I spent just a few minutes in the OpenIndiana code base and found it rife with potential issues. For example, in the hsfs file system, there are no pointer assertions to protect against null pointers:
While yes, you could find this anywhere in any code base, we're talking about OpenIndiana. If this kind of issue is present in the file system handler, there's NO way this project is ready for prime time, never mind a production release.
OpenIndiana is an illumos distribution, like Debian or Gentoo are Linux distributions. Just as Debian and Gentoo aren't authors of the Linux kernel, OpenIndiana is not the author of the illumos kernel.
The illumos kernel is derived from the Oracle Solaris source code tree. Solaris is an enterprise UNIX system used to power some of the largest financial systems in the world.
So if that's not ready for primetime, then perhaps you'd care to elaborate on what is?
If you really want to differentiate yourselves, allow users to post their decks on THEIR web pages instead of forcing users to your site. THIS would be a value many would pay for.
One other thing. I asked my tech-not-so-savvy wife to watch it, and her issue was the frame that said "this deck took 4 days...".
"FOUR DAYS!!!" she cried... forget it. Perhaps you should frame that "frame" better. How long does a deck take to make from start to finish? What's the tech level required?
Ideally, a deck should be able to be made from scratch in minutes.
I have been through a couple of startups, sold one, blah blah blah... It's usually the guy who is labeled "genius" that gets cut first :) Interesting concept, but hardly new... this was what SecondLife looked like 5 years ago.
No more or less honest than running TV commercials to get you to buy products during a television show. I presume you have some sort of logarithmic honesty scale by which one can measure their dastardliness? If so, please share.
Awesome article. Kudos for sticking to your guns, and I hope your revenues skyrocket, even though credit cards are the worst financial decision anyone could ever make. I'd rather YOU make money on their bad decisions than Chase or Citi.
Saying credit cards are bad financial decisions is like saying getting a drivers license is a bad safety decision.
Beyond the fact that you can use credit cards to your financial benefit, simply getting the card has no consequences whatsoever. (Unless you buy into the 'you must keep a balance to maintain good credit' myth.)
Getting a drivers license is perhaps the worst safety decision a modern human can make. The reality is that your _average_ person, if they have something, will use it. Whether that's a drivers license or a credit card is immaterial.
This, of course, contrasts with something like a condom, where, if you are going to have sex (unlike driving, or purchasing on credit) - you are going to do it, regardless of whether you have the license/plastic (no pun intended) - so you may as well do it safely.
It's very difficult (impossible?) to go into debt to a credit card company, if you don't have a credit card. Likewise the vast, vast majority of people who don't have Drivers Licenses (by choice, as opposed to having them taken away) - tend not to cause fatal accidents.
People get drivers licenses in order to drive, and they get credit cards to take on debt, build their credit, or make payments quicker and easier.
Drivers licenses don't make people drive poorly nor do credit cards make people make poor financial decisions. If you're going to convolute the two through some form of causality, the argument you could make is that people who are apt to make poor financial decisions are more apt to pile up credit cards.
Your claim that getting a drivers license is the "worst safety decision a modern human can make" is pure hyperbole. What about not putting on a seatbelt? What about not checking their tires and brakes regularly? What about failing to adjust their mirrors? Those are the actions that reduce safety, not getting the license, much like buying that HDTV you cannot afford reduces financial standing, not getting the credit card.
I'll stand by my original comment - no other single decision that a modern adult can make, than driving (or riding) in an automobile, will more negatively impact their health, or more likely result in a fatality.
If you take a representative sample of people who do what you suggest (seat belts, mirrors, tires, breaks) versus a sample of people that I offer (people who just don't drive - I.E. Walk) - I guarantee you there will be far fewer fatalities and injuries in my group, particularly in the 15-44 age range.
This ties _directly_ with credit cards - in that if you take a sample of people who do what you suggest (use credit cards properly/responsibly) versus a sample of people who do what I suggest (just don't get a credit card) - I believe my group will be better off financially.
To be truly scientific - we need to do a randomized trial - take a good sized group - and bucked them into two trials for 20 years - one group without cars, one group with. Another group with credit cards, another group without.
