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Why I still blog after 15 years

jonashietala.se

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Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#171

Post by s1artibartfast »

HappMacDonald wrote: post #157
s1artibartfast wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so now we are starting to get somewhere. It seems you think the bottlenecks are similar to the ones I flagged such as knowledge, discovery and certification. If you know a way to find the people starting that aren't charging 200/hr, please let me know because I want to hire them.

You can always try putting out an ad on Craigslist: "Need someone to fix my car (or landscape your yard or prune your tree, whichever thing you're trying to get done) for $X/hr. No experience or certification or warranty of any kind required, if you get hurt I guess I'm paying your medical bills, if you've never done this before now's your chance to muddle through and find out how on my dime, and if you ruin my prope…

What point are you trying to make in relation to the cost of labor and barriers to entry?

You might have a point that everyone is so rich these days that they are willing to pay $200 an hour for a reputable plumber to unclog their toilet rather than take the risk it with a $50 plumber without 500 yelp reviews.

This would certainly explain the trouble young people seem to be having starting plumbing businesses and introducing some well needed competition.

I think this would fall under the discovery or triangulation problem.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#172

Post by bunderbunder »

Boxxed wrote: post #162
bityard wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't explain why, but I always cringe a little when I hear someone say that they "consume content." Maybe its because I can't tell if brings up animalistic connotations (a pack of feral hipsters picking at the remains of an endangered podcast on the Serengeti), or if they are intentionally being elitist ("It would be a waste of time to simply read Chomsky's work, an educated person would make the effort consume it…

A friend of mine was playing the game Slay the Spire and was loving it -- he said something along the lines of, "It's very well designed, and there's so much content!" That always kind of skeeved me out. I think because there's this odd self-awareness of it all?

Ha. This is is exactly what turns me off of Slay the Spire. It's a filler game, full of filler content, designed to fill your time. And not, as far as I can tell, much more than that.

"Content" is a commodity. I don't see a huge difference between the folks who view creative work as "content" and talk about it as if it's fungible and can be valued per uni of weight, and art speculators who buy up works of art they've never seen and then leave it warehoused in some freehold somewhere.

I can't really blame people who do creative work for catering to folks who think about their work this way - everybody's got to eat - but I'll still gladly bemoan the pervasive cultural debasement.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#173

Post by mindcrime »

stavros wrote: post #168
sivers wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know my up-vote of this comment is supposed to be enough, but I just have to add, as an extra praise @jl6 here: That's the funniest sentence I've heard in a long time. “Nobody ever thought to themselves: I sure could go for some content right now.” Love it love it love it.

Agreed, that sentence really satisfied my appetite for content.

This entire thread is some of the best content I've consumed in a while!

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#174

Post by JohnMakin »

bunderbunder wrote: post #172
Boxxed wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine was playing the game Slay the Spire and was loving it -- he said something along the lines of, "It's very well designed, and there's so much content!" That always kind of skeeved me out. I think because there's this odd self-awareness of it all?

Ha. This is is exactly what turns me off of Slay the Spire. It's a filler game, full of filler content, designed to fill your time. And not, as far as I can tell, much more than that. "Content" is a commodity. I don't see a huge difference between the folks who view creative work as "content" and talk about it as if it's fungible and can be valued per uni of weight, and art speculators who buy up works of art they've…

Couldn’t really disagree more, although I guess I see where you’re coming from. Slay the Spire to me lacks “content” at least the way you’re using it - there are 4 classes that essentially have never changed and the levels are pseudo randomly generated and otherwise don’t change much run to run.

However, attaining very high levels in that game requires a depth of skill, strategy, and math that is constantly startling to me, and I used to play card games professionally.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#175

Post by HappMacDonald »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #171
HappMacDonald wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can always try putting out an ad on Craigslist: "Need someone to fix my car (or landscape your yard or prune your tree, whichever thing you're trying to get done) for $X/hr. No experience or certification or warranty of any kind required, if you get hurt I guess I'm paying your medical bills, if you've never done this before now's your chance to muddle through and find out how on my dime, and if you ruin my prope…

What point are you trying to make in relation to the cost of labor and barriers to entry? You might have a point that everyone is so rich these days that they are willing to pay $200 an hour for a reputable plumber to unclog their toilet rather than take the risk it with a $50 plumber without 500 yelp reviews. This would certainly explain the trouble young people seem to be having starting plumbing businesses and int…

What point are you trying to make by saying "send anyone who will bill me less than $200/hr my way"?

Literally zero people are stopping you from trading arbitrary sums of money to arbitrary people with zero experience and convincing them to wield a power tool at whatever problem you have with your property.

Yes, you need to find people willing to try. Yes, some of those people might see liability problems or find the entire arrangement sketchy and wonder what con you're trying to pull on them.

But I guarantee if you keep looking you'll find somebody with lower critical thinking skills who is game for whatever you suggest and could use $X/hr for whatever X is greater than minimum wage that you specify.

