Cost risk benefit... potential losses are made on the initial release but greater media attention and PR is placed upon the product itself to in turn increase the demand for future sales. In lieu of 'not having an Apple Store but wanting to generate significant buzz' solution.
Its a longer term-view (hampered mainly by stifling manufacturing) and a risky one considering the fragility of this industry where the 'faster gun' is made not in years in a factory but in months by enthusiasts/developers in their spare time, But who knows maybe their strategy only intended for this PR stunt to occur enough times to build up enough interest and then miraculously begin to take orders on a 'newly-arrived' supply.
I might buy one second-hand... if it comes up locally. I don't need a media center, but it was geared to be a stepping stone for programming, right?
Furthermore, by the time its known to be a bubble by the masses its already too late. Competition becomes greater, risk rises exponentially.
This tech boom will harshly coincide with the ongoing currency crisis' around the World. It has certainly been one to watch. In my view this has the potential to be a real 1930's boom-bust cycle given how many industries are tied to the business model.
If you're really evil... er 'smart' you'll rake up the assets of the failures during the bust cycle at fire sale prices. That of course means having made better decision than others during said mania, which in my view is away from the tech boom altogether--ideally a diverse position in which you still supply a side of the industry. Or at the very least one in which you let others take the risks or facilitate a way out of the boom before the bust.
I really wish hackers, tech people would dedicate more resources and time on projects like TOR rather than trying find a way to shave off a few milliseconds to find a solution to refreshing a twitter feed which discusses the details of what donuts someone 'famous' decided not to have this morning and the subsequent rant of said decision.
I only wish I possessed the time, ability and knowledge to do it myself.
once i saw a talk of two tor hackers on youtube explaining that if they make mistakes people may die. this was goosefleshing. i think working for tor really is "hacking for hombres". may the source be with you, guys!
I doubt its even that, and I question the due diligence of the People at said Hedge Fund as Groupon has been using shadow banking and nefarious accounting to hide massive loses since its inception.
There is no accurate way to place a (positive) estimate/valuation of the operation or its profitability, personally I doubt they even have operating capital since it took that dive earlier this month. It looked to me like the tail end of a significant short selling position finally came to fruition by insiders who got in early.
Your nose doesn't lie. MU was supposed to have one of the biggest IPOs before it was raided. And given that the minds that conspire to 'make the Market' are fixated on this new tech bubble its quite likely that this isn't over.
Legalese is the underlying factor in both, while SOPA clearly denoted its intention to target the biggest players in so called IP battles clear, CISPA still tries to achieve the same (State sponsored and enforced Corporate protectionism) using less defined, broad and wide spread powers.
Consider that protest has now been classified as a low level form of 'terrorism' according to the DHS. How easy will it become for someone who is sharing a leaked rip of the next upcoming 'blockbuster' a cyber criminal? (It will likely be an issue raised by all the proponents of SOPA and PIPA whose IP/Hollywood lobbyists are wine-dining as we speak.)
You make the deadly assumption that they intend to enforce the letter of the Law as its 'clearly defined,' and nothing more. You also clearly neglect just how tightly bound Corporate and State alliances are, I would argue they are one in the same, you do realize that insider trading is legal for Congress/Senate members, right?
That said, I'm currently involved in a Kickstarter project in Design and it occurred to me that since the tech-side seems to draw in the most attention/funding these days--not true when I opened my project/account--, isn't confining this platform to the US counter-productive? Thus stagnating the progress of current or potentially new viable innovations.
If anyone is interested I'm seriously considering open to accepting applications for potential tech projects within Europe, S. America and Asia that want but are unable to use KS, provided they meet certain criteria, for a nominal fee in an opportunity to advance this avenue before Grinda and his ilk clone it throughout the World. Its my free Market solution to ensure that Kickstarter remains the crowd sourcing platform of choice.
If you know anyone in need of such a service tell them to post their email/link here and we can get in touch to get the ball rolling. No promises made, of course, but I think its a short-term solution to the current geographical issue.
I think the term you're looking for is Ponzi scheme. Much like Bernie Made-off... err Madoff operated. Or perhaps more recently: Groupon. A classic pump and dump, take a look at the charts.
Your 'train analogy' is merely painting a glib picture of what is clearly insider trading by the likes of Goldman Sachs in a different, albeit obvious, guise.
Perhaps in detail, but they both constitute classic Ponzi schemes. Convoluted valuation(s)/promise of returns only to find yourself trapped with a worthless 'investment' when the core of the operating capital has been pilfered by its biggest players.
Goldman Sachs is the underwriter (and reason enough to scoff its initial valuation and then spike in price) of the IPO in question, hence the pump and dump; JP Morgan was taking a billion in fees for services rendered while Madoff laundered his money there.
I love how people jump on the anti-GS train because it's the hip, popular thing to do. No doubt, GS has done things wrong. But:
1) They were not the SOLE underwriter of GroupOn, nor were they the largest (that was Morgan Stanley).
2) They were co-leads with Morgan and Credit Suisse.
3) They made $8mm in fees on the deal.
To put it into perspective, GS's Q1 2012 revenue was $9.95bn. Let's compare for perspective:
9,950,000,000
8,000,000
Obviously GS also profited from the fact that they could buy GroupOn on the cheap, at pre-IPO prices, but even then I hardly think it would have made a dent in their bottom line.
So if you're going to criticize, add Morgan and Credit Suisse to your list. And JPMC wasn't even a lead underwriter on GroupOn. And even then, if you're going to implicate people, you might as well add the other 11 underwriters.
And in fact, you might as well add GroupOn's early investors who standed to make a KILLING on the inflated IPO price.
It's dollars all the way down, sir - and it doesn't start or stop just at Goldman Sachs.
Where are you from? I've been thinking about setting up a third-party service to do just that in fact, but given my involvement in other investments the liability issue is concerning--mainly fraud and tax. I would seriously consider running through the numbers and viability of certain projects if I was made an executive partner and held a permanent accountant/consultant position for the life of the project and negotiate the terms and fees for my service accordingly.
But then I guess the allure of 'staying indie' that KS affords goes out the window, doesn't?
Tell you what, pitch the idea on HN update this thread with the links and gauge the Market; lets keep in touch. (I have an account and an open non-tech project on KS in the popular section under Design as we speak.)
No promises made, of course, and the matter is strictly discretionary on my end (I'm not going to even consider working with the relative of an alleged lost Nigerian monarch); but I'm intrigued enough to see what an idea I had in the back of mind may look like in practice.
Just as a side note: there are also further rules on KS that you aren't made aware of until you submit your project and it has been approved for the second time prior to launching. I could discuss them with you if you do the leg work mentioned above.
Its a longer term-view (hampered mainly by stifling manufacturing) and a risky one considering the fragility of this industry where the 'faster gun' is made not in years in a factory but in months by enthusiasts/developers in their spare time, But who knows maybe their strategy only intended for this PR stunt to occur enough times to build up enough interest and then miraculously begin to take orders on a 'newly-arrived' supply.
I might buy one second-hand... if it comes up locally. I don't need a media center, but it was geared to be a stepping stone for programming, right?