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The tech monoculture is finally breaking

jasonwillems.com

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Re: The tech monoculture is finally breaking

#331

Post by cptskippy »

at1as wrote: post #169
cptskippy wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The over arching theme of your article is "tech is fun again because we're escaping the monoculture" but there's a strong unspoken signaling of "look at how cool I am". You're saying "my tech choices signal discernment." You've got this curated counterculture vibe of being off mainstream by being on different mainstream platforms. The shifts taking place are all reminiscent of the shift from Windows to Apple that sta…

> there's a strong unspoken signaling of "look at how cool I am" I think tech should feel cool to the person using it, but it won't make a person cool either way. And it's an odd thing to fixate on. > You're saying "my tech choices signal discernment." I'm saying I have choices (at least, relative to earlier). I can use a Mac (or not) and that can tell you much less about the type of phone I have than a would have a…

> I think you may have seen a Leica in the list and way over-indexed on that, while it's actually at quite old D-LUX Typ-109 (not much newer than the Canon it replaces).

> And I think the smug condescension throughout the response is closer to a kind of elitism, no?

The irony of these sentences... I'm not sure what "over-indexed" means and I know nothing about Leica cameras beyond knowing the type of people that carry them around.

Thanks for proving my argument further.

Re: The tech monoculture is finally breaking

#332

Post by rchaud »

Tech's march towards vertical integration-powered cross-selling and turning everything into a digital-only product or perpetual subscription is sending a lot of people searching for alternatives. Just off the top of my head, I'm aware of growing interest in communities related to single purpose devices like:

- Retro gaming handhelds, which these days are capable of handling every console before the PS3, and their popularity is a clear rebuff to the Nintendo Switch's game pricing, not to mention the horrific microtransaction-riddled landscape of "mobile gaming".

- Standalone MP3 players, which are selling very well thanks to notification hell on our phones and dissatisfaction with music streaming giants.

- Portable DVD players, which can be bought online or thrifted cheaply, as frustration builds with constant licensing changes causing Netflix and the like to remove shows without warning. DVDs can be bought extremely cheaply, and a lot of users are not cinephiles who won't touch anything that's not at least 1080P.

Re: The tech monoculture is finally breaking

#333

Post by Exes8217 »

raffraffraff wrote: post #230
Aurornis wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I looked pretty hard - I specifically don’t want an android OS called an mp3 player. I want a dedicated media player that has physical button controls (not touch screen), is very snappy, has a good UI, and has a purpose-built OS There are a lot of DAPs in this style. They're just not popular because the Android-based units are perfectly fine and don't feel like Android phones with an MP3 player app installed. Most…

For me it's not arbitrary. An android device is a general purpose handheld touchscreen computer that happens to be used for music. That means a bunch of things to me: 1. "Touchscreen first" UX 2. Heavier than it needs to be 3. Worse battery life compared to a non-Android device Using a touchscreen in the rain is impossible. Running out of battery sucks. Going for a run with a 240g brick is no fun, it'll pull your pan…

I've got the Hiby R1 and have been pretty pleased with it. The R1 doesn't actually run android but just straight linux. It boots up in about 6-8 seconds and returns to the place you previously were. As for physical controls it's got easy to identify buttons for volume, pause (double click for previous track) and next track that are pretty easy to find in a pocket.

No experience with the R4 but seems to have good reviews with the hifi crowd.

Re: The tech monoculture is finally breaking

#334

Post by tom_m »

sylens wrote: post #29

I think the author is correct to a point but I don't believe the examples they've chosen provide the best support for their case. Gen Z buying iPods and people buying N64 games again is not evidence of the monoculture breaking apart - it's a retreat into the past for the enlightened few because their needs are not being met by modern goods and services. You cannot buy a dedicated MP3 player today with the software po…

You can pay a lot for a DAP and have an infinitely better experience than any iPod or Zune. Just saying as an audiophile who has owned all of these devices. But yes, you are correct.

Re: The tech monoculture is finally breaking

#335

Post by cyberrock »

at1as wrote: post #311
cyberrock wrote: post #293

The article begins with video game consoles, but then doesn't address the fact that video games are the biggest counterexample against the thesis, because it's just collapsing into a PC (and Steam) monoculture. The fact that you're buying FPGAs and old cartridges doesn't mean anything when 2/3 console makers are just making PCs, and even mobile games need to be on Steam now. I think this just reflects your changing t…

I'm a very casual and very occasional gamer, so I can't deeply about this topic. But, is gaming in a dire state? Platform exclusives seem to be rare (outside of Nintendo). I have an xbox (which I'm told is the wrong console), but I can play nearly everything a PS5 can. Most major titles seem to be very cross platform (PC, Xbox, PS5, and sometimes Nintendo). If anything, they stagger release dates, not access. Steam's…

The hardware itself used to be exclusive. We used to marvel at what the Cell processor, N64 MIPS, etc. could do, but now PS and XBox are just commodities that we could say is equivalent to a 58XX + 20XX. Even the Switch 1 became a commodity at the end of its life, if we count emulation.