Depending on the state or country you live in and the task you want performed, it might be illegal for them to do the job without a license (plumbing comes to mind), but at least some of the job types you talked about do not strictly require licensing to perform publicly anywhere that I am aware of.

Mostly I guess I am trying to uncover what your unspoken expectations are about the unskilled labor you are after. Most people give a damn about what happens if they pay somebody to improve their property in some fashion and they ruin it instead. That's what insurance and bonding is for. Most people don't want to be on the hook for hundreds of thousands in medical bills if an uninsured worker injures themselves on your land.

Insurance, workman's comp, bonding, licensing, and trade school education all cost money that normally contributes to the $120-$200/hr rates you're talking about. These are also "only on the clock for the few hours some client needs something" rates for the person in question and not "guaranteed 40 hours a week working on an employer's schedule" rates, so should not be compared directly against the hourly rate of an office worker.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#176

Post by I-M-S »

tdeck wrote: post #98
JohnMakin wrote: post #36

> "I keep this blog for me to write, not necessarily for others to read." This is now to me the "old school" internet creator attitude (that I still possess). I don't blog as much any more but do create content elsewhere - a lot of it is for my own enjoyment and creative outlet, to blow off steam, whatever - the fact that other people may want to watch it is secondary. I do try to do things people want, but only if I…

I really feel this with podcasts; everyone seems like they need to make a buck now. Before about 2015 there were so many great podcasts that people did for fun or because they wanted to get a message out. Slowly, one by one, they started adding sponsorships for Blue Apron and NatureBox and SquareSpace (these were the VPMs of 2015). Now even the most niche podcast has algorithmic ads. I frequently hear creators say th…

Most podcasts offer an ad-free version if you throw 2 or 3 bucks per month to them.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#177

Post by s1artibartfast »

HappMacDonald wrote: post #175
s1artibartfast wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What point are you trying to make in relation to the cost of labor and barriers to entry? You might have a point that everyone is so rich these days that they are willing to pay $200 an hour for a reputable plumber to unclog their toilet rather than take the risk it with a $50 plumber without 500 yelp reviews. This would certainly explain the trouble young people seem to be having starting plumbing businesses and int…

What point are you trying to make by saying "send anyone who will bill me less than $200/hr my way"? Literally zero people are stopping you from trading arbitrary sums of money to arbitrary people with zero experience and convincing them to wield a power tool at whatever problem you have with your property. Yes, you need to find people willing to try. Yes, some of those people might see liability problems or find the…

If that's all you're trying to point out, then I agree and think that goes without saying. I'm not denigrating skilled labor. I think more people should go into it because it's a lucrative and high demand career.

In addition to what you said, it is also true that the cost of skilled labor is quite high relative to historic benchmarks.

Kye seems to think that smart and hard-working young people can't enter these fields due to various barriers, and I want to explore what those barriers are.

Do you have any thoughts to bring on the topic. Kye seems to think established companies are limiting training to drive up prices.

I tend to agree, but think there is more. I agree because my wife tried to break into being an electrician union because it starts at 100k salary per year, but ran into issues with limited spots used to drive up prices

I'm more inclined to think it is discovery is a big part of the problem for people trying to start small business. If you aren't a national chain or in the first 2 pages of yelp, you will have trouble finding customers, even if you are smart and talented.

Do you have anything to add in good faith?

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#178

Post by Forgeties79 »

JohnMakin wrote: post #174
bunderbunder wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha. This is is exactly what turns me off of Slay the Spire. It's a filler game, full of filler content, designed to fill your time. And not, as far as I can tell, much more than that. "Content" is a commodity. I don't see a huge difference between the folks who view creative work as "content" and talk about it as if it's fungible and can be valued per uni of weight, and art speculators who buy up works of art they've…

Couldn’t really disagree more, although I guess I see where you’re coming from. Slay the Spire to me lacks “content” at least the way you’re using it - there are 4 classes that essentially have never changed and the levels are pseudo randomly generated and otherwise don’t change much run to run. However, attaining very high levels in that game requires a depth of skill, strategy, and math that is constantly startling…

I don’t even like deck builders and STS hooked me for solid 30hrs

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#179

Post by maxvt »

ReleaseCandidat wrote: post #48
JohnMakin wrote: post #36

> "I keep this blog for me to write, not necessarily for others to read." This is now to me the "old school" internet creator attitude (that I still possess). I don't blog as much any more but do create content elsewhere - a lot of it is for my own enjoyment and creative outlet, to blow off steam, whatever - the fact that other people may want to watch it is secondary. I do try to do things people want, but only if I…

> content creation I seriously hate the term "content" used for "creative output". It is a terrible, derogatory word, that makes me sad. Content is only there to have something to sell, to fill the blank space around ads, the actual content of the content doesn't matter. That people refer to themselves as "content creators" is a sign that they see the value of their creative output only to make money.

We got a great new word for it now: "slop" (as in, "AI-generated slop").

It can be human generated as well, and the key point is exactly as you wrote it -- it only exists to sell ads around it and has minimal or even negative (wrong or outdated information, poor reasoning, etc.) nutritional value.

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