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Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

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Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#41

Post by Chardok »

chickenfries wrote: post #18
graphitezepp wrote: post #15

I would much rather billionaire types take on large issues that governments don't want to touch, like space flight or specific diseases in foreign countries, than something already in service like libraries. Maybe I just have a bias due to having a library just up the street from where I live currently, but I have never not had access to an adequate library in my life time, and only see room for marginal diminishing…

Visit a library in a low-income area (where people need them the most) and see the kinds of computers people use to hunt for jobs, do their homework, etc. I've been to a library that was running windows 2000 on TWO ancient Dells with with CRT monitors in 2015. And the two computers they had were being used by adults and students. There is so much to be gained from improving libraries.

I completely agree. Where I lived at in Houston, trying to find a place to sit and study quietly was near impossible, which is something I certainly took for granted.

Libraries provide so much public good: giving the public internet access, allowing people to read classics and better themselves for free, and giving some quiet space for those wanting to study (and not have to pay for a $5 coffee).

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#42

Post by adventured »

Overtonwindow wrote: post #16

Libraries are an excellent place to put some money. They provide learning opportunities, but many also provide resume and job search training, community meeting places, free internet access, and I think is one of the few "neutral" places in American society. Neutral in that there are few, if any politics involved, and it's an equal opportunity benefit to a community that most people can get behind. Even if they don't…

I overwhelmingly agree with that.

I grew up in one of the poorer places in America - Appalachia. Despite that, we had a nice library, donated initially by a wealthy individual and then sustained by various forms of private funding over the decades.

It didn't always have the absolute latest books, the selection was decent though. It had Internet access very early on and was a valuable, inexpensive resource for young and old people alike. It was also relatively well maintained; pre mid 1990's Web, if you needed to really know a subject in-depth, it was easily the best local resource. The local community benefited immensely from it.

I'd like to see Bezos (and ideally matching contributors) put together an effort to modernize the concept for the 21st century. Virtual reality for example will become an important access technology over the next 20 years, that many lower income people won't be able to afford and will have future job importance in many fields.

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#43

Post by olegkikin »

losteric wrote: post #32
sddfd wrote: post #30

Why would anyone think libraries are important in 2017? If things keep getting digitalized at the current speed, all knowledge of the world will be accessible online in our lifetime. Unless you believe that a large percentage of citizens will not be able to afford a device for accessing the internet, libraries are a waste of money. Oh and since librarians were mentioned, if AI keeps advancing, we will be able to have…

# rant: disagree with comments not votes! I disagree with that sentiment.. Are books a waste of money? In-person public speaking events? Museums? The internet is a global Library of Alexandria, but it's absurd to suggest we no longer need smaller repositories of knowledge or physical copies/originals... Especially as the internet is increasingly fractured, censured, monitored, and otherwise limited. They serve simila…

That's some weird straw man argument. He didn't say books are a waste of money, he said paper books and libraries (physical buildings) are irrelevant, he explained his position.

I agree with him. Libraries are one of the least efficient ways to deliver quality information to to the masses, especially up-to-date information. They are slow, expensive, require driving, paper books slowly rot, buildings occupy useful space.

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#44

Post by stillsut »

chickenfries wrote: post #18
graphitezepp wrote: post #15

I would much rather billionaire types take on large issues that governments don't want to touch, like space flight or specific diseases in foreign countries, than something already in service like libraries. Maybe I just have a bias due to having a library just up the street from where I live currently, but I have never not had access to an adequate library in my life time, and only see room for marginal diminishing…

Visit a library in a low-income area (where people need them the most) and see the kinds of computers people use to hunt for jobs, do their homework, etc. I've been to a library that was running windows 2000 on TWO ancient Dells with with CRT monitors in 2015. And the two computers they had were being used by adults and students. There is so much to be gained from improving libraries.

Let me give you a hypothetical company IT department: while you are allowed to work there with any education background, only an MBA can be a manager. How do you think they would perform at IT tasks?

Who runs libraries? People with Masters in Library Science. I expect severe budget and certification crises would come to any library that won't put a certified librarian in a head position.

Or, I'm a working class guy and it's Sunday, my traditional off from work, can I go to the library? No, it is closed because there needs to be Master Librarian on duty and they've negotiated a contract to never have to work Sunday. Now the facility sits there unused 14% of the time, during the most likely time it would be used.

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#45

Post by sddfd »

losteric wrote: post #32
sddfd wrote: post #30

Why would anyone think libraries are important in 2017? If things keep getting digitalized at the current speed, all knowledge of the world will be accessible online in our lifetime. Unless you believe that a large percentage of citizens will not be able to afford a device for accessing the internet, libraries are a waste of money. Oh and since librarians were mentioned, if AI keeps advancing, we will be able to have…

# rant: disagree with comments not votes! I disagree with that sentiment.. Are books a waste of money? In-person public speaking events? Museums? The internet is a global Library of Alexandria, but it's absurd to suggest we no longer need smaller repositories of knowledge or physical copies/originals... Especially as the internet is increasingly fractured, censured, monitored, and otherwise limited. They serve simila…

>Are books a waste of money?

