I have seen the future and I am opposed • Hacker News Board

Re: I have seen the future and I am opposed

#21

Post by cool-RR » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 4:46 PM UTC

Tuna-Fish wrote: post #7

nick_urban wrote: post #3

Does it strike any one else as at least a _bit_ disturbing that he thinks his "mind" is in his smart phone, and finds no problem with this other than that service providers are greedy? An obvious way to avoid becoming beholden to service providers is to retain some independence from our devices. It's not like people didn't travel before the invention of the iPhone.

Should we discard our clothes harden ourselves for the weather to become less dependent on clothing manufacturers? Technology is what separates humans from the rest of the animals. As time goes by, we will become more and more dependent on our technology, and this is a good thing , because I with my smartphone or laptop can do things I wouldn't be able to do alone.

Clothes don't crash spontaneously...

Re: I have seen the future and I am opposed

#22

Post by contextfree » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 4:46 PM UTC

joblessjunkie wrote: post #20

This piece is short on big-picture thinking. None of its complaints hold up under scrutiny. Mobile internet access while traveling abroad is expensive and unreliable because it's new . Yes, there are commercial forces that try to maintain high prices as long as possible, but short-term profits never hold up forever. Fifty years ago, every phone bill in the US was payable to AT&T, and long distance calls could cost do…

"Over and over, new technologies lead to incredible profits for a few, controlling corporations, but inevitably these situations aren't permanent."

It's not inevitable. It's because people work to spread awareness and change the situation.

Re: I have seen the future and I am opposed

#23

Post by nika » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 4:50 PM UTC

grellas wrote: post #8

This is a thoughtful piece written by a tech-savvy author who expresses concerns about the idea that we, as tech consumers, will be subject to the greed-driven restraints placed upon the technology we use by various corporate interests. The unstated premise of the piece seems to be that, as technology matures, control over it becomes consolidated in fewer hands, each of whom has a proprietary interest to limit its ul…

Apple allows you to run any software you want on your device. If you want something that isn't in the appstore, then you can have a webapp that works as a native app, that can be downloaded from the web, appear as an app on a page of apps like all the other apps, and operate like an app with access to the sensors of the device. Apple provides a complete platform for development of these apps, completely out of apple's control. If you want a native app, you can get a developer account and install whatever software you want.

Apple does this for two reasons. The first is, giving developers these tools outside of Apple's control, is beneficial to the platform. Apple wants as much developer focus as it can. The second reason, and probably more important, is that by having unrestricted app access, Apple provides the best solution for all of its customers. More apps means happier customers.

The app store doesn't let you make malicious or pornographic apps. The former doesn't benefit anyone, and the latter while a silly restriction is easily circumvented by using the web based platform.

Apple's walled garden is more a marketing slogan of Apple's competitors than anything else. Apple really doesn't care, because what apple does, is focus on the users. (which is why iOS is an open platform.)

Re: I have seen the future and I am opposed

#24

Post by joblessjunkie » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 4:58 PM UTC

contextfree wrote: post #22

joblessjunkie wrote: post #20

This piece is short on big-picture thinking. None of its complaints hold up under scrutiny. Mobile internet access while traveling abroad is expensive and unreliable because it's new . Yes, there are commercial forces that try to maintain high prices as long as possible, but short-term profits never hold up forever. Fifty years ago, every phone bill in the US was payable to AT&T, and long distance calls could cost do…

"Over and over, new technologies lead to incredible profits for a few, controlling corporations, but inevitably these situations aren't permanent." It's not inevitable. It's because people work to spread awareness and change the situation.

...and a thousand other reasons. Perhaps a government steps in to break a monopoly. Perhaps a new technology arrives to subvert the control. Perhaps a competitor simply offers something a little better or cheaper.

We don't necessarily have to "spread awareness" for a problem to find a solution. In this case, especially, we're all already pretty "aware" that roaming internet sucks.

