I think I have just stumbled into a frighteningly ambitious project, and there is simply no turning back now. We're getting a lot of groundswell support already, and we're not even close to public launch yet.
The application itself sounds simple, and is in fact simple, but the ambitious side of it is that it will change the way information is structured and organised on the internet, change the way information flows, and will change the way people consume information. ...and I don't blame you if you don't believe a word of that! :) But from our early indications of support, and the rapid pace at which we have been able to establish ourselves - if we can make rbutr a successful venture, then that is exactly the long term potential of it which we would like to see happen. For those who don't know what rbutr<http://rbutr.com/rbutr/WebsiteServlet?mainpage>is about, it is a browser extension which allows people to create a link from one webpage which is making a claim, to another webpage which is expressing a counter-argument (rebuttal) - for example<http://rbutr.com/rbutr/WebsiteServlet?requestType=showLink&linkId=1084>. Once the connection is made, anyone who views the original webpage will be alerted to the existence of a rebuttal, and can easily click through to view the rebuttal. The consequence of this could be huge for students, journalists, activists, skeptics - in fact anyone who actually cares about information on any subject. The internet itself has been a huge step forwards in allowing people to inform themselves, but as Eli Pariser argued<http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html>, even Google and Facebook filter bubble us, just giving us more of what we already believe. rbutr is the only method I know of which allows motivated people to easily step straight through their own filter bubble, and see what lies on the other side of their own confirmation bias. If everyone was always able to see a counter argument to any webpage they were currently viewing, don't you think that would change the way information is consumed by society? When I had the rbutr idea, I didn't think it was frighteningly ambitious. It was just a browser app which allows people to connect rebuttals to claims - but the deeper I get, the more ambitious it becomes. Shane [image: Inline images 2] ------------------------- http://www.ImmortalOutdoors.com http://www.rbutr.com http://www.ShaneGreenup.com <http://www.shanegreenup.com/> <http://www.surebetbookies.com/> On 13 March 2012 15:35, Bart Jellema (ZeroMail) <b...@zeromail.com> wrote: > While I'd like to see more Aussies think BIG (or at least beyond > Australia), there are at least 2 startups fixing Paul's nr. 2 in Sydney. > > http://zeromail.com/ - my company, funded by Citrix Startup Accelerator > > http://fluent.io/ - started by 3 ex-Googlers > > In StartMate we have some companies that might seem small and niche now, > but could get quite massive: > > - FlightFox - crowd-sourced flight booking > > - Moojive - event management/planning on mobile. Every man and his dog is > doing this, but nobody has nailed this yet. The one that does will be > massive and moojive is onto something. > > In the last few years Australia has produced some great large scale > startups. Crowdsourced design is Oz dominated (99designs, designcrowd), > Freelancer.com is massive. The US coupon space (RetailMeNot and Tjoos). And > I'm sure there's plenty more... > > But frighteningly ambitious startups are rare anywhere in the world. > Investors don't like them. Employees don't like them. Basically nobody > likes them... until they succeed... > -- > Bart Jellema > CEO > > *ZeroMail* > Email Done Right! > Mobile: 0401984056 | Website: http://zeromail.com > > Sent with ZeroMail <http://zeromail.com/?m=3695608>... > Geoff Langdale wrote: > > So, Paul Graham has some ideas: > > http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html > > I'm not crazy about the particular set he's chosen - some of them seem > either infeasible (6, "Bring Back Moore's Law") or the product of that > whole "Geeks Can Fix Everything Cause We're Smarterer And Stuff" mind- > set that some people have been working since the first Internet boom > (3, "Replace Universities" and 7, "Ongoing Diagnosis"). > > But all up, ambition seems like a good idea. Frankly, it seems in > short supply around here. I think the local scene is very short of > actually ambitious startups that are trying to do something _hard_. > > We have plenty of startups doing something fairly similar to some > other company with a broad reach (e.g. Kondoot trying to be the next > Facebook). We have plenty of startups doing something in blue ocean > territory but in some small niche (e.g. Sensory Networks, where I > work, which is ambitious technically but not exactly aiming to conquer > the known universe, given our "OEM a specialized software library to > security companies" business model). > > We also have a number of startups - you know who you are - where a lot > of happy talk about image recognition and automated analysis or > natural language processing was talked up front - then the whole thing > turned into a "Pay No Attention to the Intern Behind the Curtain" kind > of deal, where major, potentially unsolved problems in CS were > deferred indefinitely. > > But where are the ambitious startups (or growth companies) in Sydney > that are doing something hard and with a broad reach? If we don't have > them, why not? > > Arguably Silverbrook is in this category, although calling it a > startup at this stage is a stretch. They're talking a 60ppm printer > with a new technology on every desk... say what you like about the > business model, there's no denying that "the whole printer market" is > a pretty ambitious goal and that their technology is not just a > retread of existing strategies. > > Geoff. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach > Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more > > Forum rules > 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. > 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs > > > To post to this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach > Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more > > Forum rules > 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. > 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs > > > To post to this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more Forum rules 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs To post to this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
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