> Maybe, just maybe, that's because inventing something is actually within their grasp

The problem is that inventing a solution that no-one needs or wants and then using venture money to hype it up feels like rubbing salt in a wound for the very people they're claiming to try to help.

The point is they're not actually trying to help those people. They're using them as a marketing tool to further their own ambition to make money.

The anger is understandable.

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threatofrain a day ago | parent [-]

These nameless people could very well want to help people. A device that costs as much as a Honda Civic? Yes, that's exactly the kind of stuff that happens as you attempt to mature a product.

I was working on a drone automation system at another company. The initial prototypes were also in the Honda Civic multiplier range. The companies that bought into us knew the price tag. The customers who wanted conventional products with conventional pricing... ignored us!

Once you develop an actual manufacturing line the costs go away down, but first you must develop that maturity.

	▲	antonvs 20 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> These nameless people could very well want to help people. The criticism is that what they’re choosing to work on is misguided, if the goal is truly to help people. The cost is just one of several factors, and one point about it is that the cost will never come down far enough to make sense, if the fundamental nature of the product isn’t in fact beneficial to the intended users. It seems that there’s a sizable group who just want their ego stroked about how they’re “making the world a better place,” and other such drivel. Whether that’s actually true doesn’t matter to them, and they’re not going to think about it deeply enough to make any difference.