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Did I ever mention that I fucking hate the fucking web

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Re: Did I ever mention that I fucking hate the fucking web

#231

Post by enraged_camel »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #224
danielweber wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we were buying a product/service, I firmly believe we would see incremental improvements, which things generally getting better each iteration (with the occasional mis-step). However, since so much is "free as in beer" people have to layer on a bunch of stuff to monetize everything. People aren't trying to build better mousetraps. They are trying to monetize the mousetrapping experience for social. No, wait, we ha…

> If we were buying a product/service, I firmly believe we would see incremental improvements, which things generally getting better each iteration (with the occasional mis-step). I disagree, and that's why I brought crapware bundled with PCs and all the non-tech products which get progressively worse. We buy this stuff. Companies aren't giving laptops or coffee makers for free. But we've reached the point of overall…

Furthermore, Google products aren't really free. They collect a lot of information about the user, which massively benefits their ecosystem.

Re: Did I ever mention that I fucking hate the fucking web

#232

Post by bmm6o »

snarfy wrote: post #206
andrewstuart2 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A minor soapbox of mine: agile doesn't say anything about release cycle. What it says is that the goal is working software, not released software. Software can be working but not released until it's working well.

Very true, but I've yet to see it practiced that way.

There's a huge swath of the industry where it doesn't make sense to release any faster than a few times a year. Think Office applications, RDBMS products, email servers, accounting apps, etc, etc. Even the fastest cadence apps (like browsers) are on more of a 6-week cycle. The web is unique in that every visit is an opportunity to deliver new code, but there's way to much friction with most application types to do that.

Re: Did I ever mention that I fucking hate the fucking web

#234

Post by eonw »

edem wrote: post #65

I think that for some time now Google's services are mostly crap. For example when I upgraded KitKat to Lollipop they fucked up my calendar. No month view? Seriously? Plus it always vibrates since silent mode is gone. I found this out the hard way. My phone is always in silent mode and after the upgrade one day it just vibrated off the desk and the display broke. I should sue Google for this. Anyway back to your issu…

i dont have kitkat yet, but are you serious? what good is a calendar without a month view?

Re: Did I ever mention that I fucking hate the fucking web

#235

Post by slowmotiony »

collyw wrote: post #184
slowmotiony wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could never get design right. First it was complete shit because they didn't care, then they copied Microsoft's metro and called it Holo, then they came up with Cards UI and now they have Material. Not one of these was properly implemented in their own apps, which should tell you a lot about their inner workings.

You obviously don't remember when search engines had a thousand options and buttons and links everywhere.

I remember AltaVista :)

Re: Did I ever mention that I fucking hate the fucking web

#236

Post by enraged_camel »

austenallred wrote: post #70
RankingMember wrote: post #54

This reminds me of Bill Gates' email documenting his experiencing trying to install and run Windows MovieMaker (read from the bottom): http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/files/library/2003Jangat...

I got inexplicably angry just reading that

This bit from Ian Mercer made my blood boil:

>>"One of the biggest issues today is that WU provides no way to promote a download to an end-user. We want to promote MM2 and WMP98 to end-users as something new and cool that they can get for Windows. Three lines of text describing it buried under "Windows XP" in a page that the user has to purposefully go find just isn’t good enough. Why can’t the WU client-side piece proactively display a bubble "Look! Cool, new features for Windows XP" and the option to display a much richer "advertisement" for the feature if the user wants to read more?"

If Windows Update did these types of pop-up promotions I would throw my computer out the window.

Re: Did I ever mention that I fucking hate the fucking web

#237

Post by fsck--off »

andrewstuart2 wrote: post #148
RankingMember wrote: post #54

This reminds me of Bill Gates' email documenting his experiencing trying to install and run Windows MovieMaker (read from the bottom): http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/files/library/2003Jangat...

I really appreciate how even-keeled he is despite being utterly frustrated with the experience. I think the worst he said was "crap," which I find refreshing. That's something I hope I bring to every team I'm on.

Bill mellowed out as he got older. He used to be infamous for cursing during meetings. Joel Spolsky has an amusing story about it:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/06/16.html

Re: Did I ever mention that I fucking hate the fucking web

#238

Post by harperlee »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #227
danielweber wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it enables a very simple transaction: I am exchanging money for your good and/or service, so you try to provide me the best experience you can. If Starbucks gave away free coffee but monetized their restrooms, their coffee would eventually end up full of diuretics.

It doesn't work with SaaS startups. The goal of a typical startup is to get bought. The so-called "exit". Which basically means they don't give a crap about their users. They'll lie to you on their front page that the want to create an awesome service, but it's all a trick to get you to sign up - because the more people sign up, the bigger growth they have, and the better chance of getting bought. And when the buy of…

It might not hold always, but it is a very good rule-of-thumb.

Normally, a company (either startup or not) cares most for its clients, because they are the ones that pay its topline and ultimately its workers' salaries. Other parties (users, providers, government, whatever) also have power and can also influence the company's behaviour, but clients normally have it easiest.

That does not always hold, as I said. Another example is you being a commodity client; if the company is, for example, more interested on big clients, your interests might not be the first concern for that company. But they will have you in mind, nonetheless, as the bad service you receive can signal something bad for bigger clients. Sometimes, even big clients are commodities, as they can't wield a lot of power, so the company can act not in its client's best interests (monopolies or tax burden when price is inelastic are scenarios that come quickly to mind).

Re: Did I ever mention that I fucking hate the fucking web

#239

Post by [deleted] »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #227
danielweber wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it enables a very simple transaction: I am exchanging money for your good and/or service, so you try to provide me the best experience you can. If Starbucks gave away free coffee but monetized their restrooms, their coffee would eventually end up full of diuretics.

It doesn't work with SaaS startups. The goal of a typical startup is to get bought. The so-called "exit". Which basically means they don't give a crap about their users. They'll lie to you on their front page that the want to create an awesome service, but it's all a trick to get you to sign up - because the more people sign up, the bigger growth they have, and the better chance of getting bought. And when the buy of…

[deleted]

Re: Did I ever mention that I fucking hate the fucking web

#240

Post by dragonwriter »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #215
dragonwriter wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The definition of Agile is the Agile Manifesto. It doesn't change.

It's sort of like religion. The definition of Christianity is the Bible. The amount of Christian religions that actually care about what's written in the Book is minuscule.

> The definition of Christianity is the Bible.

The closest thing actually within Christianity to this is a relatively new idea ("new" in the context of how long Christianity has existed) particular to a subset of Protestant Christianity, and generally rejected by the rest of Christianity, to wit, the doctrine of sola scriptura. [0]

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_scriptura

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