Personally, I would define the lack of exclusives outside of Nintendo's shrinking sphere as a monoculture. At the same time, I don't have a verdict on whether this is good or not. On one hand, everyone on the globe can theoretically play anything now, as opposed to what countries some American and Japanese companies can find on a map, but on the other hand, this monoculture has also completely erased our ability to truly own or trade games. Gamers now need to periodically assess if they need to upgrade hardware, and it has directly connected this hobby with the turbulence of the global economy.

On an emotional level, the erosion of console boundaries has made the world feel smaller, and that makes me inexplicably sad. Imagine if your local playwrights or board game makers feel like they need to put their works on a global marketplace, tailored to the tastes of the biggest markets.

Of course, I too have a lot of blind spots. For example, I have no idea what games are brewing on Roblox or itch.io nowadays, some of which might be on a top 10 play-hours chart if we could aggregate all platforms together. When I see one of them like Juice World/Galaxy leak out of their containers, I'm filled with joy that there's still a pocket of this world that I haven't explored.

Re: The tech monoculture is finally breaking

#336

Post by torginus »

nobodyandproud wrote: post #126
Aurornis wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You cannot buy a dedicated MP3 player today with the software polish and quality of life that an iPod had in the early 2000s I could see how many people would assume this, but it’s actually false. There’s actually a big selection of dedicated audio players that do the job very well now. The battery life and audio quality are extremely good because there’s a niche market for them with a lot of competition. If you th…

I like Alan Moore’s take: A culture retreats into the comfort of nostalgia in especially uncertain times. I feel retro fad of this generation is precisely this. Edit: I’m sure that observation has more refined roots, but I’m far from well-read or well-cultured. But if someone happens to know, please let know!

I think it would be more accurate to say, that technology went in the wrong direction and the further we go down our current path, the more people realize this.

So some folks have decided to go back to something they knew worked, and the supply and demand sides are both growing big enough to run a viable business off of.

Re: The tech monoculture is finally breaking

#337

Post by DerekL »

at1as wrote: post #212
snvzz wrote: post #206

>They’re now working to bring a “next-gen” CRT monitor to market. Wait what? Who? Why have I not heard of this? Did the AI hallucinate? There definitely is interest in next-gen CRTs.

Palmer Lucky mentioned in an interview that they were looking into making a TV, in part because of how much he hated all the adware slop bundled into modern TVs. He then followed that they were investigating whether they could build a modern CRT. I can't immediately find the except, but I had previously watched the interview

As far as I can tell, they aren't making actual CRTs, they're using modern display technology to simulate the appearance.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ModRetroChromatic/comments/1m82csj/...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgY5fM2cINc&t=1288s

Re: The tech monoculture is finally breaking

#338

Post by ABoredBirb »

californical wrote: post #95
Aurornis wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You cannot buy a dedicated MP3 player today with the software polish and quality of life that an iPod had in the early 2000s I could see how many people would assume this, but it’s actually false. There’s actually a big selection of dedicated audio players that do the job very well now. The battery life and audio quality are extremely good because there’s a niche market for them with a lot of competition. If you th…

I looked pretty hard - I specifically don’t want an android OS called an mp3 player. I want a dedicated media player that has physical button controls (not touch screen), is very snappy, has a good UI, and has a purpose-built OS specific to only playing songs and podcasts, and maybe movies, which I can sync with my computer (maybe with rsync or whatever else). No apps. The only option that I could find was an iPod cl…

Have you looked at Cowon? These are somewhat premium end players, but they are absolutely great. Their Cowon J3 was legendary, was declared the best mp3 player of all time by some outlets. I'm currently using a Cowon Plenue D2, which is also really good.

Re: The tech monoculture is finally breaking

#339

Post by wao0uuno »

NoGravitas wrote: post #303
wao0uuno wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought mine like 6 years ago and at first thought "wow what a cheap piece of plasticky crap. I bet I'm gonna have to replace it every two years or so." I used and abused it every day since then. It never skipped a beat. I took showers with it, I sweated all over it, I dropped it and it only required a single battery replacement since I purchased it. It keeps time well. I'll probably keep using these until the day I…

I'm surprised you already need a battery replacement. My experience with those things is ~10 year battery life.

I bought the cheapest one I could find online. It's possible that it was some old stock.
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