Hey folks!

Ever imagined starting your own country, just like you’d kick off a startup?

It could co-exist alongside other countries, welcoming new citizens who have the freedom to pick their nationality. And who knows, these countries could even reshape the world map in the future!

And just to be clear, this isn’t some wild plot for a futuristic video game. It’s an idea from Balaji Srinivasan, the former CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of Coinbase.

Just that, these countries take off on the internet.

Srinivasan calls this a “network state”, where a group of people meet online and decide to create their own country. They’d have a social network to connect, a leader to guide them and a cryptocurrency to keep their money safe.

Basically, it all starts like a social media platform. By pooling their resources and skills, this community could develop services and build a culture of their own. Think about it. They could offer healthcare, insurance and even passports.

They’d share ideas, vote on rules and shape their society using a mix of social media tools. With something like Bitcoin, they could manage their own finances and protect their funds from traditional governments.

At first, they might buy small pieces of digital real estate like land, buildings or clubhouses, before moving into cities like Miami, which might compete to attract these new digital citizens.

It sounds a bit bizarre, we know. But Srinivasan believes that this could be the future of a decentralised world.

And it’s hard to know whether to be amazed or sceptical about this idea. Because think about it. Who would have imagined things like the internet, social media, video calls or even cryptocurrency?

Yet here we are!

If someone had predicted all this a hundred years ago, we’d probably have thought they were a little nuts, no?

Anyway, here's a soundtrack to put you in the mood 🎵

The Kapi Dance by Mahesh Raghvan and Nandini Shankar

A big shoutout to our reader Vikrant Kembhavi for this awesome recommendation!

By the way, we’ve missed your song suggestions lately, so we had to dig into our archives to unearth this gem. So, don’t forget to send us more recommendations, folks!

Now, let’s get cracking.

What caught our eye this week 👀

Flappy Bird is back with a twist

Flappy Bird or Faby, the infamous little yellow bird that dominated phone screens a decade ago is making a comeback.

Except, this time, it’s not the original creator who’s behind it. Instead, fans claim to have bought the game’s rights and are reviving it.

But wait… the original developer says he never sold the rights. So, what’s going on?

See, Flappy Bird was the brainchild of Dong Nguyen, a Vietnamese developer, who launched the game in 2013 with a simple aim — to give people a quick, fun way to take a break. And for a while, it was just that.

But everything changed when Swedish YouTuber Pewdiepie featured it on his channel. In no time, the game skyrocketed to fame.

Suddenly, everyone was hooked. Flappy Bird hit 90 million downloads and was raking in $50,000 a day in ad revenue. This turned the game’s purpose upside down. What should’ve been a casual pastime became an obsession, with people glued to their screens, struggling to navigate that little yellow bird through endless green pipes.

The unexpected outcome overwhelmed Nguyen. So, he did the unthinkable. He pulled the plug. Just a few days after launching an Android version, he announced that he was taking down Flappy Bird from all platforms. And just like that, the game that had taken the world by storm disappeared.

But the story doesn’t end there. Because now, a decade later, fans have taken it upon themselves to bring the game back through a group called The Flappy Bird Foundation. They claim to have acquired the rights and are gearing up for a relaunch.

The twist, though?

Nguyen says that he never sold the rights.

So how are fans reviving a game without the creator’s blessing, you ask?

Well, here’s the thing. After pulling down the game, Nguyen couldn’t re-release it even if he wanted to make a less addictive version. Thanks to Apple’s App Store rules, developers lose ownership of an app’s name as soon as they remove it. And if someone else picks it up, the original creator can’t use it again. Given the game’s wild popularity, it’s no surprise that clones flooded the market the moment it vanished.

And with years passing by, Nguyen let his trademark lapse. This opened the door for Gametech Holdings LLC, a software company, to swoop in and claim the rights in early 2024. They then sold it to The Flappy Bird Foundation, giving fans a chance to revive their favourite game.

