I love seeing stuff like this. But what really excites me is when these types of 3D models start to represent real cities. Like the ViziCities project[0]. Maybe the idea of Mirror Worlds [1] will eventually become reality.
I'm the creator of ViziCities. It's projects like this (and SimCity proper) that inspired the project and the attempt to making something similar for real-world cities. We're getting close!
I understand your sentiment, but I'd warn against judging the project based on one blog post by Ethereum's communications guy. There seems to be some serious crypto/engineering heft behind the project:
I'm curious about the heft you're talking about. Is there any public cryptanalysis by any of the Ethereum folks? Any widely used software projects? Cryptographic protocols? (I don't say this to argue otherwise, but I wasn't aware of any particular track record there, and a quick google didn't turn it up— so I was surprised to see that being said... Most of the people I know are involved in it were responsible for non-technical things in Bitcoin space or more or less failed other altcoins)
Sure but context also matters. If they were building something for web or everyday consumers, maybe I would agree. There are plenty of useful platforms and tools that belong to not-so-great site designs (ie: http://curl.haxx.se/ ). Seems silly to have that weigh in on the idea at all but maybe that's just me.
Firefox OS is a nice idea, but it’s predicated on open standards: Anyone can take Firefox OS’s additions to HTML5 and produce their own implementation. If developers get on board — at least one Mozilla bigwig has stated that they “want to attract hundreds of thousands of developers” — and lots of open web apps begin to appear, then Google can simply implement the same specification in Chrome, Microsoft can implement it in IE10, and Apple can implement it in Safari. Even if you’re worried about the commercial interests of Apple or Google — or if you’re a carrier trying to extricate yourself — there’s nothing stopping you from installing the Android Open Source Project on your phone.
I think this is where the author contradicts his own argument. Do you know how many small businesses can be created on an open platform such as Firefox OS? It let's individuals and small development teams compete directly against Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc. It truly levels the playing field, in my view. Or at least, that's what I hope Firefox OS will be capable of.
As a developer and designer, I (for one) can't wait to try out Firefox OS. If it works well, I'll start using it more. And by all indications I've seen, it will probably work pretty well :)
'Over-architected' and 'over-optimized' are the terms I prefer. Whatever term(s) is(are) used, criticism should emphasize 'non-pragmatically-built', instead of emphasizing 'startups don't need any design, engineering, or optimization, whatsoever'.
[0] https://github.com/robhawkes/vizicities
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Worlds-Software-Universe-Shoebo...