I hate to be cynical, but it feels like this is mostly capitalizing on the idea of a "homeless coder". In order for the app idea to work, it needs people. Lots of people. A $0.99 app is never going to get enough users to be useful for MOST of us. If the idea and execution stood on its own, I wouldn't fault them for leveraging the backstory for media attention, but since the execution is favouring short term money at the cost of long term success, it feels like a cash-in.
Not that there is anything wrong with donating to support someone homeless working to get themselves into a better situation... or anything wrong with someone who needs so much trying to cash-in. It just doesn't feel like a good faith attempt to reduce CO2 emissions, that's all.
Don't tell people how to care. God I hate this comment so much, care however you want. Care a little bit and give him $0.70, care a lot and try to something, care any way you want.
Have you ever read a thread about gender issues? It's worse.
Side note: I appreciate the concern over whether this is exploitative. It doesn't make me mad. If you've read the stories, it hasn't been at ALL or even close, but the concern is fine.
I don't know -- the concern seems more about political correctness than actually fixing a problem.
And as someone who has been here for a while (a throwaway became my main account), this is probably the most disheartening thread I've ever read here. Where's the hacker mentality of trying to make something better? Criticize if you absolutely must, but then you damn sure better have a better idea on hand than "it's a complex problem".
When the topic of gender issues come up it is a three or four sentence comment then a multi paragraph response so I don't make it very far in the thread's.
I couldn't have said it better. Is HN mostly filled with bitter, sad and pessimistic little men. Honestly ... This is supposed to be a positive story. I can't believe the comments I'm reading.
I understand them, people are guarded and skeptical and they should be w/r/t the homeless. They are exploited almost by design at every level. This isn't what happened here, and I actually think what happened here is a model for starting to think about the "working class" going forward. The fact that lots of "working class" jobs are gone now is causing serious problems - but what if what we traditionally think of as the working class becomes low-level IT and other, newer fields. It's not about teaching everyone to code - it's about re-thinking the economy.
Is there another way to easily send him 70¢ while supporting his work and making him feel it has value other then buying that app that I'm unaware of? I'm not sure how much action constitutes "real" to you however pressing the buy button seemed to be a real action in my book.
And the 30% to Apple/Google is their share of building an ecosystem where a homeless guy with a laptop and some knowledge can produce a sellable product to help improve his life. They worked for that 30%.
We don't know, but everything Patrick stands to gain from this would be undermined by keeping the money. Everything except the money, and I doubt we're talking about enough to be worth a reputation.
Not that there is anything wrong with donating to support someone homeless working to get themselves into a better situation... or anything wrong with someone who needs so much trying to cash-in. It just doesn't feel like a good faith attempt to reduce CO2 emissions, that's all.