• 2 Posts
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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: August 21st, 2023

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  • Progressive Web Apps, it’s just a website that masquerades as an app and can do most of the same things.

    All you have to do is link a manifest file in your root HTML page and Android users will be prompted to “Install the app” when they visit the site.

    You get an icon on the home screen, a full screen app view, and it can handle links like other apps. Your manifest can request permissions like location, etc.

    I guess some companies will always want a Play Store presence, but it’s not really necessary for most apps.










  • I agree. I’d like to see some separation between the car manufacturer and the software. Any computers in the car should support whatever operating system you want to put on it. Things like controlling the car’s functions would just be device drivers. If the car company also wants to get into the SaaS business, fine, but you shouldn’t be required to pay for that software to operate the vehicle.


  • I’m on board with it if people want to change the terminology around these things, but it seems like the core of what the author is discussing is the valuation of these companies and potential bubbles.

    I think it makes sense that Disney and Amazon and Netflix who are able to make money through more of a SaaS-like model would have a higher valuation than a car company that has to produce a new car for every unit sold. Maybe there’s a recent example of an over-valued car company we can think of?

    Consider that an auto mechanic and a software engineer can have a similar problem-solving skill set, and could both be very intelligent. Why then does an auto mechanic make so much less money? It’s partly because of the economies of scale involved with software. The owner of the software company can sell the software to thousands of clients without having to pay the software engineer to build the software thousands of times. The owner of the auto shop still has to pay the mechanic to perform every job every time and get paid for it.

    So while I agree that Disney and Netflix maybe aren’t “Tech” companies, it seems to me the real problem the author is grappling with is whether they should be valued similar to tech companies. So I guess the question becomes, are “tech” companies highly valued because they are expected to make some huge technological leap that shakes up industries, or is it because of the economies of scale inherent in the SaaS-like business model?







  • I’d rather see H-1B than outsourcing, because an H-1B at least still has to pay a US cost of living… but it’s clear that Big Tech is abusing the system. I know several new CS graduates having a hard time finding work, and somehow these companies are saying that they can’t find applicants?

    I call bullshit, I’ve worked for companies that invested in relationships with local universities and recruited people right out of college and invested in getting them up to speed with the specific technologies they were looking for, it’s not hard.