[tedunangst]

I'm increasingly of the belief that the plan was to become a nuisance so that Apple buys them out, to be accompanied by an incredible journey blog post, so proud of what we've done, excited about what comes next, etc., and then quietly dissolve the whole operation.

[madeofpalk]

Why would Apple buy them? What value could they provide to Apple?

[playingalong]

Not being a nuisance.

[prmoustache]

I guess beeper users will wear out and give up before Apple need to buy them.

[madeofpalk]

That is a fantasy.

[striking]

I don't think the founders need any more money.

[chihuahua]

There are many people who "don't need any more money" but are still working day and night to make more money. For example, Satya or Tim Apple.

[striking]

Judging by their current projects I'd make the argument that Brad and Eric are working day and night to make things they find cool, even if it loses money.

[Grustaf]

Have you heard Eric talk about beeper? He genuinely believes that beeper is the future of message apps. He keeps saying that beeper is the only company that is completely focused on building a messaging app, and thats why they will win. He is simply deluded.

[striking]

I am a very happy customer of Beeper. It's a hard task and they're basically doing it for free. And all of my chats are more or less in one app. I even have my iMessage access back today.

So I'll say that I get where you're coming from, but also, I believe him and Brad!

[Grustaf]

That’s great for you, but none of that contradicts the fact that he is deluded. And also, they are not doing it for free, they have taken in and burnt millions of dollars of investor money.

[malfist]

And yet, people like Musk and Bezos keep trying to make more money.

[bdcravens]

Musk, and probably Bezos, have goals that were previously only attainable by nation-states, which require nation-state-sized budgets.

[randmeerkat]

> Musk, and probably Bezos, have goals that were previously only attainable by nation-states, which require nation-state-sized budgets.

A Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan discusses this a bit, not Musk and Bezos, but the cost of exploring space and his hope that space exploration was finally what would bring various nation states and humanity together. The irony is not lost on me that instead of bringing humanity and democracy to space, we instead brought back kings.

[bdcravens]

Perhaps I'm pessimistic, but I feel like humanity is a long way from our collective advancements being used for altruism. Space represents new territory to conquer. Smartphones aren't being used as the windows into global enlightenment, but more so as a means to spread hate and misinformation in manners that benefit the powers that be. Any of these things are relatively agnostic and still hold promise for the optimistic, but humanity needs a lot of growth for those dreams to be realized.

[randmeerkat]

> Perhaps I'm pessimistic, but I feel like humanity is a long way from our collective advancements being used for altruism.

There’s less people in poverty than there ever has been in human history. Even with ongoing global conflicts, the world is still existing in one of the most peaceful times in human history. Could we do better? Of course. Are some people left out? Definitely. Humans as a whole are relatively young however, and we’re still figuring things out.

> Space represents new territory to conquer.

“Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.”

~ Carl Sagan

What is there to conquer in infinity..? The idea that space is new territory to conquer is more of a reflection of the state of humanity than actual reality.

> Smartphones aren't being used as the windows into global enlightenment, but more so as a means to spread hate and misinformation in manners that benefit the powers that be.

This is true, that said, smartphones have also empowered people to learn new languages, collaborate on Wikipedia, and share lives across space and time. It’s easy to get lost in the noise of everything humanity does wrong. That’s only because no one is talking about what humanity does right.

> Any of these things are relatively agnostic and still hold promise for the optimistic, but humanity needs a lot of growth for those dreams to be realized.

It is my hope that humanity never stops growing and learning how to better itself.

[eli]

Does Apple?

[SnorkelTan]

For those who missed the incredible journey reference: https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/