jhermsmeyer

Agreed. The sample is very likely tainted by factors that made success much more likely than average if we believe that NFL coaches are both conservative (they forgo punts only when the odds are much in their favor) and rational (they are win maximizing).

Still, there is probably a case to be made that coaches should be a bit more aggressive, but that edge could be small enough that other factors (like perceived incompetence) dominate it.

I'd say the answer provided is so simplistic that it has very little explanatory power.

Commenters have already mentioned Uber and Groupon, but I'd go further and add YC love child Airbnb as well. They famously sold cereal to stay afloat etc. What does that have to do with tech hacking? Yet they have been lauded everywhere Zulily hasn't.

I'd be interested in how one separates a disruptive business that uses technology from Disruptive Technology? It seems to me there is a hair's breadth of difference between the two.

This is news for the simple reason that it isn't news.

To paraphrase (or is it a direct quote?) Jacob Applebaum, "Quiet, please. Adults are talking."

This is staggering, and to chide others for being staggered is the worst kind of truculence.

More relevant, and useful: What are we going to collectively do about it now that we know, beyond a doubt, what exactly is happening?

This is a huge deal for folks stuck in Salesforce. I've already had our team of 6 regional sales managers begin using the app.

Right to anonymity? Convicted felons lose their right to own a gun. Some might never use one to commit a crime, but they still lose that right.

This is no different. It is not reasonable to call this a slippery slope. These people were convicted of predatory crimes against children, and those of us who do not commit such crimes have nothing to fear as regards our anonymity until and unless we commit similar crimes.

Not all punishments end when you're let out of prison. Nor should they.

"It will include a plethora of innovations to come that will further make it clear that big things are on the road ahead."

All Things D's writing, and hence credibility, is one butter patty away from the big dirt nap.

I've attempted to unpack that sentence and it's turtles all the way down.

> I've got to say, I don't understand why people keep mentioning drop shadows, though. Drop shadows seem fairly uncommon. Even Google only uses them for mouseover.

Put your cursor in the search field. More shadowy goodness there. Click on your avatar in the upper right, the popover has a prominent (too prominent IMO) drop shadow. It's everywhere.

As to mouseover, I agree it's for confirmation. But if we need to confirm functionality with drop shadows and gradients - what message does that send about usability?

One thought is that perhaps we should have the drop shadows and gradients there to begin with.

I think we are splitting hairs here, but I agree that what we are talking about is affordance.

The reason why I use the term skeuomorphic in this context is because there are those who believe that what you and I believe is affordance is actually superfluous and ornamental.

What else is flatland design if not a complete rejection of the value of drop shadows and gradients as affordance?

The two most prominent buttons on the home page have subtle drop shadows and gradients. Google is actually a great example of restrained skeuomorphic design.

If I had to advocate for just one aesthetic (which is silly on its face), I suppose restrained skeuomorphism would be the one.

If your audience is developers and designers, a pure flat design is great and will likely work well.

But normal people need their hand held as to what a button is. Subtle drop shadows and gradients are the best way to instantly get someone to understand that yes, this element does something. Something important is lost in flatland.

On a side note, the vault and picture frame image on the main homepage for layervault.com is the height of skeumorphism and realistic design. Beautiful, but also kinda ironic.

Agreed. There are low tech ways to achieve a similar result. But operators, servers and managers absolutely loathe anything that changes their steps of service.

The winning solution will be completely transparent to their current workflow, and will also be seamless to the customer. Until this happens I don't think we'll see widespread adoption of new pricing strategies.

For instance, a pricing increase when many/most seats are filled is probably best way to discriminate in a restaurant. Sophisticated pricing strategies like those could become commonplace with digital menus, and the staff wouldn't have to think about it - but they would see the effect in their tip total.

If this attempt at price discrimination does indeed become popular it will be via digital menus that update their pricing automatically, not via fiddly coupons. We are quite aways away from this still due to hardware costs and the sheer number of tablets that would be needed at most full service restaurants.

I have no doubt it would be a hit with consumers. Tuesday nights out would become "a thing" for the price sensitive. That's good for everyone.