In general, tech companies probably shouldn't do any preview videos at all -- they should just show a product demo when it's ready.
I do think a video like the one described in the link could be done in a way that it was clearly so far in the future that everyone would know it was an imagination thing, like the concept cars at auto shows, that could turn into a real product in 5-10 years. And it would be worthwhile to get people thinking about augmented reality. But those kind of far-off concept promotions are really hard to do well.
Last I checked you still have to get users/customers to be a winner in business. YC has clout with investors, so their companies are more likely to get investment, but that's not the right measure of who is a winner.
The millions of consumers you need as customers (or, if B-to-B, say fortune 500 companies) don't give a damn about the YC stamp of approval.
Increased investment only turns into increased "wins" if you use that money to get more users/customers, i.e. with a better sales team, more marketing dollars. Is this happening? I don't know, it sure seems like a lot of software companies are eschewing traditional marketing and sales and counting on viral growth to be a success, but you can't just hire more engineers and increase a product's viral-ness. I don't think anyone truly understands what makes a software product catch on.
Exactly. It really is a shame that the true implications of augmented reality got lost in all the Google glass mockery. Forget the text message pop-ups and map overlays, that's all basically meaningless. Just a slightly easier to look at version of what's already on your phone.
But this kind of continuous melding of real life with video game graphics? A game-changer. Extrapolate it to everyone being able to see whatever they want to see, all the time, and things start to get pretty crazy pretty fast. Highly recommend Vernor Vinge's book Rainbows End for a full look at where this could take us a few years from now.
The original, $10 million X Prize (for the first private space flights) was launched this way. They did a huge press conference to launch the prize competition, and got the head of NASA and a bunch of astronauts there.
Peter Diamandis later said he didn't have a dime of the prize money at the time -- he quietly raised it later. In the meantime, everyone just assumed he had it because the launch event had so much credibility attached to it.
Partially. The insurance policy still cost a couple million dollars, which they had to raise. And they didn't purchase the insurance policy until several years after the competition was launched.
Um, no. Valentina was the first woman in space in 1963. However, the Russians didn't fly another woman in space for the next 20 years, not until we flew Sally Ride. We've flown a female astronaut almost every year since, they've flown one. The full count is: US, 45 female astronauts, Russia/SU: 3.
It's the Locksmith Institute. Locksmiths are who you call to get into a door to something own, but to which you lost the key. So presumably there's situations where a hotel can't get their keys working, and they'd like to have locksmiths in their city who are trained in this. Don't think it's any more complicated than that...
Presumably there's some kind of legal construct that could act as a poison pill. i.e. some kind of contract that says "if this patent is used for [insert evil purposes here], it is immediately converted to GPL."
Also, I refuse to lump defensive patent holders in with organizations like shell-corporation patent trolls or Intellectual Ventures. From what I can tell, IV isn't even bothering to try and execute on ideas they come up with. They simply brainstorm, apply for the patent based on the idea vapors, and then go after anyone who is putting in the blood and sweat to try and actually build it.
Relevant:
"Putting creativity on a pedestal can also be an excuse for laziness. There is a lot of cultural belief that creativity comes from inspiration, and can't be rushed. Not true. Inspiration is just your subconscious putting things together, and that can be made into an active process with a little introspection.
Focused, hard work is the real key to success. Keep your eyes on the goal, and just keep taking the next step towards completing it. If you aren't sure which way to do something, do it both ways and see which works better."
-John Carmack
If you're a mortal, don't put too much weight in the advice of the gods.
People at the top of their game are usually too prone to attribute their success to hard work. People at the bottom are too prone to write it off as a question of genius.
The reality is somewhere in between: Carmack wouldn't be Carmack without a lot of hard work, but most people could never be Carmack no matter how hard they work.
Carmack develops technology, not games. He invented the modern FPS and is still advancing the state of the art 20 years later -- I wish I were that creative.
I do think a video like the one described in the link could be done in a way that it was clearly so far in the future that everyone would know it was an imagination thing, like the concept cars at auto shows, that could turn into a real product in 5-10 years. And it would be worthwhile to get people thinking about augmented reality. But those kind of far-off concept promotions are really hard to do well.