They all do this now, to one degree or another. [1] [2]
The economics are even worse (because they don't get a cut from the restaurant), so these types of orders are either very high fee for the consumer, a loss leader, or both.
I've heard that on Postmates you can use the write-in functionality to order from a business that isn't on their platform at all (you order from a nearby business and in the write-in field tell the Postmate to go across the street, etc). I'm not sure if many of the other services provide a way to do that.
I don't actually think the celebrities are contributing purely out of an altruistic desire to 'give back'. I think that's _great_ marketing by Masterclass, but the primary thing celebrities get by associating themselves with Masterclass is helping continue to build their own brand. Masterclass has positioned its self as "the best in the world teaching their craft", so by agreeing to be on their platform a celebrity is getting publicity that reinforces the idea that they're the best in the world at that thing, and that they're still socially/culturally relevant.
Not purely. But there are 1000 things they could be doing. Taking the time to create thoughtful instructional videos is hard. I admire them for sharing what they know.
Well, remember it's their agent that's managing the brand. It's not as if the celebrity is picking it over 1000 other things. Their agent thinks that out of a 1000 avenues for strengthening the celebrity's brand, Masterclass would hit the right demographic and get the best return on effort (and it's their job to make those determinations).
You're forgetting that people want to be in an exclusive club, and if masterclass is able to really get 'masters' instead of jokesters, then being selected is worth the ego trip; plus if you get 30% of revenue, and you feel like you're god's gift, then you assume that number will be super duper high as well.
Personally I just love their name. Brilliant marketing. I'm starting to see it used outside of their product.
The short answer is 'yes' — fax machines are actually a pretty great solution to this problem. If you think about it, there isn't really that much overhead for having a fax line and a $40 fax machine vs running a full computer + printer combo, set up is trivial, faxes have a very well-understood track record, and the 'sender' gets direct feedback on whether or not the physical document was successfully delivered.
If there's a software gap here, it's being filled as features in modern Point Of Sale systems. That space is really crowded right now (Revel, Clover, Toast, 'more modern' offerings from legacy providers like Micros and NCR). There may be an opportunity to provide a more niche offering rather than a comprehensive solution like those, but the space is far from empty.
I'm not looking for startup ideas in this domain, I was just wondering "in general". If the PC + printer is already there (surely it has to be for accounting, etc.) why have a fax.
But ok, if the fax and the phone line cost next to nothing and it "just works", then sure it makes a lot of sense.
A lot of these restaurants _do_ have a PC + printer in a back room or office somewhere. If the restaurant is owned by a group (or small chain), that setup may only exist at one location.
They can (and do!) put the fax machine right by the kitchen.
This has only ever been true for MMS received from Sprint users. Google Voice & Sprint's current FAQ indicates that MMS no longer works, even on Sprint [1].
As a former Bloomberg intern, you're right – you try very hard to make sure interns are working on real projects that are deliverable over the course of the summer. That said, the projects are often completely isolated from what will have real impact on users on a day to day basis. This isn't a problem, per se, but I've had other internships where the work I was doing over the summer was virtually indistinguishable from that of a new full-time employee. I imagine this was largely because it was a much smaller company with a much smaller product.
I don't mean this as a criticism – Bloomberg tries very hard to make sure interns have a great experience and usually succeeds. But there is a difference and I, personally, preferred the other experience.
It also depends a lot on what team you wind up picking. Just speaking for the interns in our infrastructure team, we try to make them develop things that have an impact. You should let me know what group you were with so I can deliver the anonymous feedback :)
You were really stretching on some of these. Sure, there will be software to assist any of these professions but that doesn't mean all the people in the profession should become programmers. You're conflating the need of an individual professional to learn to program with the ability of software to impact the industry that individual works in.
Firefighters, for example. Modeling & predicting fire sounds great, but should that be the job of a firefighter or a programmer/statistician who works for the fire department?
That said, I think you're right to call out the parent – many of these jobs should require programming or already do. Many artists & musicians rely heavily on an ability to write software. The group of professions producing food & drink will benefit from automation, but only so much as the professionals using those automation tools understand and can control them.
Programming ability is rapidly moving into all kinds of areas, but to assume that it must end up in every area seems almost as narrow minded as ignoring the impact it's currently having.
that doesn't mean all the people in the profession should become programmers
No, they shouldn't become programmers, but knowing how to program (and I wouldn't expect them to know much more than the basics required to write real programs and learn more later if they so chose) will not only help them better understand the modern world around them, but they will be able to apply these skills if and when they make sense or at the very least they would have a better idea of how to best communicate their needs to a real programmer.
I'm not a historian because I was thought history in school, so why would everyone be a programmer if everyone learned how to program?
It wasn't my intention to deny the impact of programming. I was just trying to, as you said, point out that "[not] all the people in the profession should be programmers."
Thank you for providing both sides in one post though. It's helpful to see the balance made so clear.
There's a lot of really great support in the robotics community. ROS, Robot OS, works great in ubuntu and makes it really easy to get data out of the kinect.
"In 2010, Google began incorporating the content that it indexed from its competitors into Google Local without permission. Although Google had previously acknowledged that it needed a license to use Yelp’s content, it was now using it without permission to prop up its own, less effective product. In some instances, Google even presented this content to its users as if it were its own. [See Exhibit C]
Google’s Offers a False Choice
In response to our objections, Google informed us that it would cease the practice only if we agreed to be removed from Google’s web search index, thereby preventing Yelp from appearing anywhere in Google web search results. This, of course, was a false choice. Google’s dominant position in the market prevents services like Yelp from exercising any sort of meaningful choice in the matter: it is a choice between allowing Google to co-opt one’s content and not competing at all."
Is there something about this page that I'm missing? Why is this on the front page of HN?
There are plenty of other websites to post interesting internet miscellany, but as far as I can tell, this post contributes almost nothing of value to the community.
Perhaps I'm fighting a losing battle to even bother bringing this up, but this is exactly the kind of content I don't want to see on HN.
https://bit.ly/3gEqOkw
(bitly link, because the URL specifying the search filters is unreasonably long)