Whistle’s ‘Fitbit for dogs’ acquired by Mars Petcare

Re:Whistle’s ‘Fitbit for dogs’ acquired by Mars Petcare by stvswn on Thursday March 31, 2016 @04:16PM (#11400277)

"Silicon Valley" is not centrally planned, and thus cannot effectively stop unimportant projects. As a result we live in this terrible dystopia where some ruthless people make products that other people might want to buy, with no regard about whether it's an "Important Problem." It's almost as if -- and I'm afraid to even say it -- the world doesn't care about you or your important problem and the important product that's going to solve it. I'm afraid that it might be the case that there are people out there -- the kinds of people you and I would never want to know -- who like gadgets, like their dogs, and would like a gadget for their dog. Maybe, if all of Silicon Valley sticks together, we can fix it, so that instead they pay attention to whatever important product you're working on.

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Re:Whistle’s ‘Fitbit for dogs’ acquired by Mars Petcare by unclebucknasty on Thursday March 31, 2016 @06:21PM (#11401045)

>the world doesn't care about you or your important problem and the important product that's going to solve it

Interesting that people lobby on behalf of gadget-loving dog owners, but actively rail against someone who points out that there are more important issues facing humanity. I'm not sure what motivates that kind of passion.

Sure, we can say that these companies are just making products that people are willing to buy. But, that's just another part of the same problem.

There has long been criticism of the relative dearth of meaningful projects in SV. OP is not the first to notice and waving him/her off doesn't improve the plight of humanity.

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Re:Whistle’s ‘Fitbit for dogs’ acquired by Mars Petcare by unclebucknasty on Thursday March 31, 2016 @06:18PM (#11401025)

>the world doesn't care about you or your important problem and the important product that's going to solve it

Funny that you lobby on behalf of gadget-loving dog owners, but actively rail against someone who points out that there are more important issues. I'm not sure what motivates that line of reasoning. Commitment to frivolity?

Sure, you can say that these companies are just making products that people are willing to buy. But, that's just another part of the same problem.

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Re:Whistle’s ‘Fitbit for dogs’ acquired by Mars Petcare by secstate on Thursday March 31, 2016 @05:00PM (#11400515)

That's fine. It's just disappointing to be smacked in the face by the unenlightened hedonism the vast majority of people stumble through their lives in.

I enjoy the company of my dog. But he does not share my last name, and is not one of my children. The emotional transference onto our animals is one of the more strikingly depressing aspects of 21st century American culture.

I'm not going to argue that that is a completely asshole thing to say. But I wont sit here and be told that because people wanted the emotional hole in their life filled and found an animal to do it, that it's a natural to then want their animal to kept in peak physical form. Sometimes people want stupid shit. When that happens to me, I hope some one with a glib, sarcastic tone tells me to stop it, and focus on helping those addicted to opioids and stuck in purgatory in jail because the courts are too busy to try their case and bring resolution.

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