Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

thepublicdiscourse.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 110 posts

Re: Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

#81

Post by LAC-Tech »

aeblyve wrote: post #21
getnormality wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Doomscrolling, like drug addiction, is largely the product of the holistic social-biological environment of the actor. Drug addiction is also a product of the availability of drugs. China has much less problems with opioid overdose than America because they learned their lesson in the 19th century.

Opium use in China was largely ended because of the Communist revolution there in the 20th century, and its policies on the matter. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/347925/

LOL at the extract:

The People's Republic of China dealt with addiction as a political problem, offering the new society hope, food, shelter, work, and land instead of opium. Addiction no longer had its appeal. Opium producing poppies were replaced by food corps. Large opium distributors were imprisoned. Addicts were "clean". A mass campaign against addiction mobilized the entire nation. Before Liberation in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party had kept opium out of their areas. However, it took until 1953 to rid China completely of opium. Twenty million Chinese outside the People's Republic of China continue to have serious narcotic addiction problems.

At least make it subtle.

Re: Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

#82

Post by godelski »

The problem I see is that technology is not made for human life, it is made for money. Money was supposed to be the proxy, not the whole enchilada. There's so much low hanging fruit that will never get fixed because it has low monetary value but would help daily life. It's a lot of the little things that add up and compound. But you can't nickel and dime your way up because it's small things in big controlled platforms.

I'll give an example. At my university each term we do a "survey" to communicate what we want to teach. It has such brilliant questions as "for what academic year" that has a single option and "what you previously taught". There is no caching, so you answer these questions over and over.

Or how about every time I import a calendar I get a new copy of a holiday calendar and this doesn't automatically merge.

There's a million things like these that are small but take tons time and add frustration. They are small but they add up and combine. A million things that take 0.1s but you do every day will still take up your entire day. It just seems we get more and more of this while we're trying to make the next big thing but can never do when we think one quarter at a time

Re: Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

#83

Post by bitwize »

bluGill wrote: post #70
AlexandrB wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strong disagree on Alexa. Maybe it's the way I talk, but I find voice assistants wildly inconsistent. There's nothing more frustrating than having to repeat yourself to a robot. Maybe AI will improve the situation in the next few years, but I'm not convinced.

Alexa - when it works - can do things that cannot be done better in a different ways. There are times when turning on a light or unlocking a door with a phone is better than the alternatives as well. However there are a lot of times where the 100+ year old way of doing the task is better. Even if voice assistants worked perfectly every time they would still be worse than the switch by the door for controlling the lig…

But "The Clapper" would do just as well in the case where you are in bed, and is less complex, less expensive, and doesn't send your claps to the cloud.

Re: Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

#84

Post by MrJohz »

ninetyninenine wrote: post #2

I don't have a problem with technology. I have a problem with technology trends that are irrational. For example the smart phone. A physical button or even alexa is easier to turn off the lights. A smart phone menu is just stupid. I want to decouple stupidity away from technology. That's not possible though. Most places where I worked... just a exploring the code for a couple minutes I encounter something stupid. So…

> For example the smart phone. A physical button or even alexa is easier to turn off the lights. A smart phone menu is just stupid.

I'm not sure that's true. A physical button only works if I'm near that button. Alexa only works if I'm near a microphone (and comfortable with that microphone). Whereas my smartphone is always in my pocket, and therefore always useful.

That's not to say a button isn't also useful - it's usually more convenient if I'm already next to that button, which makes it great for turning room lights on and off if I'm moving from room to room. But if I'm on the sofa and I want to dim the lights without having to get up, the smartphone, for me, seems like the most practical choice.

I suspect what seems like stupidity to you may often be people catering to those with different desires and needs. Just because a smartphone isn't a useful way of controlling lights for you, doesn't mean that it's a stupid design decision for everyone.

Re: Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

#85

Post by bell-cot »

bdcravens wrote: post #32
danielbln wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree with the general sentiment of over-use of smartphones and useless apps, someone who won't use their phone because someone scribbled something about not doing work on certain days on some parchment six thousand years ago is not someone we should cater to. To each their own delusions.

Additionally, varying interpretations would say you shouldn't use the lights, elevators, etc, so modern living in any manner may be incompatible with orthodoxy.

