From: James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Date: Fri Jun 15 2001 - 11:56:20 MDT
On 6/15/01 9:23 AM, "Randy Smith" <randysmith101@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> My opinion is that this paradigm is flawed (and deeply so). Obtaining actual
> results from capital invested in techno-business is not a goal.
And your opinion is qualified how? How much do you really know about
business?
> Instead,
> manipulating the media and buying research results is the standard MO. With
> respect to investment and results, witness the dotcom fiasco. Results were
> never the goal. It was all about image and media.
Ignoring the argumentative and logical fallacies, evidence counter to this
assertion is all around us. Technology is moving forward at a blinding pace,
regardless of how the media packages it.
You are either ignorant or have nor sense of history. The hype didn't come
along until relatively late in the game. In the early days of the commercial
web, things were done by sheer force of will; many of the successful
"dotcom" companies today were early pioneers on the web, when it wasn't
hugely sexy and the risks to the investor were relatively high. I started
working on the commercial web in '94, but the media feeding frenzy didn't
really kick in until '97-'98 or so. The "dotcom fiasco" may have had its
share of turkeys, but it also produced plenty of real companies with real
business. Everyone is certainly richer for the experience.
> Same goes for biotech...
Many biotechs have hundreds of millions or billions in revenue, and even
more invested in basic and applied R&D. Government research in biotech is a
sorry joke compared to what private industry accomplishes on a daily basis.
> If we want to get get to the transhuman stage (personally), we may need to
> influence the public vision. A war on death is called for. The only
> encouraging words I have ever heard from any political leader were the words
> Clinton gave when we spoke at a press conference regarding the human genome
> project.
This is stupid. Getting politicians to cheerlead for something they know
nothing about, and don't care to know about, will get the human race
nowhere. They'll only stay involved insofar as it buys them votes, which is
a level of involvement far less than actually solving a problem. The
landscape is littered with hundreds of "lip service only" government
programs and "wars on X". At least business is actually in the business of
solving problems in a timely and efficient manner.
It sounds like the only thing you are looking for is that warm-n-fuzzy
feeling, not an actual solution. Basking in the glow of speechwriter fodder
is not the highlight of my day. Get a grip.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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