> This is an area where hackers can really make an impact.
One of my friends has coauthored several papers with some of the BrainGate folks.
We spent a road trip a couple years ago discussing his research. One thing that jumped out is how similar many of the tools used in this field are to those in a startup. In particular, many big-data analysis tools and techniques that can be developed, optimized, and funded within the context of the web sphere are applied to the bioengineering problems. A few months ago an article floated around HN on how the current tech bubble, if it's such, lacks a "byproduct" that will benefit society when the scraps are cleaned up. You can make a pretty good argument that it's this.
Once the photo sharing app market dries up, people will have to look into other areas. I know that in the next ten years we will have startups (even 1-2 person teams) building much more than simple web apps. Innovation will slowly seep to other areas.
(And thus, Jeff, that is why people need to learn how to program)
One of my friends has coauthored several papers with some of the BrainGate folks.
We spent a road trip a couple years ago discussing his research. One thing that jumped out is how similar many of the tools used in this field are to those in a startup. In particular, many big-data analysis tools and techniques that can be developed, optimized, and funded within the context of the web sphere are applied to the bioengineering problems. A few months ago an article floated around HN on how the current tech bubble, if it's such, lacks a "byproduct" that will benefit society when the scraps are cleaned up. You can make a pretty good argument that it's this.