> Saying, "You should let Apple buy you," in Athens would probably lead to a punch in the face fairly quickly
That is what I believe, and hope, would happen not only in Athens but everywhere. Although on a second thought, fanboys of any kind or perhaps most of the new generation would simply not care.
> anti-corporate attitude the largely leftist Greek population subscribes to
I believe this is not the case. For years Greeks would vote for right wing parties and the one left wing on the outside but really right wing in disguise one. I agree about the general anti-corporate attitude though.
Making a living, as I wrote, is perfectly acceptable. I am not opposed to this.
You are right. It's the society and the market that rewards such situations. The ugly sweater startup makes millions but the charity fundraising you mentioned will probably fail. Because one would prefer to look out of fashionly grandma-like cool (?) than help someone else. It's a problem of education in the broad sense, and I don't know, overcoming our natural impulses for egoism, greed and fear ? Sound like clichés but I belive they are at the heart of our problems as a whole.
I don't like it. This article looks to me like an ad piece. It has very little substance.
There is something bothering me in this article and the "startup culture" in general. Everyone thinks they make the world a better place. Silicon Valley's (the TV series) satire is spot on this. No matter what half brain dead app someone creates, it's supposed to revolutionize and "disrupt" some meaningless aspect of our lives. Of course technology helps the man overcome many problems, be smarter, healthier etc. But it is no panacea. We have the technology of the 21st century with the education of 1500 as to what to do with it. So everyone is making apps for cats or creates a temporary and indivudual-based solution for "problems" that we shouldn't have all along (creating additional problems). This is a huge waste of potential. If you really want to make the world a better place focus on the things that matter. At the very least be honest with what you are doing. Someone wants to make money and that's fine. The probability that the the world will benefit from it is most of the times incidental.
That is what I believe, and hope, would happen not only in Athens but everywhere. Although on a second thought, fanboys of any kind or perhaps most of the new generation would simply not care.
> anti-corporate attitude the largely leftist Greek population subscribes to
I believe this is not the case. For years Greeks would vote for right wing parties and the one left wing on the outside but really right wing in disguise one. I agree about the general anti-corporate attitude though.