I'm confident that the non-car driving, non-credit card using group will experience fewer fatalities and be financially stronger.
I'm not arguing that you _shouldn't_ use a seatbelt, and that it doesn't help you (it does!) - I'm arguing that once you've started driving/riding, you've already increased your chance of fatality in a way that wearing a seatbelt can't reduce.
Assuming you still need to get from point A to point B, driving is far safer than riding a bike in most places in the US. Granted this is mostly because everyone else is in a car...
I'm not sure where bus-riding fits for safety. Anyone got numbers?
If you don't read the details that's not always true. Some people get suckered into cards with annual fees. Also there is always a credit checked performed. If you sign up for a bunch of credit cards for the free incentive money, all those credit checks and 0 balance / high credit limit can have a (temporary) effect on your credit score.
While I think credit cards have great benefits (see stevenwei for an excellent summary), getting the card does have a consequence in my experience: every card I've ever had has an annual maintenance fee (perhaps not the case in the USA?).
In the us, few cards besides AMEX have annual fees. The credit card companies make most of their money on people who fall behind on their payments and end up paying a ton of interest, and i would guess that annual fees aren't attractive to those customers. New college students are a prime example.
While this sucks for the system as a whole, on an individual level it does mean that those of us who have a reliable income (or FU money) can use credit cards very differently. They provide convenience, consumer protection, usually some kind of 'reward' (travel points or such), and yes, a 30 day grace period in which you can do something else with your money though I usually don't think of it that way. In fact, from an individual standpoint the only reason I can think of to use a debit card rather than credit here is a complete lack of financial responsibility/will power.
If a purchase requires you to borrow money, seriously ask yourself if you need to make the purchase. Could you (the royal you) buy a cheaper car, borrowing less or paying cash? Could you sustain another year in your current living situation?
The problem with debt-financed purchasing is that while it expands short-term options if not managed properly it can severely limit long-term options.
One does not need a drivers license to drive. One merely needs a vehicle.
The fact that not having a credit card damages your credit score should be enough to make even semi-intelligent people realize that credit score is not a fair and equitable measure of one's ability to pay on time.
I prefer carrying around credit cards compared to cash, it's more convenient and I don't have to worry about whether I have enough cash on hand when I need to make a large purchase.
I feel safer using a credit card compared to my ATM card due to the chargeback and fraud protection provided by the credit card company. There's less money "at risk" if someone steals my credit card or skims my cc number (which has happened to me at a restaurant before - I paid with a credit card and the guy wrote down the number while handling my bill. A week later he attempted to use it at Best Buy to buy a laptop, which was caught by my credit card company's fraud department.).
I earn frequent flyer miles by spending with my credit card, which (combined with signup bonuses) earns me several free plane tickets every year. Since I fly semi-frequently this is a major cost savings for me.
I pay off my credit card balance in full every month, never incurring interest. In doing so, I show a consistent payment history and build my credit score. I don't particularly need it right now, but if I ever need to take out a mortgage, finance a car, or take out any other kind of loan, having a high credit score will benefit me in the long run.
I literally cannot think of a reason why this is a bad idea, or why anyone would consider this a bad financial decision.
Yes, and AMEX is just creating money out of thin air in order to pay it to you? No, they just charge the merchant 5% of the transaction, one of the highest in the industry. Guess who raises their prices by 5% everywhere, before you pay by AMEX?
The real problem is that everyone pays this price, and it leads to price inflation even if you pay cash (yes, dealing with cash transactions has a price for the merchant as well, but that one's already built into their costs). The laws should be changed so that merchants are allowed to charge more for CC transactions. I don't understand why the government has allowed the CC industry to forbid that (seems to work for gas stations).
It's a tragedy of the commons no doubt, but I'll be dammed if I'm gonna pay the full 5% increase by paying cash, instead of using my card, getting 1% back, and only paying the 4% increase. C'est la vie.
Your comparison is "world without credit cards" vs "world with credit cards." That's not reality. The reality is "world with credit cards." It's crazy to pass on using a credit card correctly in a world with credit cards.
