In addition to being an impressive demo, the type and range of experiences represented in these is interesting. After some random clicking, I saw a:
- walkthrough of a wealth manager's office
- boat cruising around a marina
- a walk through an exclusive shopping district with an Hermes and Louis Vuitton.
- a duomo in Florence.
You'll really start to appreciate the difference between knowing design principles and knowing how to use design tools. Tutorials that teach skills or techniques in software will get you about as far as applying a specific technique. Without knowing basic design principles your work is going to look cluttered, samey, not-quite-where-you-want-it-but-you-don't-know-why. I'd also say that jumping straight into UI design is premature for someone beginning a design education. Learning the fundamentals of graphic design is essential, even if at first it seems irrelevant and too print-oriented.
A good design background will help you solve design problems. Right now there's a lot of 'designy' stuff--especially on the web--that's nothing more than the mindless application of a solution to someone else's design problem. There are a lot of missed opportunities to actually communicate, or to make a better tool; all because of groupthink and notions of good taste. Learning about design will help you get out of that rut.
"Steal TV and Youtube Dollars"? This headline is nonsensically sensational.
This is a pitch deck describing an upgraded Facebook video product. In it, they make a case for the effectiveness of their ad targeting, and its competitive advantages. The news is that they're entering the broader video market.
Also, while the contents of the deck may be protected by an NDA, my sense is that there's absolutely nothing in this deck Facebook doesn't want you to read. I'd strongly suspect that it was an intentional leak to build awareness.
The barrier to entry was knowing the set of codes, knowing how to communicate nonverbally. Knowing how to tell someone 'I belong in your group' in the way that you speak, the way you dress, the way you move. It's very difficult for people 'on the inside' to appreciate how difficult this can be.
Also, to clarify my earlier point, I would never suggest that the concept of privilege is exclusive to straight white males, and I agree that social and economic class are the basis for discrimination and exclusion. I was just trying to say:
1) Technology industries in the United States are dominated by straight white males, often with some form of class and economic privilege. By this I do not mean that there are no exceptions.
2) The posting and discussion of this blogpost on this website is reflective of (I hope) a certain self awareness surrounding race, gender, money and privilege, and the importance of considering it--not dismissing it as an irrelevance.
Beautiful analysis of privilege, class signifiers and race.
Technology culture and employment in the United States is dominated by straight white males, usually with some form of class and economic privilege--people who haven't had to navigate within their society with an extreme outsider status--but there are welcome signs of a growing critical self awareness.
Over the years on HN, I've seen many posts questioning the economic value of a four year college education, particularly an education in the humanities. This right here is a great post to keep in your pocket the next time someone says something like that.