
Paul Graham PyCon 2012 keynote - JarekS
http://pyvideo.org/video/628/keynote-paul-graham-ycombinator
======
ChristianMarks
This is better than TED. It's rare and inspiring to see an engaging speaker
with so many good ideas in one presentation. PG's response to the music
copyright critic was about right modulo a minor nit that the critic conflated
trademarks with copyright and wasn't called on this. Trademarks are a social
good. Copyright is ripe for reform--a long discussion.

PG is absolutely right about email. If you ever had a chance to see what the
inbox of someone important looks like compared with what they would like it to
look like, you would know that the seemingly reasonable recommendation to
consolidate email accounts with GMail is far from optimal.

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oemera
I don't mean to be harsh but after reading the article I couldn't listen to
the "Uhhh Ehmmmm"s anymore.

Was he just reading the transcript to the guys? A keynote should be without
any "uhh"s and "ehmmm"s otherwise you will not get audience IMO.

~~~
kevinalexbrown
'what HN users don't mean to be:'

[http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=%22I+don%27...](http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=%22I+don%27t+mean+to+be%22&sortby=create_ts+asc)

~~~
swombat
"English to nerd translation":

[http://www.whattofix.com/blog/archives/2012/03/nerd-to-
engli...](http://www.whattofix.com/blog/archives/2012/03/nerd-to-english.php)

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gghootch
When talking about the Apple killer pg states two things.

1\. The next product visionary will have a great example in Jobs and Apple.
2\. The next Apple probably won't start with a consumer product, but they
might be able to make some consumer thingy like Jawbone does.

Nest creates a great consumer thingy that's relatively cheap and it's run by
an ex Apple employee. Tony Fadell might say he's not pursuing Apple's
business, but is it unreasonable to think he might when the Apple pirate ship
starts sinking?

~~~
pg
Nest is certainly one of the leading candidates, as far as one could tell this
early. A thermostat is exactly the right sort of apparently harmless thing to
start with.

~~~
gghootch
What other leading candidates can you think of?

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facundo_olano
Here's the transcript at Graham's site
<http://www.paulgraham.com/ambitious.html>

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opining
See also the comments in this thread:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3686840>

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aravindc
This is my first time seeing and listening Paul Graham. Why is he going on
ummm ummmm? It is so distracting. I don't want to be seen as critical, just a
feedback.

~~~
opining
You'd do that too if you had to present in front of a large group of Python
developers. Calling them the center of the valley was a little over the top,
though.

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michaelkscott
I have been debating whether or not to say anything because I know by saying
something you may have hurt feelings. And I have no obligation to tell you
everything I know or think. But on reflection I have found it more honest --
honest in the older sense of "straightforward" or "direct" -- to share with
you that I found the talk enjoyable and interesting. I think there are many
benefits in starting small.

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aridiculous
I enjoyed the talk and admired his good use of clarity when talking about the
problems. However, the counter to clarity is that it might be a bit too clean
for the real world, and that was apparent when answering the questions about
copyright at the end.

I realize that pg wasn't particularly prepared to be dealing with questions
unrelated to the talk, but it was the first time I've seen him not easily
handle questions with grace. His responses came off as glib and eventually he
had to qualify and edit his previous statements to provide somewhat of a
satisfactory response.

It's easy to over-believe ideas that are put forth with clarity and match your
natural disposition towards clean logic and historical examples. Though pg has
intriguing and useful perspectives, I encourage people to study these problems
far more in-depth before forming a personal opinion.

On a somewhat related note, it was alarming that pg didn't have a clear moral
position when asked about his decision-making process. It's fine for the young
and uninfluential to "wing it" when it comes to moral decision-making, but
seems irresponsible for someone with his level of power in Silicon Valley.

