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Things that used to be hard and are now easy

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Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#31

Post by wackget »

Eh... I'd argue against quite a lot of those being "easier" than doing things manually.

Docker is a prime example. It's supposedly easier to spin up a docker container for a basic web server stack, but to be honest I'd rather install PHP/MySQL and an SSL certificate manually, rather than spend time finding a decent container from a trustworthy source, and then spend 20 minutes trying to figure out how and why it's been configured the way it has, etc. etc.

Plus there's the need to actually install docker itself and learn how to use it in the first place.

Every one of these comes with its own learning curve which isn't always better than just learning how the actual tools underneath work.

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#32

Post by orsenthil »

lopis wrote: post #27

I really like that XKCD comic about identifying birds in a photo, so it's unfortunate that it didn't age that well. How could we rewrite that comic to today's tech? I was thinking something like: A: I want to create an app that scans good feedback of our brand online... B: there's a li rary for that, consider it done A: ... and understand if they are actually being sarcastic. B: I'm gonna need 5 years and a lab of ex…

When was that XKCD published (https://xkcd.com/1425/) ? Yeah, I remember seeing for the first time, I don't remember my reaction then. But now when I see it, I am stumped!

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#33

Post by omarhaneef »

“Everything” that is easy used to be hard, depending on your time scale.

I’m certain that COBOL programmers were raving about the ease with which you could program the computer back in the day.

The items on this list sort of happen within a career so an individual had to experience how hard it was before. It probably reads different to someone coding for 5 years vs 30 years.

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#36

Post by unnouinceput »

jbarham wrote: post #26
theden wrote: post #19

Would be interested in also seeing a "things that used to be easy but are now hard list". Feels like basic stuff is harder now: * Privacy online * Google search for niche or exact matches * Browsing without captchas and blockers, especially if you don't adhere to big tech's rules for the internet * Sending emails without worrying about spam filters being way too aggressive * SEO before it got hacked to hell * Barrier…

Installing Windows without a Microsoft account

That's false. You can still install Windows without a Microsoft account. Granted, it's harder now to see "Use local account", but it's still there.

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#37

Post by adwn »

grishka wrote: post #24
adwn wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then create an open source cross-platform GUI framework/toolkit that's technologically superior to Electron and also at least as easy and convenient to use and deploy, and people will dump Electron in droves. I mean, please do ! I would be delighted about an efficient, cross-platform, cross-language, convenient GUI toolkit. But I'm not holding my breath, and I'm tired of people complaining about Electron without offe…

Cross-platform GUIs shouldn't exist. That's it. They always inevitably are worse then native ones.

You're falling for the "perfect is the enemy of good" fallacy.

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#38

Post by jeauxlb »

theden wrote: post #19

Would be interested in also seeing a "things that used to be easy but are now hard list". Feels like basic stuff is harder now: * Privacy online * Google search for niche or exact matches * Browsing without captchas and blockers, especially if you don't adhere to big tech's rules for the internet * Sending emails without worrying about spam filters being way too aggressive * SEO before it got hacked to hell * Barrier…

* email delivery

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#39

Post by Darkstryder »

orsenthil wrote: post #32
lopis wrote: post #27

I really like that XKCD comic about identifying birds in a photo, so it's unfortunate that it didn't age that well. How could we rewrite that comic to today's tech? I was thinking something like: A: I want to create an app that scans good feedback of our brand online... B: there's a li rary for that, consider it done A: ... and understand if they are actually being sarcastic. B: I'm gonna need 5 years and a lab of ex…

When was that XKCD published ( https://xkcd.com/1425/ ) ? Yeah, I remember seeing for the first time, I don't remember my reaction then. But now when I see it, I am stumped!

September 24th, 2014.

To know the date of publication of a given xkcd comic, go to https://xkcd.com/archive/, search for the title you're after, then the date of publication is displayed in the mouse-over text.

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