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Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

arstechnica.com

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Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#411

Post by bloomingeek »

Thorrez wrote: post #391
bloomingeek wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And therein lies the fault, they only do "good" because they were made to do it. Rewarding them for "reluctantly" improving won't change their bad behavior. They should improve because it's the decent thing to do. By doing the decent thing, the praise would have been tenfold, which is the best incentive. (I do appreciate your comment because most companies do live in a moral vacuum.)

>They should improve because it's the decent thing to do. By doing the decent thing, the praise would have been tenfold, which is the best incentive. Those 2 sentences don't really align well. Should they be motivated by the tenfold praise? Or should they be motivated by doing the decent thing? If they should be motivated by doing the decent thing, why mention tenfold praise? >Rewarding them for "reluctantly" improvi…

Not that most corporations care, being trashed for decisions that hurt their consumers is run of the mill these days. Companies that get praise from their customers tend to stay in business and sell lots of product.

Reluctantly improving means they were either going to or already screwed their customers. Companies that admit mistakes are praised. To think that a company who is called out will in the future continue to do good for consumer decisions is a little naive.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#412

Post by astrange »

DiabloD3 wrote: post #332
astrange wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't stand Beyerdynamic audio and don't understand why anyone recommends it. It has an awful treble peak you can't stop noticing once you hear it, and you can't drive their headphones without an amp. I recommend HiFiMan Sundara/Ananda if they fit your head and there aren't any CPU fans in your room.

I don't. Hifiman QA is exceptionally bad, and they tend to not stand by their warranty, and their US repair facility is just some dude's house. The threads on /r/headphones over Hifiman shafting them are numerous. Disclaimer: I too had a Hifiman pair, they sounded great, but their physical design just didn't hold up to daily use, no matter how much I babied them.

That's probably true, they do look hard to repair.

My best sounding headphones are a pair of old Stax with the worst construction I've ever seen on anything, so I mostly keep them locked up assuming they'll break if I breathe in them.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#413

Post by computably »

Thorrez wrote: post #391
bloomingeek wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And therein lies the fault, they only do "good" because they were made to do it. Rewarding them for "reluctantly" improving won't change their bad behavior. They should improve because it's the decent thing to do. By doing the decent thing, the praise would have been tenfold, which is the best incentive. (I do appreciate your comment because most companies do live in a moral vacuum.)

>They should improve because it's the decent thing to do. By doing the decent thing, the praise would have been tenfold, which is the best incentive. Those 2 sentences don't really align well. Should they be motivated by the tenfold praise? Or should they be motivated by doing the decent thing? If they should be motivated by doing the decent thing, why mention tenfold praise? >Rewarding them for "reluctantly" improvi…

> I don't see why not. They see that good behavior gives a better outcome. They'll do good behavior in the future.

Suppose Anon says, "I'm going to rob a bank next Monday."

Police respond, "We will be ready there next Monday, and you will be arrested."

Anon replies, "Ah, I see! Never mind, then."

We can certainly say it's good that Anon changed their mind after being met with promises of consequences. But, in my opinion, saying something like "Anon is a fine, upstanding citizen, worthy of praise, unlike those other criminals that actually went through with it! Now that Anon understands it's bad, they'll surely never think to plan something so dastardly in the future!" is leaving reality behind. Anon has done the bare minimum, and likewise deserves the bare minimum of praise. In terms of incentive, I think such a response would only teach Anon to be sneakier, now that they've earned some trust.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#414

Post by Thorrez »

computably wrote: post #413
Thorrez wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They should improve because it's the decent thing to do. By doing the decent thing, the praise would have been tenfold, which is the best incentive. Those 2 sentences don't really align well. Should they be motivated by the tenfold praise? Or should they be motivated by doing the decent thing? If they should be motivated by doing the decent thing, why mention tenfold praise? >Rewarding them for "reluctantly" improvi…

> I don't see why not. They see that good behavior gives a better outcome. They'll do good behavior in the future. Suppose Anon says, "I'm going to rob a bank next Monday." Police respond, "We will be ready there next Monday, and you will be arrested." Anon replies, "Ah, I see! Never mind, then." We can certainly say it's good that Anon changed their mind after being met with promises of consequences. But, in my opin…

I'm not saying we should say the company is overall good. Just that the decision to backtrack was good.

Similarly, we wouldn't say that Anon is overall upstanding, just that the decision to not rob that bank was good.

My point is that we should treat the company better if it backtracks. And similarly we should treat Anon better if he doesn't rob the bank. It doesn't make sense to give Anon the exact same punishment whether he robs the bank or not. If we do that, he has no incentive not to rob the bank. "If I'm going to jail either way, I might as well actually rob the bank."

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#415

Post by DiabloD3 »

astrange wrote: post #412
DiabloD3 wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't. Hifiman QA is exceptionally bad, and they tend to not stand by their warranty, and their US repair facility is just some dude's house. The threads on /r/headphones over Hifiman shafting them are numerous. Disclaimer: I too had a Hifiman pair, they sounded great, but their physical design just didn't hold up to daily use, no matter how much I babied them.

That's probably true, they do look hard to repair. My best sounding headphones are a pair of old Stax with the worst construction I've ever seen on anything, so I mostly keep them locked up assuming they'll break if I breathe in them.

My Stax 207s, unfortunately, died on me.

I may just end up replacing them with something from ZMF.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#416

Post by torstenvl »

torstenvl wrote: post #188
andrepd wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> More companies should follow this approach No, the law must mandate that. You either provide active support, or if you end it you must open-source all tools necessary to perform maintenance. It's one of those things that has to be mandated by law to provide a uniform floor on all companies and manufacturers, like food safety laws, fire codes, or accessibility for the physically disabled.

This comment strikes me as absurd. How exactly would you propose that something like that be done?

HN: No ideas, just drive-bys.
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