One old-time work-around for that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbos_goy

Re: Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

#86

Post by bryanlarsen »

neilv wrote: post #64
yoyohello13 wrote: post #8

I recently won a water bottle in a raffle. It looked nice, stainless steel, big (probably 2 liters). When I unwrapped it, I saw a QR code that said "Instructions." Weird, why would I need instructions for a water bottle? Then I saw a large rubber plug in the bottom. I realized with horror, it's a bluetooth enabled heating/cooling element controlled by an app I'm supposed to download. The heating element is huge, take…

> a normal insulated bottle Anyone who hasn't already experienced a good vacuum-insulated water bottle, you're in for a treat. Warning: Normally, when you pour hot coffee or tea into a mug, it cools significantly within a minute. But put it in an insulated bottle for the first time, and it might surprise burn your tongue half an hour later. (Or maybe I was the only one who didn't anticipate this.)

If you want to burn your tongue many hours later, prewarm the bottle by filling with boiling water before filling with your coffee.

Re: Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

#87

Post by ConfusedDog »

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #18
ConfusedDog wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably a heating element to reheat the coffee or tea. I have recently considered need something like a reheating lunchbox so I don't have to use the office microwave which is always gross. I just carry a huge Zojirushi insulted water bottle for my hot water need. I don't want to lose any water capacity...

Why not just clean the microwave? Your coworkers would probably appreciate it.

When I got this job years ago, this microwave is beyond cleanable... I think everyone is just avoiding it at this point and go across the building to use a different microwave, which is also pretty gross tbh. I thought about cleaning it, but then again I don't wanna, you know, die.

Re: Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

#88

Post by suobset »

alexalx666 wrote: post #9
ryandrake wrote: post #3

Maybe this is a privileged outlook, but I've decided that each piece of technology needs to earn its place in my life, and I'm going to use it deliberately for a specific purpose, if I deem it to be worthy. The smartphone has not earned it yet. Im not going to live in an apartment that requires a smartphone to get into the door. That may involve me making sacrifices, I don't care. You have to draw a line somewhere. I…

yes we need to play Apple's iPad from machine press ad in reverse

That ad was a peak example of good intention and bad execution. Absolute no one in the iPad Pro's demographic (artists, musicians, photographers, etc) are ever going to appreciate such destruction. I remember seeing a version of the ad where someone just reversed the whole thing, and it instantly felt much better.

Re: Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

#89

Post by godelski »

neilv wrote: post #64
yoyohello13 wrote: post #8

I recently won a water bottle in a raffle. It looked nice, stainless steel, big (probably 2 liters). When I unwrapped it, I saw a QR code that said "Instructions." Weird, why would I need instructions for a water bottle? Then I saw a large rubber plug in the bottom. I realized with horror, it's a bluetooth enabled heating/cooling element controlled by an app I'm supposed to download. The heating element is huge, take…

> a normal insulated bottle Anyone who hasn't already experienced a good vacuum-insulated water bottle, you're in for a treat. Warning: Normally, when you pour hot coffee or tea into a mug, it cools significantly within a minute. But put it in an insulated bottle for the first time, and it might surprise burn your tongue half an hour later. (Or maybe I was the only one who didn't anticipate this.)

  > might surprise burn your tongue half an hour later.
A *good* vacuum-insulated bottle should be able to do this 90 minutes later. I have some non expensive ones that will keep my tea hot for over 10hrs. Not warm, I mean hot. Even a cheap $10 thermos brand thermos will do at least 6 hrs. They even frequently have cups as caps. I'm sensitive to heat and always need 5 minutes after pouring it into the cup, hours after making my tea.

We're so good at keeping liquids hot it's crazy. If you can't either drink your liquid in 10 hrs or get to a microwave within that time, you're looking for a pretty niche product and a self heating bottle isn't it.

Re: Should We Decouple Technology from Everyday Life?

#90

Post by Aerroon »

MrJohz wrote: post #84
ninetyninenine wrote: post #2

I don't have a problem with technology. I have a problem with technology trends that are irrational. For example the smart phone. A physical button or even alexa is easier to turn off the lights. A smart phone menu is just stupid. I want to decouple stupidity away from technology. That's not possible though. Most places where I worked... just a exploring the code for a couple minutes I encounter something stupid. So…

> For example the smart phone. A physical button or even alexa is easier to turn off the lights. A smart phone menu is just stupid. I'm not sure that's true. A physical button only works if I'm near that button. Alexa only works if I'm near a microphone (and comfortable with that microphone). Whereas my smartphone is always in my pocket, and therefore always useful. That's not to say a button isn't also useful - it's…

>Whereas my smartphone is always in my pocket, and therefore always useful.

Sure. Now how long does it take you? Take that phone out of your pocket, unlock it, open the lights app, skip past whatever update/ad/welcome screen, find the correct light button and press it. Anything on a smartphone takes substantially longer than a physical button.

Not to mention that the physical button tends to be more reliable at doing what it's supposed to. People still buy alarm clocks and then put their phone next to it at night.

Post reply on HN