Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Drone operating system startup Airware today suddenly informed employees it will cease operations immediately despite having raised $118 million from top investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Google's GV, and Kleiner Perkins. The startup ran out of money after trying to manufacture its own hardware that couldn't compete with drone giants like China's DJI. The company at one point had as many as 140 employees, all of which are now out of a job.
A source sent TechCrunch screenshots from the Airware alumni Slack channel detailing how the staff was told this morning that Airware would shut down.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/14/airware-shuts-down/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @02:56PM
Really? How about this then? https://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/03/sony-applies-for-patent-on-contact-lens-camera-that-shoots-photos-in-a-blink.html [cnbc.com]
https://www.cnet.com/news/sony-patents-contact-lens-that-records-what-you-see/ [cnet.com]
But Sony isn't even close to having the tech yet!
Maybe in 10 years time someone else might actually have the tech but then Sony could slap them with a lawsuit. How does this encourage actual progress? The giants are the ones who can file thousands of bullshit patents. So even if the small guy has one real patent, to actually implement his stuff he might infringe on 10 bullshit patents.
I (and many other people) can produce plenty of pie-in-the-sky dreams/ideas. The hard bit is not dreaming shit up. Just because it seems hard to some other people (like those who have only one innovative idea in their lifetime) doesn't mean it is.