Do you want to sell sugar water or do you want to change the world?

Re:Do you want to sell sugar water or do you want to change ... by bmac27 on Sunday August 28, 2011 @11:32PM (#2935791)

Ultimately I think there ought to be a fundamental debate about what "changing the world" even means in the context of the tech space. In other words, how big does a company have to get to "change the world"? How much reach? Can it be drawn to a hard number? A specific metric? Or is it this nebulous sort of thing that doesn't really mean anything?

I think we’d see a pretty wide range of opinions if we polled folks here as to which of the current crop of both established companies & startups they felt were companies that really, truly “changed the world" or were in the process of doing so.

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Re:Do you want to sell sugar water or do you want to change ... by dkrich on Sunday August 28, 2011 @11:54PM (#2935834)

Well, let's agree that a cure for cancer or alternative forms of energy are objectively more important than a new way to ask people questions about your city or share event photos, no?

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Re:Do you want to sell sugar water or do you want to change ... by zackattack on Monday August 29, 2011 @12:26AM (#2935919)

I agree.

Look at this way though.

Let's say you share a picture of me at a concert and my dream romantic partner sees it, decides she must be with me, and tracks me down. We fall in love and get married and I never again have to think about dating, because I choose not to.

Now I have more mental resources dedicated to the tasks of providing everyone with healthy food, disseminating compassion, ...

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