71–80 of 87 posts
What does humanity servicing technology mean? That depends on who is controlling the technology, and that often means corporations and the elite classes that control it on top.
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I specifically wanted to call out this particular statement because it can be so innocuous and it served as a great example of the problem I've been seeing more and more in comments. I specifically wanted to float the idea about moderation intervention as a possible solution to the problem I pointed out. It's perhaps not the best solution, but it's a starting point. How many more "Facebook is stupid and evil, Apple n…
Fair enough. Yet I think you must ask yourself: Why does something become a successful meme? I would argue that memes are, in effect, a form of data compression that condenses a (A) wide scope of information, that (B) many people feel is true into (C) a very small nugget of memorable text. So, I could've spent a few paragraphs arguing the lack of meaningful product development, highlight the overlapping and often con…
Look I'm a huge Apple fanboy - no doubt, but at the same time I think the company is intrinsically interesting to try and understand from all different angles. They don't do a lot of things right and that's worth discussing. On the flip side they also do a lot of things very right, and that's also worth discussing. In fact, it's this very dichotomy that makes Apple...Apple, and Google...Google. Their incredible strengths are borne out of their very weaknesses, and these balances creates very different products.
But take Apple out of the equation. Let's just talk memes.
A lot of the things you mentioned are incredibly nuanced and make for fantastic discussions about branding, marketing, technology, privacy, platforms, org structures, etc. Memes effectively strip conversations of their nuance and conversation cannot be efficiently driven forward to a new level of understanding. That's my whole issue with this. It has nothing to do with whether I agree with your statement or not, and it has everything to do with what new ideas we can come up with together if we have a real, nuanced conversation. That applies to Elon Musk as well.
So bring on the paragraphs, it's not too late!
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> given their entire product design is built to serve apple, and the users are often secondary to that or ignored entirely; such as making UI more difficult on purpose so you're more inclined to use siri, or buying music instead of bringing your own. That's simply not true, and it's a really offensive statement for pretty much anybody working at Apple. There's no company I can think of that cares more about the user…
Part of the 24 hr marketing response team? Seriously, I've never met a real person who didn't feel screwed by the planned obsolescence and painfully staggered hardware updates that lag behind the curve. Apple's beginning ideals != to the Apple of today.
This is a pretty ironic statement, given their entire product design is built to serve apple, and the users are often secondary to that or ignored entirely; such as making UI more difficult on purpose so you're more inclined to use siri, or buying music instead of bringing your own. I dont see AI at apple being any different. Its for them FIRST, us second, if at all. "humanity" may as well mean corporations since the…
The context of the statement was technology causing humans to become less relevant via automation. Hes not talking about users of Apple products. To your statement though, Apple wants to make things less configurable with a large enough sandbox where the users don't complain about their restricted freedoms (applies more to their devices line). The earlier Apple wanted to give the best tools to their users, and let th…
A bit off topic, but I always see this mentioned when it comes to modern gaming, but fail to see the evidence.
Older games came with instruction manuals (Nintendo had the most exquisite ones and they always came in color). When I was a kid, I would voraciously read it on the way home, heightening my anticipation for the ride home. Although I do wish more opening tutorials were optional and not tied into a game's story
Modern games are more mechanically complex, period. Compare the control system in Nier: Automata to any pre 3D Legend of Zelda game (or any other game really). Letting you figure things out would is an exercise in frustration. One example of this is the Dark Souls series which is more hands off. Every new game in the series, I have to go online to look up the controls, power attacks, etc. for every new game in the series and spend 4439 deaths getting the parry timing down. It's frustrating and breaks immersion. Having a npc sparring partner to hone your parrying instead of the enemy who kills you with two hits would have me from breaking a couple of controllers in frustration.Also, often times you can turn off the hand-holding by turning off UI/HUD elements in the options (this is the way to play Assassin's creed)
What I think has happened is that yersteryear's easy difficulty is the default normal, normal the default hard, etc. I feel that a lot of reviewers don't do games justice when they base it on easy or normal mode. In good games, the higher difficulties often require a higher level of tactics and more diverse gameplay. If you haven't played Halo on Legendary mode, you haven't really played Halo because you miss out on the brilliance of the set pieces and the increased tactical complexity required to survive. If you play the Last of Us on normal, the preponderance of ammo breaks the immersion and mood of the game. Same goes for Horizon: Zero Dawn...if you're not playing on the hardest level, you don't ever need to employ advanced tactics to take down/hunt the machines...no need to lay traps, plan out your attacks, etc. It especially becomes a very different game.
The Uncharted series, the Last of Us, the Bayonetta series, Horizon: Zero Dawn, etc. all have controls that, IMO, are superior to (or at least equal) older games
more context for the headline quote. FTA: "While he calls AI “profound” and increasingly capable of doing unbelievable things, on matters that require judgment he’s not comfortable with automating the human entirely out of the equation. “When technological advancement can go up so exponentially I do think there’s a risk of losing sight of the fact that tech should serve humanity, not the other way around.” he's talki…
> there’s a risk of losing sight of the fact that tech should serve humanity, not the other way around Whoever thinks for even a moment that humanity should serve technology?
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It's ironic, and hilarious frankly, that your reply about vapidity was much more vapid than what you were complaining about. Why don't you offer something of substance rather than complaining about substance.You are part of the 'HN crowd' you speak of and what you contribute literally forms part of this living, breathing community.
I specifically wanted to call out this particular statement because it can be so innocuous and it served as a great example of the problem I've been seeing more and more in comments. I specifically wanted to float the idea about moderation intervention as a possible solution to the problem I pointed out. It's perhaps not the best solution, but it's a starting point. How many more "Facebook is stupid and evil, Apple n…
I enjoy HN and am thankful for the time spent on moderating it though, so it's a minor concern at this point.
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Apple is extremely user-hostile, they make it hard to do anything they don't want you to do with YOUR device. It's simple things like using uncommon screws internally, or soldering in the ram, or requiring a certain set of bits at the front of your hard drive, or making it so the batteries cannot be removed.
Screws are the straw that will break the camels back? Everyone knows torx are better anyway. They are less prone to stripping. I used them on the house I built. Any curious nerd will have torx bits already. Anyone else won't care enough to even want to open their Mac.
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Bullshit. No one loves apple because of using torx screws and requiring certain bits at the front of their hard drives or soldering the empty ram slots shut so that you can't upgrade it later. It doesn't provide a "standard experience", or make their "phones" work any better.
I didn't say that, I said they love the standard experience, and that standard experience is enabled by making the phone an appliance that isn't meant to be hacked on or tampered with, i.e. those things. They are not personal computers to be "upgraded" or hacked to your hearts desire, they're toasters, use them as is, that's the intended experience and that's exactly what their customers by in large prefer. If they d…
It really isn't.
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I think you're right, but that kind of thinking is what leads to less open devices and software, which in turn leads to technology serving whoever controls it first and foremost.
An open market requires choice, including the choice for closed appliances. As long as alternatives exist, there's nothing wrong with closed platforms, those who want choice have Droid. Open devices and software come at a cost, they don't deliver the same experience you can get on a closed appliance that due to tight control over hardware and software can deliver a consistence experience impossible to deliver otherwi…
What is the other way around -- that humanity should service technology? What does humanity servicing technology mean? That depends on who is controlling the technology, and that often means corporations and the elite classes that control it on top.