~~~
vibrunazo
"Morals" are an excuse people use to try to impose their personal interest
over others. Honest people use reasoning instead. I'm glad pg is open and
honest enough to not include "morality" discussion in his decision. And not
even be ashamed to try to hide it in public, as a populist politician would.
That got him some points from me.

~~~
aridiculous
Morality is a lot deeper than you're making it out to be. Please don't straw
man my argument to mean phony, superficial "Morals." I'd suggest starting with
a survey of moral philosophy.

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swah
Its interesting to listen to this after reading the article; its as I'm
rereading with a laugh track.

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Shenglong
pg, your audience had no sense of humor; don't worry, I laughed. :)

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sentinel
Hummmm...

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santa_boy
Was waiting for this one :-)

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zyfo
Question for pg:

 _There is probably an essay there, too bad I don't write them anymore_ (43.30
in video, regarding "moral compass outsourcing")

Have you stopped writing essays? Does that mean you're shifting your focus to
YC 100% or going back to work on arc again? Or are you talking about non-
startup essays?

~~~
pg
Actually I just wrote the first draft of one of the essays I said during that
talk I should write.

Writing essays depends on having uninterrupted blocks of time. Between kids
and the growth of YC I don't have as many of those as I used to. I should try
to arrange things so I have more.

~~~
izak30
Evidentially there is time to be had if you quit reading your email. I really
enjoyed the talk. Thanks for coming out

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whatsthevalue
But maybe the ''Ahemmmms'' had the meaning of ''The naked king'' story...and
nobody called him out.Otherwise great speach,enjoyed reading it

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snowpolar
Hmmm...Erm...Hmmm...Erm These 2 sounds keep repeating in my ears after
watching the talk.

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k33n
Listening to Paul Graham philosophizing about product ideas is like listening
to product guys trying to talk finance.

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opining
Thanks for posting. Notes from this keynote were also discussed here:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3685444>

PG seems down on Google from the initial statement that it may have peaked, to
making fun of its search results as similar to the scientologist principle of
"what's true is what's true for you" or something that makes you feel like you
are being A-B tested, to Gmail being painfully slow. PG said he would pay
$50/month for a good email replacement, and after just having talked about his
friend at Google complaining of too much email and saying Gmail was slow, I
think he was implying that Gmail needs to be replaced.

So, what interests me most about this is his mention of his friend at Google.

Read:
[http://www.gototheboard.com/articles/How_to_find_startup_ide...](http://www.gototheboard.com/articles/How_to_find_startup_ideas)

Matt Cutts (search engine God of Google) said "I’ll stop with a story. I have
a friend at Google who is really good at noticing things that annoy him. While
walking from his car to his desk in the morning, he can easily find six things
that irritate him because they should be improved."

Matt says this is "his" friend, but is Matt Cutts PG's Google friend? This
sounds very similar, and there is a hint of their relationship at the end of
this article when PG got him to personally handle an issue with HN not being
listed first in search results: [http://getoffmyinternets.net/2011/11/25/paul-
graham-knows-ho...](http://getoffmyinternets.net/2011/11/25/paul-graham-knows-
how-to-scal/)

However, a better guess is probably that it is Peter Norvig, Director of
Research. There are examples of their relationship around, like Peter reading
a draft of his: <http://www.paulgraham.com/softwarepatents.html> and
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=355984>

It's interesting that PG is pushing for someone to compete with Google though.
It is almost like these comments were meant to be a public criticism of Google
by his friend via PG rather than just to provide startup ideas.

~~~
pg
_It is almost like these comments were meant to be a public criticism of
Google by his friend via PG rather than just to provide startup ideas._

No. Why would I allow myself to be used in that way?

~~~
opining
My apologies. I did not mean that you were being used. More that your friend
did not have the option to come out publicly criticizing Google, but you were
able to. Google is in the position of target of criticism lately just as
Microsoft and many other large companies are, however by referring to your
conversation with your friend in the same context, you lend credibility to the
notion that perhaps some of the criticism was his.

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swah
Y U PUT NO SHOES? Really there are shoes as comfortable as those sandals...

