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I would rather see my books get pirated than this

janefriedman.com

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Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#391

Post by eropple »

dylan604 wrote: post #117
userbinator wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, "personal recommendations" seems to mean "influencers" these days.

that's the part that I love love love. society has gotten to this ridiculous follower stage that people seem to think it is a personal connection. maybe i've just spent too much time too close to the ad agency world to see how nasty they are, but anytime i see some random person on the internet that i do not personally know recommending anything, i immediately assume they are paid for that "recommendation". too much…

I'm currently noodling on a blog website and I'm thinking about adding a "recommendations" page largely in an anti-influencer sort of way--any affiliate marketing money is pretty incidental to somebody working in tech, but I want companies that make stuff that's good and valuable to stick around and continue to make stuff, so I want a way to spread the good news in a credible manner.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#392

Post by eropple »

worldsayshi wrote: post #361
nomat wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free speech should only apply to verified humans. We could use the blockchain to assign keys to babies as they are born. Only half kidding, about both statements. Corporations also have rights. How terrible it will be when we have "companies" that are just AI programs. All human weakness, eliminated. South Korea requires you to register with your national id if you want to access the internet there, which sounds like…

There has to be some neat tricks you can use to allow verifying a human, using your id, without actually exposing your id though?

You can sign an intermediary certificate, but nothing stops you from then giving that to an LLM.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#393

Post by pbhjpbhj »

ianburrell wrote: post #116
LapsangGuzzler wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think AI is going to make it harder to separate the signal from the noise, though. We’re already seeing this play out with sites like Amazon that are just full of cheap junk that’s blatantly ripped off and undercut in price, or Google as people are complaining about the quality of search results.

Notice that niche shopping sites don’t have reviews. Bigger sites have reviews but they don’t get gamed. Without affiliates or listing products like Amazon, there is no way for the spammers to make money. I’m surprised that places like Walmart or Target haven’t gotten burned by cross listings. They could drop the program and advertise as alternative to Amazon. If Amazon had “sold by Amazon” filter, it would be a lot…

Amazon (UK, at least) don't even have a working search function, it's ridiculous trying to buy a specific thing there.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#394

Post by blq10 »

mrweasel wrote: post #309
opportune wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, until someone creates a website that just ships the products they say they have, and people type in the URL for the site directly and shop there? If online shopping were truly such a terribly scammy UX in 100% of cases people would stop using it or shift to shopping from trusted sellers who recognize the tremendous amount of value they can capture by not scamming people.

> If online shopping were truly such a terribly scammy UX in 100% of cases people would stop using it or shift to shopping from trusted sellers That slide has already started. I can't buy stuff on Amazon anymore, because I don't trust the quality or that I'm not scammed. Unless I trust the author I'd question buying self published books. There's a number of Chinese website, like Wish, that I don't understand. Why bot…

People willing to take risk on Wish because they are spending frivolously and would like to spend less frivolously.

Scams are high, but not so high that you won't usually get what you asked for.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#395

Post by bunga-bunga »

bobboies wrote: post #374
mrweasel wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If online shopping were truly such a terribly scammy UX in 100% of cases people would stop using it or shift to shopping from trusted sellers That slide has already started. I can't buy stuff on Amazon anymore, because I don't trust the quality or that I'm not scammed. Unless I trust the author I'd question buying self published books. There's a number of Chinese website, like Wish, that I don't understand. Why bot…

So the trouble is these market places allowing third party vendors on there (obviously). All you need is a system to authenticate reputable sellers. Instead of looking at the stars on a product and clicking “buy now,” folks just need so ask: do I know this seller? Is this the ACTUAL publisher selling me this book? I’d rather go into a real shop anyway. Unless it’s buying some hard-to-find item there’s no excuse.

> I’d rather go into a real shop anyway

You’re assuming that scams don’t make their way into regular distributors as they try to cut corners and maintain competitiveness.

