Life Improvements Since the 1990s • Hacker News Board

Re: Life Improvements Since the 1990s

#421

Post by andrepd » Thu, Aug 12, 2021, 11:34 PM UTC

> EU: the European Union & single Euro currency make the EU easier to understand & travel in it much less tricky and expensive

A funny point considering the absolute unmitigated disaster that is the Eurozone both in concept and implementation x)

> Keurig & other Single-Serve coffee machines

Another unsustainable waste of materials. Just use ground coffee please.

> Clothing has become almost “too cheap to meter”

Yes, it has been outsourced to countries with dirt-cheap labour. I'm not entirely sure if that's a good thing.

Re: Life Improvements Since the 1990s

#422

Post by andrepd » Thu, Aug 12, 2021, 11:47 PM UTC

majormajor wrote: post #187

dalbasal wrote: post #81

This reminds me of a golden age blog post, when lists turned out to be an understudied literary device. I'm a fan of "dumps." Some interestingly debatable ones here: " Intellectual Property Maximalism rollback: copyright terms have not and probably will not be indefinitely extended again to eternity to protect Mickey Mouse, and in 2019, for the first time since 1998, works entered the public domain " I think the easy…

You're only arguing against the claim about copyright terms by equating two separate definitions of "public domain." public domain is being enriched by that stuff from the early 20th century. The "public feeling" stuff of the 1999 internet wasn't actually in the public domain then either. The public domain has gotten larger as has the private domain . But all that private stuff is now on track to expire one day, whil…

> public domain is being enriched by that stuff from the early 20th century.

Well this is trivially true, but it really doesn't mean anything. If copyright length was 500 years this would still be a true statement.

It's ridiculous that there are 100 years old works of art created by people who have been dead for three quarters of a century which are still under copyright. You cannot spin this as a positive thing, I'm sorry.

Works published two years after the end of World War I will enter public domain in 2047 (Agatha Christie's first book). Star Wars will enter public domain in the 2070s. It's mad.

Re: Life Improvements Since the 1990s

#423

Post by tejtm » Thu, Aug 12, 2021, 11:53 PM UTC

inglor_cz wrote: post #145

dalbasal wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True. I considered clarifying, but didn't to be concise. I think publication as a reasoning for granting patents is superseded. It's mostly relevant to the history of patents, not the present. You can't be secretive about a UI, or the chemical composition of a drug.

WD40 formula is famously still secret.

is it? Though it was kerosene, paraffin and a drop of anise oil to cover the smell of the kerosene.

Maybe I should to revisit what I thought I knew

Re: Life Improvements Since the 1990s

#424

Post by thundergolfer » Thu, Aug 12, 2021, 11:54 PM UTC

namdnay wrote: post #80

thundergolfer wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going to be another person commenting that they'd seriously consider 1991 (as long as I had the smarts to still go into software). Jump back to 1991 as a 20yr old and head to the recruitment fair stalls of Sun Microsystems / DEC / Apple / Adobe / Microsoft. Google search and showers that stay hot are pretty nice, but the relative difficulty of accessing quality education, jobs, and housing probably turn out to be muc…

Now I could understand this as a blue collar worker, but you’re saying you’d prefer to be a software engineer in 91 than 2021? Come on, of pretty much all the professions were the ones who have reaped the most benefits of the past 30 years

I'm sure the day-to-day experience of building software is generally much better in 2021, but as others have noted there are other reasons to start in 1991.

- Particularly interesting point in history for software (pre-Netscape!) - Build lots of experience before Google, Netflix, and FB are even born. - Incredible compounded returns in software stocks (and great returns in housing)

2021 is a great time to be a 20yr old software dev, but it's also a great time to be a 50yr old software dev who has 30 yrs of experience, stock market returns, and housing investment.

Re: Life Improvements Since the 1990s

#425

Post by bhelkey » Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 12:05 AM UTC

thorwasdfasdf wrote: post #375

Look at the essentials and you'll see we've actually been going backwards, ever since the 1970s: Housing: Now less affordable than ever. It takes more hours worked to afford any kind of shelter than ever in the last 50 years. According to an interview I once watched: in the 60s, a painter could afford a single family house and six kids and the wife didn't even need to work. today, two painters working together can ba…

Compared to 1970, cars get more miles per gallon, cost less, and last longer.

> Cars: MPG has not improved. Look at a corolla from the 70s vs today, it's about the same.

This is not true, MPG has meaningfully improved. From the EPA, "[sedan/wagon, car SUV, truck SUV, pickup truck, and minivan/van] are at or near record high fuel economy and record low CO2 emissions in model year 2019" [1]

New Vehicle estimated real-world fuel economy increased from ~14MPG in 1975 to 24.9MPG in 2019[1]

>It now costs more to buy a car today than in the 70s

The price of cars has risen below inflation:

The annual inflation average 1970-2021 is 3.86% [2] From 1970 to 2019, cars had an annual inflation average of 2.04%. [3]

Finally, a car today will last longer than they did in 1970. The typical car in 1970 would last until 100K miles. Today the typical car lasts more like 200K miles. [4]

In summary, cars cost less, last longer, and are cheaper than they were in 1970.

[1] https://www.epa.gov/automotive-trends/highlights-automotive-... [2] https://www.inflationtool.com/us-dollar/1970-to-present-valu... [3] https://www.in2013dollars.com/New-cars/price-inflation/1970-... [4] https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/automobiles/as-cars-are-k...

