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Super interesting essay鈥擨鈥檇 never heard of vTaiwan prior to reading it. It definitely seems like a powerful platform, and I agree with a lot of the issues raised in the comments above (particularly Joe鈥檚). Another concern I have in terms of vTaiwan鈥檚 applications is that referenda, much more so than general elections, are particularly vulnerable to information manipulation. One particularly egregious example in recent years was Nigel Farage鈥檚 promise that 鈥渢he 拢350m that was sent to the EU [weekly] would go the NHS鈥 [1] following Brexit, a claim he reversed one hour (!!!) after the vote took place. How will vTaiwan ensure fair and balanced access to information ahead of a vote?
[1] McCann, K. and Morgan, T. (2018). Nigel Farage: 拢350 million pledge to fund the NHS was ‘a mistake’. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: [Accessed 15 Nov. 2018].
Dominic 鈥 top shelf work here. One question I鈥檓 grappling with is whether limited rollouts (similar to Uber) could be used as market tests to gauge user reactions to the services you described above. While beta tests and focus groups are very effective for many industries (Cineplanet), the issue I see here is that the 鈥渢ail risk鈥 is still catastrophic. Even if 99.999% of users have positive experiences as a result of this personalization, one negative experience (such as when Target inadvertently revealed a teen girl was pregnant before her family was aware) could lead to a massive loss in users.
AP 鈥 love the title of your piece. Something I find interesting about this is that the quality of Spotify鈥檚 recommendations directly impacts their bottom line. The record labels charge Spotify on a per-stream basis, meaning that Spotify wants to deliver quality recommendations on its Discover playlists rather than have users listen to multiple songs for 10 seconds each and skip them before finding something they want to listen to.
Super interesting 鈥 I agree with the author鈥檚 position that additive manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize auto manufacturing, particularly in the prototyping phase. However, to the author鈥檚 point about AD machines鈥 cycle times, I have a tough time imagining that AD will be used for mass production in the near term. AD machines strike me as being similar to workers in a job shop鈥攊t鈥檚 an expensive machine that can handle a wide degree of customization. Auto manufacturing鈥攃haracterized by mass production鈥攍ends itself to a connected flow process. Do you think this will ever change?
TomTom 鈥 thank you for sharing. One question I have in addition to those you raised is the value of 3D-printing in gaining a competitive advantage over Adidas鈥檚 competitors. The running shoe industry is highly competitive, and you wrote that Nike, New Balance, and Under Armor (a recent entrant into the space) are all using 3D printing in some capacity already. Will Adidas be able to develop an edge or will all shoe companies offer a similar set of customization options?