more sense? (it's not a camera-phone, it's a phone-camera!)

Re: Continuations

qdub — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:37:12 -0000

milliondollarhomepage baby

Re: Indirect competition

qdub — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:55:34 -0000

Can also ctrl-shift-T

Re: Corporate Venture Capital

qdub — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:37:43 -0000

Corporate VC has always been a talent and idea acquisition motive, not a ROI motive.

But if it were, it brings up an interesting point that has bothered me for a while: Why must companies always grow? Isn't there a point where company has exhausted all feasibly opportunities to deliver returns above their cost of capital, given their competencies? Why keep growing, when they can return a big chunk of cash to shareholders, some of which will find it's way back into a real VC firm?

Re: Google testing “AdSense for Games” in bid to shake up in-game advertising

qdub — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:41:23 -0000

"Lively by Google would be a natural vehicle for Google’s AdSense for Games product, which could insert ads into the rooms of users. In fact, others expect it to be a proving ground"

Finally an interesting business case for Lively...

Re: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility - Continuations

qdub — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:07:01 -0000

Shoot, it would be very disappointing if it turns out Google manipulated their own search results to promote new content.

Personally, I think the push into second-click content is a trip to low-ROI zone. It's especially true if they go into content that is already heavily using ad-sense, where the incremental revenue is merely the recapturing of ad-sense dollars paid out to the old content creator. Also, what happens when they push out an endemic/niche site with really damn good CPM, only to replace it with moderate ad-sense CPM? All in all, my fear is you have a bunch of low ROI or ROI negative google projects killing ROI positive businesses because they are kept afloat by an upstream cash cow.

Re: Why did iPhone snub Flash?

qdub — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:20:25 -0000

Just an observer for now...but will step from the sidelines sometime 2009 =)

Re: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility - Continuations

qdub — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:26:37 -0000

Google's basic responsibility is to keep the search results fair. Given their inherent understanding of their own ranking, and possibly talent in designing a system that attracts high quality talent, it's not surprising that Knol results would evenhandedly earn the top spots. The "don't compete with your customers" code is broken in industry all the time, but it's only ugly because it is often linked with unfair competition, not because it is inherently immoral.

Re: Is the iPhone a Separate Market? - Continuations

qdub — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:25:14 -0000

The million dollar question is "is it a separate market, or is it a glimpse of the state everyone will migrate towards?" I actually think the most popular use-cases will eventually spread to the masses, so the iPhone platform really serves as an indicative herald

Re: You Can't Regulate Just One Industry And Leave The Other Alone

qdub — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:35:00 -0000

Piracy used to be fake DVDs/VHS sold on the streets of China, and you received a lower quality product AND buying experience compared to taking the legit path.

However, today, piracy is largely cheaper AND better...BitTorrent offers A. a larger selection B. often faster delivery and C. non-DRM'd content. It's a real shame that paid services offer a clumsier product and experience than the free and illegal path, especially when there's so much you can do to offer a better product. "You can't compete with free" simply isn't true...how do you explain private schools? bottled water? satellite radio? 37signals?

I really don't think it's about free content with alternate revenue models. People are welcome to explore that path, but the 99c/song, $2/episode, $3 rental, $15/movie price points are completely achievable with the right means of purchase, delivery, and surrounding value-added services (e.g. social sharing) that only a legit service can deliver.

Re: Decision Making

qdub — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:04:46 -0000

But heuristics are quite rational...we intelligently simplify all the time. Irrational thinking is a blatant ignorance or fabrication of visible facts.

On another note, the funny thing is that irrational thinking is simultaneously said to be "what makes us human" as well as "what makes us stupid" (it just depends on whether you're talking about who to marry or which stock to buy!)