451–460 of 493 posts
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> The effects of the rise of "political correctness", hypersensitivity, and "cancel culture" over the last three or so decades should be considered, too. There are countless books, movies, and songs from before the rise of these concepts that OP has almost certainly not consumed. Presumably OP wasn't just talking about new media, but rather all media, and therefore is probably a them issue and not a media issue.
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> The effects of the rise of "political correctness", hypersensitivity, and "cancel culture" over the last three or so decades should be considered, too. There are countless books, movies, and songs from before the rise of these concepts that OP has almost certainly not consumed. Presumably OP wasn't just talking about new media, but rather all media, and therefore is probably a them issue and not a media issue.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34849383
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35017120
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34925396
More recently, there was discussion here about editing Agatha Christie's works:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35315170
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35338085
Existing works, even those considered to be classics by many readers, and written by authors who passed away decades ago, can be affected by this sort of "sanitization" well after the fact.
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You are precisely the consumer demand that drives conformity here. You are real! That doesn't change any of the other things I just said: in fact, it exasperates the issue, because it isn't wrong to target your familiarity as a reliable selling point. The problem is that it's also a good thing to try create new designs. I have a keyboard that you would hate to use. That's how I feel about the traditional design you p…
> We can both be served by the market, but only if designers have enough confidence to do so. That's a claim worth making, but it needs more evidence. It just isn't self-evident that this is true.
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And phones aren't? And for the record, keyboards have massive size difference, in all dimensions. Keyboards actually have a way bigger variance then you'd find in phones. Some are just a few mm high, others go as high as 5cm. There are 60% keyboards. Ergonomic keyboards. Keyboards that're basically just a small nipple with which you're doing input by gesture. the keys and actuation themselves are another topic with R…
I never made any claims about phones. That was all you. If you want an example of what I'm talking about, look here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ergomechkeyboards/ Keyboards don't inherently need to have the keys laid out like a typewriter. Most people are only willing to use a keyboard that is , because that is what they already developed their muscle memory for. That's the motivation behind the conformity I'm talking…
Nonetheless, there isn't a single layout. You got ANSI and ISO as the big branching standards with adjustments to bindings and added keys for various extra letters/modifiers depending on the localization.
And yes, i brought up the phone example to illustrate how they're only superficially the same. Your argument maps exactly onto phones after all, as they all have similar looks, input pattern etc.
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like the way the airline market converged on how they can charge people extra to be treated like humans. And charge extra to resolve arbitrary and clearly contrived annoying policies? That’s caused happier users?
You can pay more for first class, why aren't you? Also calling an airline a market is kind of iffy in many ways. It's highly regulated to keep planes from falling out of the sky. I'm sure there are many airlines that would give you a lot more space if they got rid of the crews that ensured all the bolts weren't about to fall out of the plane.
First class tickets are irrelevant, also terrible but that’s a lengthyrabbit hole.
The airline industry is loathed. No one likes them. The users are not happier but the market has pretty much converged on a business model.
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I would dare say that 99.99999% of keyboard users expect a similar layout. Sure, it converged out of conformity and familiarity, but so what? This is part of the added value to me, I can learn to type in a particular layout and I'm good to go in any other. This is a crucial part of functionality in fact.
You are precisely the consumer demand that drives conformity here. You are real! That doesn't change any of the other things I just said: in fact, it exasperates the issue, because it isn't wrong to target your familiarity as a reliable selling point. The problem is that it's also a good thing to try create new designs. I have a keyboard that you would hate to use. That's how I feel about the traditional design you p…
Where I think you get it wrong is to assume that everyone has your level of interest or applies the same logic as you to every item in their lives. Hell, I'm sure you don't. So if you are happy eating from suboptimal mass-produced forks which are just SO much worse than these $500 custom-made ergonomical marvels that the average man just simply doesn't know about... welcome to the peasant club.
What the article describes is correct, but I don't think the words "average" or "homogeneity" or "conformity" are the right terms, as they seem to carry negative connotations here. Rather, the right word is "convergence". The point is, people like certain things aesthetically. It used to be that artists and designers were still trying to figure out what looks good, and trying all the things. But now we've tried so ma…
Certain looks get the most followers on Instagram. Movie posters are tested against focus groups. Market forces reward high end coffee shops that look a certain way. To me, the thread all of these have in common is optimization towards a certain goal.
And thus the sadness in our hearts is the feeling that aesthetics has been subsumed as yet another optimization problem.
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this is very funny, that all criticism of convergent blandness when written down converges blandly
Makes me wonder what ChatGPT has to say about all of this.
> However, it is important to remember that despite the prevalence of certain trends, there is still a great deal of diversity in the world. This diversity can be seen in regional variations of architecture, local customs and traditions, and the unique personalities and experiences of individuals.
> It's also worth considering the role of technology and social media in shaping our perception of the world. Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest tend to promote a curated, idealized version of reality, often featuring similar aesthetic styles. This can contribute to the feeling that everything looks the same, even if that's not the case in reality.
> To better appreciate the diversity that does exist, try to explore different cultures, visit local events, or engage in conversations with people from different backgrounds. By actively seeking out and appreciating the variety that exists in the world, you may find that your perception of "average" begins to change.