As with anything solar-powered,MCube's success will be based on how its pricing compares to the current average home, not other MCube like homes. Government subsidies are helping solar electricity generators to narrow that gap with conventional utility companies on a cost / watt basis.
I believe a policy decision like that will be necessary for MCube's mass adoption.
One thing I feel is important which is not explicitly stated in this essay is to form your opinion / views on existing arguments in your field. This process gives you an immersive experience and helps you get into the details and interconnect different facts.
I spent 5 minutes or so looking at this. So I may be wrong. But it looks like their primary concern happens to be government making publications available for free online download rather than through journals that cost money. It seems to be that this would be a step in the right direction. I think many people in academia realize that the journal/conference method of publication is broken -- for the following reasons:
-- Turnaround time (esp for journals) is unreasonably long
-- Authors usually dont know who their reviewers are. Comments are anonymous
-- Authors dont have a chance to give a rebuttal. A rejection is final and binding
I think a digg/reddit style of weighted karma would work much better. Weighted = authors with greater influence in the community have greater say in whether or not a paper gets published. Comments can be non anonymous and authors have a chance at rebuttal which means that they have an opportunity to influence opinion and votes as the paper is being reviewed.
The downside of not having such a system in place is painfully obvious to anyone who has spent some time in academia I think. Even prestigious conferences such as ACM SIGCOMM have often been accused of running as cliques.
This is probably among the most operational focussed essay I have read from PG on startups. Its so true - nothing focuses the human mind more than deadlines and public statements to live upto. I go around telling everyone I know, including people at work that I want to start a company and it has a very subconcious effect on me, when people are constantly asking me so whats happening on your startup front.
Also very good point about how peers motivate each other. When I am sitting in my weekly target meetings and see that my peer did 110% of his target and i did only 95%, it immediately triggers me to go and re-examine my methods.