People are addicted to their phones.
A Post-Google World?
121–130 of 173 posts
Re: A Post-Google World?
#122Google is so unusable right now that I couldn't care less. I just started paying for Kagi and it's excellent. I forgot how it's possible for a search engine to just find the information I want without blasting my eyes with corporate slop.
Not every tom, dick and harry is going to be able to pay for services.
Personally, If I dont own the software and cant change its source code I dont trust the company. Hopefully at some point in the far future computing and AI will become so efficient that we will be able to own our own search infrastructure.That being said once this future arrives Im probably going to have to search for a new job as I dont see software engineering as being particularly lucrative.
Re: A Post-Google World?
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
I honestly think SaaS - which I think is more honestly described as "renting software" - is a business model that would have never worked if we hadn't curtailed so many threats to it with draconian laws The most natural analogy for software is infrastructure. Lots of money to be made in building, maintaining, and supporting it, but as with any technology, the proposition of renting the right to use it is one that is…
Isn't most infrastructure rented? I fail to see how SaaS is special in this respect. You rent internet access from your ISP, you rent roads when you pay tolls, you rent sewage access, etc. Saying that software is infrastructure only supports the renting model.
From the perspective of thinking that this model of infrastructure is working well, I suppose. ISPs are a great example of where it kind of isn't, and the degree to which the municipality imposes regulations on infrastructure-providing companies basically predicts the degree to which the service functions well
Re: A Post-Google World?
#124Google is so unusable right now that I couldn't care less. I just started paying for Kagi and it's excellent. I forgot how it's possible for a search engine to just find the information I want without blasting my eyes with corporate slop.
Not every tom, dick and harry is going to be able to pay for services. Personally, If I dont own the software and cant change its source code I dont trust the company. Hopefully at some point in the far future computing and AI will become so efficient that we will be able to own our own search infrastructure.That being said once this future arrives Im probably going to have to search for a new job as I dont see softw…
I am unsure about that last bit. From website design (style) to UX to how a given application works, I have found the people who want these things to be unable or unwilling to articulate what it is they actually desire, nor are they likely to go anywhere but the Happy Path. Instead, one ends up looking at the actual logged usage of previous or similar software, doing interviews with a multitude of different people who will use the application in different ways, and finally a deep contemplation of How This Will Actually Need to Work (and Break) to get anywhere.
Re: A Post-Google World?
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
I honestly think SaaS - which I think is more honestly described as "renting software" - is a business model that would have never worked if we hadn't curtailed so many threats to it with draconian laws The most natural analogy for software is infrastructure. Lots of money to be made in building, maintaining, and supporting it, but as with any technology, the proposition of renting the right to use it is one that is…
Isn't most infrastructure rented? I fail to see how SaaS is special in this respect. You rent internet access from your ISP, you rent roads when you pay tolls, you rent sewage access, etc. Saying that software is infrastructure only supports the renting model.
Even the city kind of rents the maintenance to maintenance companies. Everything is a subscription, for example the maintenance of traffic lights.
Re: A Post-Google World?
#126> However, it does mean that Google will have to give up on its mission, “to organize the world's information.” Though that slogan looks benign, it is in fact anything but. Being the organizer of the world’s information is far far too much power for anyone to have. It’s time to give up on it. Giving up on that is stupid, and would set society back. We need more companies and organisations doing it. AI has brought a f…
Being the organizer of the world’s information is far far too much power for anyone to have
Re: A Post-Google World?
#127> However, it does mean that Google will have to give up on its mission, “to organize the world's information.” Though that slogan looks benign, it is in fact anything but. Being the organizer of the world’s information is far far too much power for anyone to have. It’s time to give up on it. Giving up on that is stupid, and would set society back. We need more companies and organisations doing it. AI has brought a f…
Being the organizer of the world’s information is far far too much power for any one to have
It's what they said their mission was. It's not like it's true or anything :)
Re: A Post-Google World?
#128The term "enshittification" is used a lot these days. But there is this pattern where human organizations -- be it companies, codebases, countries and many other examples -- undergo this transformation from simple, humble and efficient systems to complex, arrogant and inefficient ones.
I wouldn't dare to speculate on the cause of this devolution. There are theories like becoming publicly traded for companies, and subsequently execs chasing short term profits to make shareholders happy, or elected officials chasing after votes for the next immediate election cycle. But it would be nice if there was some sort of a large scale in-depth study on the topic and research into solutions for it.
Honestly, the more I think about so many issues, the more I feel like there needs to be a dedicated field into the study of incentives and how they shape the systems and organizations humans build and maintain. Everything from google search being terrible to climate change feels like it all has a shared root cause of misaligned or defective incentives.
Perhaps existing fields like game theory, economics or systems design should cover this topic?
Either way, our systems design methodology is faulty and this fault is nearly universal and systemic, affecting all humans in almost every area of our lives.
One theory I have (full disclosure: subjects I am not too familiar with) is economics and game theory, specifically the "Nash equilibrium" game theory, which as I understand boils down to "everyone should participate in the system, only taking into account their own success and profit, and nothing more than that" might be at fault. Or maybe, it simply codified the innate faulty organizational instinct we have?
Re: A Post-Google World?
#129The term "enshittification" is used a lot these days. But there is this pattern where human organizations -- be it companies, codebases, countries and many other examples -- undergo this transformation from simple, humble and efficient systems to complex, arrogant and inefficient ones. I wouldn't dare to speculate on the cause of this devolution. There are theories like becoming publicly traded for companies, and sub…
> Honestly, the more I think about so many issues, the more I feel like there needs to be a dedicated field into the study of incentives and how they shape the systems and organizations humans build and maintain.
That currently falls under economics, sociology and game theory. It’s not really a dedicated field sure but it’s well covered
Re: A Post-Google World?
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
> All of our core service and software is locked up in a handful of companies. > For humanity and the future of software’s sake we need to go back to users of software owning their software, preferably by being free and open source. This sounds like a decent plan. Why not start executing the first step of it today?
What is the first step? Surely you can't mean the author using open source software (which they might already), or writing new open-source software like they envision? In the face of the societal changes they are talking about, one person will accomplish nothing. So the first step must be writing about it, trying to convince other people, or maybe developing their ideas so that instead of just a goal, they have a rea…
Run for office, propose a bill. Do anything other than just sit here and complain about it on a forum.