You already see established brands lower the quality of their products after the first round of reviews online. If found out, they just blame manufacturing. Sorry.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#396

Post by 0xbadcafebee »

nomat wrote: post #268
0xbadcafebee wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your first paragraph is just Amazon today. They don't need AI for people to make up products and send you garbage. They probably will use AI for reviews, but they already have fake reviews that reliably fool people, so this isn't much different. If it gets so bad that Amazon's bottom line is threatened, they'll actually crack down; they're assholes, not business-suicidal. "The entire internet will just be a computer…

I'm talking about the quality of the food here. as for the rest of the post, the application is not limited to consumer products. Imagine the 2016 election season in 2056. or another covid pandemic.

AI isn't going to change a pandemic or an election by itself. Those are completely controlled by societal norms and actions of humans, regardless of any technological powers or their uses.

In the 1918 Flu Pandemic, we had the technology and knowledge to end it quickly. But nations around the world chose to spread disinformation and cover-up the story, which made it much worse. A third of the world died because of how society chose to act.

And when we make a product that can do harm, we also make a product that can revert it, clean it up, or institute laws to restrict it. Now that we've seen things like Russian bot farms, we look for them and shut them down. Despite that we have good AI, we can also detect AI. Our ingenuity can almost always be surpassed by more ingenuity. As much as it can cause harm, it can also fix said harm.

AI is just a hammer in a toolbox, and it isn't any worse than any other hammer we've had. Don't worry about the hammer; worry about the person holding it.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#397

Post by wombat-man »

ben_w wrote: post #368
phpisthebest wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that was going to happen, it already would have. Most people still just buy the cheapest version of an item they are looking for.

I'm already switching to buying in person, though in my case because of the delivery service usually redirecting to depots further away than the shops selling the same items.

Yeah, I'd rather go to target or something and choose from the 3 spatulas they have then spend any time trying to figure out which of the 1000 listings are good on amazon. It's just less work.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#398

Post by [deleted] »

VincentEvans wrote: post #151
manicennui wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure you can't buy Kindle books with Amazon's iOS apps because Apple wants a cut.

And yet I can buy entire contents of the amazon using the Amazon shopping app. Or Walmart app. Or Target app. Or Best Buy app. Opening amazon.com via Safari on an iphone is a throwback and a very odd experience - I haven’t needed to use a mobile version of amazon.com in ages - i use the app for all my Amazon shopping. And one other thing - I can’t stand Musk, but given my experience with Amazon in a world where WeCha…

[deleted]

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#399

Post by ljf »

luma wrote: post #201
scubbo wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally, among my social group, almost everyone has heard of it, and no-one has ever experienced it.

... that they are aware of.

I got a pack of Uno cards recently - and never considered that they were fake, until I got out our other set - and suddenly it was clear the card stock was totally different, and it was missing the copywrite wording. But until that point I had no reason to think they'd be fake. It is a park of Uno cards that sell for £5 to £10 - but then go to Temu and find (fake?) packs for £2.50 delivered, so I guess the mark-up is worth it for someone.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#400

Post by dangus »

yonaguska wrote: post #224
dangus wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I like how local bookstores go about curation more than Costco. I don't know if we can say that a store with unlabeled aisles can be a source of curation.

it's curation in that the products they do offer are generally trustworthy.

There’s a big difference between limiting SKU count to simplify operations and products being curated to be “the best” and most trustworthy options.

Natural foods stores have much more stringent standards on things like artificial colors, animal treatment, and use of chemicals.

For example, Tide Original is banned in New York for having too much of a cancer-causing chemical. Costco sells it. Costco sells products with artificial colors linked to ADHD in children. Costco’s best organic eggs are visibly and nutritionally inferior to eggs from pasture-raised chickens.

The fact that Costco doesn’t sell low quality private label and discount brand items has more to do with customer demographic than trust and curation.

This is also the store that allows third-party companies’ representatives to harass customers about solar panels and DirecTV in the store. “Trustworthy.”

They’re really no different on “trust” than Walmart or Target, and I think people need to stop being a part of its retail cult and take it for what it is: a store with good prices on staple goods.

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