Comments on: Bill Gross Is Into Atoms

By: Bob Sled

Bob Sled — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 07:29:29 +0000

I’m going to go out and patent gravity, magnetism, big bang @ time zero and photons, whatever those are.

By: Kurt Haug

Kurt Haug — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:27:31 +0000

Bill and I crossed paths several times back in the day, and as another Web 1.0 vet (Photodisc, MyFamily.com, others), it’s interesting that I’ve sort of come to similar conclusions– including using the “bits” vs. “atoms” comparison.

There is a whole new revolution brewing in “real world” physical manufacturing and production that is every bit as exciting as what some of us have been doing in the electronic/computer tech industry for over 20 years. Bill’s involvement in Desktop Factory illustrates he sees it as well.

I recently wrote a short post on this as well at http://shuriken...ve-really-over/

But if Desktop Factory is the manufacturing equivalent of the desktop ink-jet printer, a company called Tangible Express (http://www.tangibleexpress.com) is gearing up to be the global “Kinkos” that fills the massive gap between personal hobbyists/inventors and global (typically offshore, at this point) mass production.

The 21st century equivalent of Henry Ford’s “production line” innovation is just around the corner, and within the next 20 years will do more to make “The Jetsons” a reality than anything we’ve done in the computer industry in the last 60.

By: Freeform5

Freeform5 — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:08:25 +0000

Hey “Being Parents”, your link doesn’t work…

By: Bruce Kasrel

Bruce Kasrel — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:25:34 +0000

Hey Base,

Atoms are physical goods – things made up of atoms
Bits are virtual stuff – like a web site or a computer program

When you get down to it, bits business rely on things made up of atoms to make them run (servers, wire, etc.)… so everything is an atom business at heart… and on the other side, you would be hard pressed to find an atom business that does not use technology and bits…

the circle of life

By: David Mackey

David Mackey — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:50:35 +0000

Bahh.

By: Sami Bay

Sami Bay — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:30:44 +0000

“When we looked back at the ones that were most and least successful, we realized it had nothing to do with their margins. It had to do with how protectable the idea was.”

I don’t agree, at all, with this statement. Let’s look at the long-time successful Internet companies: Ebay, Amazon, Google. Which one has a “protectable idea”? None. It’s all about great execution, IMO.

By: larry berg

larry berg — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:54:33 +0000

I have heard him speak. There were alot of people envious of him back in the day and his rap seemed that he was a spin guy. But all he talked about was interest in great engineering and how that can create great companies. I guess that is what he is doing – investing in great engineering no matter if it has bits or atoms.

By: Adi

Adi — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:44:09 +0000

Different is so powerfull on the net…..

By: Fabian Schonholz

Fabian Schonholz — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:45:02 +0000

People learn differently. At least he did learn which is better than most of us can say.

By: Alex Tolley

Alex Tolley — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:16:36 +0000

Amazing, it took a bust or too for Gross to learn that “barriers to entry” is an important idea in business? Sheesh.

By: AC14

AC14 — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:00:14 +0000

I think idealab invented contextual advertising too — didn’t google pay idealab a billion or so for patent issues many years ago, after google “stole” the idea and did it better?

That’s where he learned a “defensible product” is important

By: Base

Base — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:45:27 +0000

I don’t know what ATOM and BITS stand for..Is this coming from chemistry if so how does it applies here..

By: BeingParents

BeingParents — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:36:21 +0000

There are other worlds outside the WWW.