That's funny I'm also setting up a home lab and buying a vintage microscope (state of the art 1999 from auction) to look at the creatures living in my pond. There are always new avenues.
I've accepted that we kind of lost the net to the money people and bureaucrats. Mid-late 90's it really was a frontier full of adventurous nerds. I would spend entire weekends on Efnet learning and experimenting with a tight group of people. Since a parallel non-commercial web has never taken off (and VR fizzled) I've ended up adventuring outdoors, the old school way. It's less intellectual but triggers similar feelings of discovery. There's a lot of experimentation and improvisation once you get into things like ski mountaineering because something always goes wrong. The camaraderie is also strong.
Another alternative is simply Science, if you can handle the barrier to entry.
I agree, talent needs to catch up, and new UI concepts are needed (the current VR web browsers feel very awkward). One app that was built very thoughtfully for VR and nailed it imho is Hyper Dash. Making teleporting the preferred form of movement vs. walking was brilliant.
Better UI's for navigating browsing history. The current approach is 10-20 open tabs, self-categorized bookmarks, and a history feature that lacks full-text search of content.
True the film is captivating on the aesthetic layer, with manufactured landscapes appearing as beautiful as the natural ones. Sounds like some viewers pull a positive (or neutral) message out of that equivalence.
Koyaanisqatsi (1982) - made me realize the degree to which society has been mechanized, how our alienation to nature and each other is almost guaranteed if we give ourselves over to technology.
Re: Ghost Dog, I was also obsessed with that beautifully shot driving scene (with Killah Priest in the background). I was listening to a lot of hiphop at that time. Usually a burned CD playing on a glowing car stereo.
Can I take a look at your product? I would be curious what a minimal ArcGIS would look like and how long it would take to build. GIS is super edge-casey, I think.
I agree, we may have reached peak level of Seth Godin-approved consumer startups.
Re: 1, it does bother me producing all that plastic when a cardboard structure with sterile, swappable lining might do just as well in non-windy areas.
That's awesome, congrats. I can't tell what your secret sauce is from your website. I'd love to ask you how you marketed this service if you want to shoot me an email (see profile).
I like your minimalist solution. Fleet tracking / management seems like a commodity business with a lot of players in it. How do you differentiate and win here?
Right, I was making the point that there should be more info online about the entire mobile video editing app market (one example). I know there are many such apps in the stores.