For preservation and dissemination of information, definitely. They might be useful for education, especially children's ed, though.

> In-person public speaking events?

Don't need a library for that, there are many other places this can be done.

>Museums?

Libraries and museums are different.

> Especially as the internet is increasingly fractured, censured, monitored, and otherwise limited.

As if that does not apply to libraries: Once it is legal to censor an item online it will also be removed from libraries.

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#46

Post by volkk »

RivieraKid wrote: post #35
graphitezepp wrote: post #15

I would much rather billionaire types take on large issues that governments don't want to touch, like space flight or specific diseases in foreign countries, than something already in service like libraries. Maybe I just have a bias due to having a library just up the street from where I live currently, but I have never not had access to an adequate library in my life time, and only see room for marginal diminishing…

I wish some tech billionaire or rich tech company invested in rethinking healthcare from the ground up (or like Elon Musk likes to say, from first principles) with focus on UX, state-of-the-art technologies and integration. Anytime I use our healthcare (although, this is the Czech Rep, could be different in USA), I feel like it should be easy to design a better service. Basically, something what Tesla did, apply Sili…

Many have tried, but my guess is that it's extremely difficult mainly because the government is involved, and decades of archaic systems (and minds) that you need to deal with. The word "fast" isn't in the vocabulary in this industry, and every decision moves at a snail's pace. Granted, there's a reason and you can't simply fuck up and prioritize into the next sprint that you'll fix the previous fuckup.

The other issue (at least in the USA) is a ton of compliance stuff you have to deal with. HIPAA compliance is such a pain in the ass. It's not "cool" or fun, so it doesn't usually attract great devs or people that don't want to deal with constant red tape and permissions for accessing things. Naturally, this business sort of attracts the bureaucratic minded people and the really efficient people end up frustrated/burn out and move into an industry where getting shit done is easily quantifiable in the short term.

Regardless, I work in the healthcare industry currently and it's a shitshow for lack of a better word.

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#47

Post by olegkikin »

magic_beans wrote: post #31
sddfd wrote: post #30

Why would anyone think libraries are important in 2017? If things keep getting digitalized at the current speed, all knowledge of the world will be accessible online in our lifetime. Unless you believe that a large percentage of citizens will not be able to afford a device for accessing the internet, libraries are a waste of money. Oh and since librarians were mentioned, if AI keeps advancing, we will be able to have…

It's not belief. It's fact that a large percentage of citizens are unable to access desktop computers for work/jobs, though they might have an internet-enabled phone. Have you ever been to a library in the inner city, or in any big city for that matter?

The internet penetration in the US last year was 88.5%, it's higher now. What is this "large percentage" exactly? What important information can't you get through a cheap smartphone and public Wifi?

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#48

Post by icebraining »

EliRivers wrote: post #36
tanilama wrote: post #17

His company hosts a large part of the biggest library ever existed: Internet.

Yet if I want to make a serious study of something, I hit the textbooks. The internet is, in my experience, a poor replacement for a stack of well written physical textbooks. The internet may be a big library, but in many ways it's not a very good one.

Alternatively, that could be an argument for digitalizing those textbooks and offering them for free.

Maybe Bezos should fund Libgen :)

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#49

Post by graphitezepp »

volkk wrote: post #46
RivieraKid wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish some tech billionaire or rich tech company invested in rethinking healthcare from the ground up (or like Elon Musk likes to say, from first principles) with focus on UX, state-of-the-art technologies and integration. Anytime I use our healthcare (although, this is the Czech Rep, could be different in USA), I feel like it should be easy to design a better service. Basically, something what Tesla did, apply Sili…

Many have tried, but my guess is that it's extremely difficult mainly because the government is involved, and decades of archaic systems (and minds) that you need to deal with. The word "fast" isn't in the vocabulary in this industry, and every decision moves at a snail's pace. Granted, there's a reason and you can't simply fuck up and prioritize into the next sprint that you'll fix the previous fuckup. The other iss…

Large part of the issue is any downtime of existing systems is generally considered completely unacceptable in health care.

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#50

Post by [deleted] »

volkk wrote: post #46
RivieraKid wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish some tech billionaire or rich tech company invested in rethinking healthcare from the ground up (or like Elon Musk likes to say, from first principles) with focus on UX, state-of-the-art technologies and integration. Anytime I use our healthcare (although, this is the Czech Rep, could be different in USA), I feel like it should be easy to design a better service. Basically, something what Tesla did, apply Sili…

Many have tried, but my guess is that it's extremely difficult mainly because the government is involved, and decades of archaic systems (and minds) that you need to deal with. The word "fast" isn't in the vocabulary in this industry, and every decision moves at a snail's pace. Granted, there's a reason and you can't simply fuck up and prioritize into the next sprint that you'll fix the previous fuckup. The other iss…

[deleted]
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