Re: Life Improvements Since the 1990s

#426

Post by thundergolfer » Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 12:09 AM UTC

bcantrill wrote: post #183

thundergolfer wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going to be another person commenting that they'd seriously consider 1991 (as long as I had the smarts to still go into software). Jump back to 1991 as a 20yr old and head to the recruitment fair stalls of Sun Microsystems / DEC / Apple / Adobe / Microsoft. Google search and showers that stay hot are pretty nice, but the relative difficulty of accessing quality education, jobs, and housing probably turn out to be muc…

You may want to reconsider before you step into the time machine. First of all, 1991 in particular is a tough year -- it was a crushing recession in the US, and young people were having a really hard time finding jobs. So you wouldn't be "heading to the recruitment stalls" for any of those companies except potentially Microsoft. And this is absolutely the "why-are-manhole-covers-round" era of Microsoft, and it's the…

It's great to get this extra perspective from you Bryan, because you're probably the person whose talks have most made me interested in seeing 1990s Sun Microsystems et al. Point taken about 1991's struggles. I was vaguely aware that it was a troubled time, but took the premise as is. Which particular part of the 90s was best seems an awkward question. Were things generally getting better through the 90s until dot-com bust turned everything to shit?

Thanks for the book recommendation. I've added it to my Goodreads list. I'll checkout the talk too. I haven't seen that one of yours, because I saw the title and figured it was heavy on memory-management and pretty out of my wheelhouse.

Re: Life Improvements Since the 1990s

#427

Post by thegrimmest » Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 12:15 AM UTC

minikites wrote: post #399

thegrimmest wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But isn't the point that despite the very real and avoidable tragedies along the way, things have continued to improve quite quickly? So as we continue, we can expect more preventable tragedies (whatever "preventable" actually means), but also more progress to benefit the vast majority of us who do make it? I don't think we need to get bent out of shape about the aspects of human nature that cause horror and tragedy,…

>progress to benefit the vast majority of us who do make it So what level of sacrifice should be required of those that don't make it? Going back to the AIDS example, government involvement was delayed because of bigotry, because it only affected people who didn't make it. Our economy is currently propped up by low wage workers both locally and globally who aren't making it. We don't do a good job at taking care of t…

> So what level of sacrifice should be required of those that don't make it

The same as it has always been for all living things: pain, suffering, and death.

> low wage workers both locally and globally who aren't making it

Pretty sure quality of life is up by pretty much every measure for "low wage workers" both locally and globally.

> none of this is new, but it doesn't have to be this way.

> We know how to solve many of society's problems and we choose not to do so.

You could have made this statement at any point in history, and people might agree with you. If this is the only way it ever has been, why do you think it doesn't have to be this way?

We know in theory. There is a vast, uncrossable gulf between theory and practice, as various communist experiments have shown. There is no known solution to ingroup/outgroup tendency, sociopathy or naked self-interest.

> If the core reason for these things is "human nature" and we shouldn't try to change

We should totally try to change! But we shouldn't expect to succeed, and we shouldn't be surprised or disappointed when awful things happen. We should instead realize that, looking at the past few centuries of history, this is an amazing time to be alive, by every metric. Better to accept humanity the way that it is, space rockets and genocides and all, and realize that it's still a net-positive, than despair that humanity doesn't hold up to some sort of fictional ideal.

Re: Life Improvements Since the 1990s

#428

Post by hansvm » Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 12:22 AM UTC

andrepd wrote: post #422

majormajor wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're only arguing against the claim about copyright terms by equating two separate definitions of "public domain." public domain is being enriched by that stuff from the early 20th century. The "public feeling" stuff of the 1999 internet wasn't actually in the public domain then either. The public domain has gotten larger as has the private domain . But all that private stuff is now on track to expire one day, whil…

> public domain is being enriched by that stuff from the early 20th century. Well this is trivially true, but it really doesn't mean anything. If copyright length was 500 years this would still be a true statement. It's ridiculous that there are 100 years old works of art created by people who have been dead for three quarters of a century which are still under copyright. You cannot spin this as a positive thing, I'm…

> It's ridiculous that there are 100 years old works of art created by people who have been dead for three quarters of a century which are still under copyright. You cannot spin this as a positive thing, I'm sorry.

One counter-argument I've seen when I've taken your side is that some works are higher quality for society (in some fuzzy, aggregate sense) because they have gatekeeping that maintains the image of a given copyrightable work.

Re: Life Improvements Since the 1990s

#429

Post by adammunich » Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 12:24 AM UTC

coryrc wrote: post #270

nonameiguess wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak for "people" at broad, but improvements have certainly made a difference for my household. Gwern mentions hearing aids. They haven't just gotten smaller, but more capable. My wife couldn't have conversations with people at all in 1991. She can now. Universal subtitling opens up the full catalog of film and television that she couldn't experience. Spinal interbody fusion existed before 1991, but it wasn'…

On that latter note, my friend has an electronic device implanted in his spine to reduce pain. Non-opioid, effective pain relief!

What is it?

Re: Life Improvements Since the 1990s

#430

Post by savingsPossible » Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 12:26 AM UTC

andrepd wrote: post #422

majormajor wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're only arguing against the claim about copyright terms by equating two separate definitions of "public domain." public domain is being enriched by that stuff from the early 20th century. The "public feeling" stuff of the 1999 internet wasn't actually in the public domain then either. The public domain has gotten larger as has the private domain . But all that private stuff is now on track to expire one day, whil…

> public domain is being enriched by that stuff from the early 20th century. Well this is trivially true, but it really doesn't mean anything. If copyright length was 500 years this would still be a true statement. It's ridiculous that there are 100 years old works of art created by people who have been dead for three quarters of a century which are still under copyright. You cannot spin this as a positive thing, I'm…

> Well this is trivially true

Not really!

If there was any fixed copyright length, then true. But the lawmakers were changing it, maintaining the "last thing to enter the public domain" constant