So yeah, that’s how Flappy Bird is coming back. Are you going to resist the temptation or get hooked on the new version? Let us know!

Infographic 📊

This Day in Financial History 📜

16th of September, 1959 ― Xerox changes the world!

The Xerox 914, the world’s first successful photocopier, was introduced on this day. And it didn’t just make copies. It changed how we share information today.

It all started with a chap named Chester Carlson, a physicist who wasn’t too fond of handwriting copies over and over.

And making copies back then was a messy business. People used carbon paper, which left smudges and made mistakes hard to fix. Imagine trying to draw with a crayon on paper and getting all messy. Yikes!

So, Chester figured out a better way – the use of ‘static electricity’ to make copies. Remember as a kid when you’d take a comb, rub it on your hair, and then watch it pick up bits of paper like a magnet? Yeah, that’s static electricity in simple words! And Carlson’s invention used a similar trick but with light and special powders to copy images onto paper. He called it xerography.

But here’s the thing. Carlson was short on cash. So, despite having a groundbreaking invention, over 20 companies rejected him. But, he didn’t give up. And in 1947, a small company called Haloid saw the potential and bought his patent.

Fast forward to 1959, and the Xerox 914, a copier that could duplicate documents with just the push of a button, hit the market. And it was an instant hit! So much so that Haloid changed its name to ‘Xerox’ in 1961, after the xerography technology. And the rest, as we know, is history. By 1965, the groundbreaking machine contributed to two-thirds of Xerox’s revenue.

And by the time Xerox went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), it had already become a household name. It was so famous that ‘Xerox’ became a verb. Instead of saying ‘photocopy’, people just said, “Let me Xerox that!”

But as with all innovations, there were doubts. Competitors doubted the technology, there were patent battles, and the Xerox 914 itself had quirks. For instance, it weighed 650 pounds (heavier than two baby elephants!) and had a habit of overheating. So, Xerox included a small fire extinguisher called the ‘scorch eliminator’ — just in case. Talk about being prepared!

And Xerox didn’t just stop at copiers. The company’s innovations inspired a whole generation of tech minds.

Even Steve Jobs visited Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in the 1970s, where he saw the world’s first personal computer with a mouse connected to a graphical interface screen. And inspired by what he saw, Jobs went on to create Apple’s computer, Lisa.

So yeah, Xerox’s legacy has been massive from photocopying to the digital world. It paved the way for modern tech that we use every day.

The next time you hear someone say, “Xerox that”, remember, it’s not just a word. It’s a 60-year-old legacy of invention and persistence.

It shows us how brands can evolve into everyday language.

Readers Recommend 🗒️

This week, our reader Deepti Sasikumar recommends listening to one of her favourite podcasts We Can Do Hard Things by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach and Amanda Doyle.

Every day, we tackle tough challenges, whether it’s searching for a job, dealing with difficult colleagues, battling loneliness, caring for family and kids, fighting for equality or seeking purpose in life. Sure, these experiences are part of life. But let’s be real. They’re hard!

This podcast dives into the importance of being real and having open, honest conversations about the tough stuff we all face. It also features an impressive lineup of guests who’ve shared their experiences with the podcast hosts, including former First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and more.

Thanks for the recommendation, Deepti!

Finshots Weekly Quiz 🧩

It’s time to announce the winner of our previous weekly quiz. And the winner is…🥁

Balaji Taware! Congratulations. Keep an eye on your inbox and we’ll get in touch with you soon to send over your Finshots merch. And for the rest of you, we’ve moved the quiz to our weekly wrapup. So make sure you answer all the questions correctly by 12 noon on September 28, 2024 (Saturday) and tune in here next week to check if you got lucky.

Anyway, that’s it from us this week. We’ll see you next Sunday!

Until then, don’t forget to tell us what you thought of today’s newsletter. And send us your book, music, business movies, documentaries or podcast recommendations. We’ll feature them in the newsletter! Just hit reply to this email (or if you're reading this on the web, drop us a message: morning@finshots.in).

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