Comments on: Can Kaggle make data science a spectator sport?

By: Aman Khurana

Aman Khurana — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:27:37 +0000

An interesting conversation indeed! No one wants Kaggle to become Elance of data science or do we? However, cloud computing is likely to flatten the world of data science further. It is also not certain what economic models will eventually emerge out of the intersection of cloud and data science. Data science platforms on cloud like GingerBrain sound promising but can they pave the way for consumerization of data science? Who knows.

Looks like some interesting times ahead!

Full disclosure: I work for GingerBrain

By: Tsardoz

Tsardoz — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:17:58 +0000

Kaggle pisses me off!
A skill that has taken me 10 years and a PhD to acquire has been rendered almost worthless by Kaggle. I value my own skills very highly but am not about to go prostituting myself for peanuts in the Kaggle model. The only ones getting rich from this are the sponsors and Kaggle founders.
No way will I ever stoop so low – I can find my own data thanks very much …

By: xxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxx — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 20:40:00 +0000

weakness? an insane race to the bottom, pay-wise, for data scientists. if you add up the amount of labor put into some of these “contests” and divide by the pay, some of the companies hosting these contests are getting labor for cents-per-hour. can you say race to the bottom??

By: guest 23

guest 23 — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:16:19 +0000

what would you say are the main strengths and weaknesses for Kaggle?

By: Gary E. Zimmerman

Gary E. Zimmerman — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 19:35:41 +0000

I think it’s great that Kaggle is bringing attention to the role of data scientists. I’ve read multiple posts calling to question the necessity of this role because of the ease of access to programs and services that organize, and analyze data. The platform may not support a far-reaching monetary value to entrants, but just as in pro-sports arena, the competitions will hopefully open doors for other opportunities. Gary Z, Neustar | http://bit.ly/Qy62pL

By: Derrick Harris

Derrick Harris — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:06:37 +0000

Those are some fair points, although I think the company has a longer-term vision (http://gigaom.com/cloud/kaggle-is-now-crowdsourcing-data-science-creativity/) that involves different types of competitions and even a services angle. The competitions might always be for fun for the entrants — even if prizes decrease in amount — but Kaggle’s main emphasis will be sustaining revenues for its business.

By: Niraj

Niraj — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:46:33 +0000

Kaggle is all exciting right now because it is creating a platform to learn , experiment and socialize around a new high-demand skill area. Also the obscure academics have found a way of getting some limelight.

When the newness of “Data science” fades (maybe in 2yrs) Kaggle will have to look at other business models. Kaggle cannot be a consistent source of income for Data scientists because of the sport nature of the platform. Kaggle needs to find a way to compensate the 90% of people working on the problem if if they were not the first three winners.

As far as I know – most of Kaggle userid’s are people who are just curious and want access to the data on the competitions.

Think Java in 1998-2000 getting paid $150 per hr. And think about it now on Elance wit projects getting executed at $15 per hr.

Will Kaggle end up like Elance??