Re: I have seen the future and I am opposed

#25

Post by rfrey » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 5:10 PM UTC

nika wrote: post #23

grellas wrote: post #8

This is a thoughtful piece written by a tech-savvy author who expresses concerns about the idea that we, as tech consumers, will be subject to the greed-driven restraints placed upon the technology we use by various corporate interests. The unstated premise of the piece seems to be that, as technology matures, control over it becomes consolidated in fewer hands, each of whom has a proprietary interest to limit its ul…

Apple allows you to run any software you want on your device. If you want something that isn't in the appstore, then you can have a webapp that works as a native app, that can be downloaded from the web, appear as an app on a page of apps like all the other apps, and operate like an app with access to the sensors of the device. Apple provides a complete platform for development of these apps, completely out of apple'…

It's like the parent said "blah, blah blah, blah, I may (blah) not like Apple blah, blah, blah".

Re: I have seen the future and I am opposed

#26

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 5:12 PM UTC

nika wrote: post #23

grellas wrote: post #8

This is a thoughtful piece written by a tech-savvy author who expresses concerns about the idea that we, as tech consumers, will be subject to the greed-driven restraints placed upon the technology we use by various corporate interests. The unstated premise of the piece seems to be that, as technology matures, control over it becomes consolidated in fewer hands, each of whom has a proprietary interest to limit its ul…

Apple allows you to run any software you want on your device. If you want something that isn't in the appstore, then you can have a webapp that works as a native app, that can be downloaded from the web, appear as an app on a page of apps like all the other apps, and operate like an app with access to the sensors of the device. Apple provides a complete platform for development of these apps, completely out of apple'…

[deleted]

Re: I have seen the future and I am opposed

#27

Post by zv » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 5:12 PM UTC

nika wrote: post #23

grellas wrote: post #8

This is a thoughtful piece written by a tech-savvy author who expresses concerns about the idea that we, as tech consumers, will be subject to the greed-driven restraints placed upon the technology we use by various corporate interests. The unstated premise of the piece seems to be that, as technology matures, control over it becomes consolidated in fewer hands, each of whom has a proprietary interest to limit its ul…

Apple allows you to run any software you want on your device. If you want something that isn't in the appstore, then you can have a webapp that works as a native app, that can be downloaded from the web, appear as an app on a page of apps like all the other apps, and operate like an app with access to the sensors of the device. Apple provides a complete platform for development of these apps, completely out of apple'…

Also Apple doesn't allow to make voice navigation applications, applications that competes with their core functionality etc etc. So no, Apple does not allow to run ANY software you want on your device.

Re: I have seen the future and I am opposed

#28

Post by technomancy » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 5:13 PM UTC

watmough wrote: post #11

jamesaguilar wrote: post #4

1. Buy a SIM card in your destination country. 2. Profit.

Unless you have an unlocked (i)phone, I believe this will probably fail. Sadly. Highly likely to be the case if you are American.

So pay attention before you buy your phone. It's not hard.

Re: I have seen the future and I am opposed

#29

Post by swombat » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 5:28 PM UTC

nick_urban wrote: post #3

Does it strike any one else as at least a _bit_ disturbing that he thinks his "mind" is in his smart phone, and finds no problem with this other than that service providers are greedy? An obvious way to avoid becoming beholden to service providers is to retain some independence from our devices. It's not like people didn't travel before the invention of the iPhone.

Does it strike any one else as at least a _bit_ disturbing that he thinks his "mind" is in his smart phone, and finds no problem with this other than that service providers are greedy?

No. It is natural and true. Intelligence Augmentation is already there, in the form of the internet and our array of portable computers, which give us access to any information or computation we know how to find or express. We are already some distance to Stross's Manfred Macx (from his novel Accelerando) - lost and slightly bemused when disconnected from our external brain. It's not so obvious yet, and most of us still have some independence, but those of us who know how to use the web are lesser people without access to it.

Re: I have seen the future and I am opposed

#30

Post by hammock » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 5:29 PM UTC

What worries me about this post is that the most salient solution to one of the main complaints (roaming fees) is to have one giant worldwide provider of mobile broadband. And it's not hard to imagine why that might not be so good.