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Disrupt This

By Jessica Roy 10/01/12 9:40am

Disrupt This

(Photo: YouTube)

Jack Dorsey Shills for the Important Cause of Disrupting Candy

There are many industries worthy of large-scale disruption, including dry cleaning and the line at Shake Shack. But one crucial industry that Betabeat forgot to mention in our list of things we wish techies would disrupt? Candy. How could we forget?

According to All Things D, a coterie of celebrities–including bus-riding Square cofounder Jack Dorsey, model Gisele Bundchen and full-time Boston tour guide Matt Damon–have teamed up to sing the praises of a new candy company. Unreal Candy purports to be a natural, non-corn-syrup alternative to the gross chemical-laden stuff that somehow still tempts you every time you enter a bodega. Read More

By The Editors 7/04/12 10:00am

Disrupt This

Get it? Disruptive? (Photo: flickr.com/californiawatch)

9 Things Betabeat Wishes Startups Would Disrupt

We receive a lot of pitches touting “disruptive” technologies. Healthcare, education, banking–name an old-line industry and someone is attempting to yank the rug out from underneath it.

Well, we’ve got a few pressing requests we’d like addressed. Namely:

1. Dry cleaning: It’s expensive, toxic, inconvenient, and it makes your clothes smell funny. Fix it.

2. Transcription: Whoever invents actual functional voice-to-text transcription will get more press coverage than he can possibly cope with. Trust. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 6/29/12 1:29pm

Disrupt This

Don't get struck by lightning when hanging with Bill Gates. (Photo: jurvetson)

Watch a Couple of Math Teachers Trolling Khan Academy

Video-learning nonprofit Khan Academy is basically the hottest thing in edtech, complete with TED talk and Gates Foundation grant. But you know who thinks it’s a load of crap? These two Grand Valley State University math teachers. In fact, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education, they’re so annoyed that they’ve taken to the YouTubes with a Mystery Science Theater 3000-style parody. Read More