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Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

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Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#971

Post by hyperpallium »

eadmund wrote: post #926
AnimalMuppet wrote: post #839

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe it or not, that was the original goal of COBOL.

And SQL! The problem is that it turns out most human beings don't actually think in a clear and logical manner, and thus there's a need for someone to translate unclear and illogical statements into clear and logical instructions for a computer — that someone is a programmer.

And BASIC!

BTW I find maths, with equations that are true in both directions, much less intuitive than programming, with functions that accept input and return output.

I suppose maths is "clear and logical statements", code is "clear and logical instructions". Does that mean maths is easier than programming for most people?

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#972

Post by hyperpallium »

lowry wrote: post #375
RalphJr45 wrote: post #320

I thought the laptop arms race would be raw power and battery not weight, thinness and style.

Competition in laptops stalled, it is probably ripe for disruption. Looking the shameful Thinkpad 25, and the hype around it... there is a market for a developer laptop that does not suck.

Laptops were disrupted years ago by netbooks, which got killed by phones.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#973

Post by hyperpallium »

grandalf wrote: post #781

It's fascinating to read everyone's responses. Mine are: - mobile devices with extremely long battery life (weeks) - mobile devices that can be put into a dishwasher and do not need to be treated gently. - HashCash - non-ai personal assistant/concierge services - Theranos-like tech - Teledildonics

> mobile devices with extremely long battery life (weeks)

Problem is charging overnight solves this for most people, and they turn to other needs.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#974

Post by hyperpallium »

Steel_Phoenix wrote: post #927

Projection mapping. It seems like a natural step between standard interfaces and AR. We've had the tech for a while. I want devices that use projected touchscreens. I loved the idea of Augmented Reality Sandbox as a type of toy for my kids. It seems like the tech got skipped over in anticipation of an AR tech that has yet to hit market.

I liked this too. There have been some phones with it; problem is projectors use a lot of power.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#975

Post by nicolerenee »

ddlatham wrote: post #854
grumblestumble wrote: post #108

E-Ink. It is the "correct" choice for display technology, and with enough research money put into it, it could replace these abominable light-emitting displays. But what we already have is "good enough", despite all of the hidden costs, and so we're stuck with it.

I wish I could get a programmable e-ink display at a reasonable price, that I could mount on the wall or desk. To show quotes, photos, weather, calendar, anything that is nice to have passively updated in the environment, using low power, and not emitting its own light.

This is something I would love to have. The possibilities are endless. Status screens, quotes, project progress, server health, etc. I really wish something like this existed that I could use to show some basic info that would be nice to have a screen at home, but not so nice a monitor is even a remote possibility.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#976

Post by k3a »

peterkelly wrote: post #281

Linux as a desktop OS

Unfortunately. I still use it as my primary desktop but I see why people prefer others.

It seems like most people don't want flexibility and configurability and they don't want to learn to manage OS. They just want to use PC comfortably and don't care about anything.

For example one of a few things I find annoying on Linux is multiple GUI frameworks, each having it's own OpenFileDialog so I can't always easily open recent folder or recent file. It looks totally different in Qt and in GTK.

I think Linux kernel is very solid and cool. But userspace is a mess, there is probably not enough standardization. For example also X11 (hacky, security problems) vs still buggy and unfinished Wayland. :( Compare that to OSX frameworks.

Yet I love free software, appreciate all effort people put into it and will continue using it. Maybe one day I will also be able to help GNU/Linux improve..

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#977

Post by PostOnce »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #210
PostOnce wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As kobeya points out https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15719171 they are not the same thing they do less; the software is restricted, especially on iOS, there are _rules_ set out by the manufacturer about what is acceptable in software on the platform, both thematically and functionally. An app generally can't interfere with other apps, it can't be a dope wars style game about drugs; there are a lot more caveats,…

> especially on iOS, there are _rules_ set out by the manufacturer about what is acceptable in software on the platform, both thematically and functionally. But iOS is not a phone. Windows could set rules about what was acceptable on the platform, but that wouldn't change what a personal computer was. There are no rules about what's acceptable on an iPhone.

it's either impossible or near impossible for normal people to change the operating system on an iPhone

so iOS essentially is the phone, since there are no iPhones without it. It's not like you can just pop in an SD card with Linux on it...

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#978

Post by mavhc »

j_s wrote: post #715
mavhc wrote: post #579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A technical video about eink, reprogramming the firmware etc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsbiO8EAsGw

It's unfortunate that so much of this specific content is locked up as video. The part is $35 shipped on AliExpress, a great way to begin experimenting.

Unedited video is the fastest kind of content to produce, and the slowest to consume.

Edited video is the slowest kind of content to produce.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#979

Post by leephillips »

adrianmsmith wrote: post #815
leephillips wrote: post #811

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't clojurescript use GWT? If it does, then GWT has certainly lived on. If I'm confused, sorry.

I'm no expert but I think Clojurescript takes the Clojure language (spelt with a "j") and converts it to unoptimized Javascript, which then gets processed by the Closure compiler (spelt with an "s"). The Closure compiler takes unoptimized Javascript and emits optimized/minified Javascript. Closure is from Google, but is independent of GWT which is also from Google, despite the two projects having similar aims. Closur…

Thanks for untangling that.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#980

Post by grandalf »

hyperpallium wrote: post #973
grandalf wrote: post #781

It's fascinating to read everyone's responses. Mine are: - mobile devices with extremely long battery life (weeks) - mobile devices that can be put into a dishwasher and do not need to be treated gently. - HashCash - non-ai personal assistant/concierge services - Theranos-like tech - Teledildonics

> mobile devices with extremely long battery life (weeks) Problem is charging overnight solves this for most people, and they turn to other needs.

Maybe. But I see lots of cases for sale w extra batteries, public charging stations, portable batteries, etc. I have to scramble to avoid a dead phone a few times per month, usually after not charging the night before.
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