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'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

theguardian.com

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Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#651

Post by Ray20 »

pqtyw wrote: post #141
joshdavham wrote: post #127

I’m fascinated by this phenomenon of apps proposing solutions that are far worse than the previous existing solutions. For example: 1. Parking apps are worse than parking meters. 2. Tinder is worse than IRL speed dating. 3. Duolingo is worse than language classes. 4. Airline apps that are worse than just printing a boarding pass. 5. Etc It really makes me frustrated as someone who builds software and generally thinks…

> 1. Parking apps are worse than parking meters. I certainly don't agree with that one. I really don't miss having to pay for a fixed number of hours and then having to figure out what to do if I'm running late (or wasting money if I get back early). > 4. Airline apps that are worse than just printing a boarding pass. Unless the app is exceptionally horrible you can just export it to Apple/Android wallet which is muc…

>Can't disagree about Tinder

And what wrong with Tinder? It is great if you are hot or a woman. And if you are not - well, nobody never cared anyway.

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#652

Post by casey2 »

This entire article is fodder for techbros to circle jerk about how impactful they are despite any productivity gains being marginal or nonexistent.

It's goes further into nonsensical territory when a progressive shows up and starts complaining about how the people who don't want to participate in society are being unfairly punished. That being poor is somehow not only a problem, but also YOUR problem.

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#653

Post by [deleted] »

ndriscoll wrote: post #283
fifticon wrote: post #120

My doctor/'s office was just forced to switch to app-instead-of-website for patient interation. Ironically, the old and this new software came from same megacorp I work for (different department, same story). The old web interface was rather good and rather sensible-practical-sane. It was almost as if someone had asked a doctor what he actually needed for his patients, and then understood his answer and also managed…

The perpetual spinner thing happened at my last job too, and I developed the opinion that putting a spinner into your site at all is a sign of incompetence. For any normal CRUD app, it should take milliseconds to do whatever task. Even with network delays, 150 milliseconds is a reasonable upper bound for end-to-end processing. If you have an animation at all, then your thing is either ridiculously slow or broken. Eit…

[deleted]

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#654

Post by hilbert42 »

defrost wrote: post #610
ctrlp wrote: post #604

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My philosophy school was a library card. Am I presuming too much by your handle that you are a lover of the higher mathematics? Although I think it would be hard to derive a workable ethics from number theory, I believe it has been tried. Descartes and Spinoza metaphysics come to mind, but Plato's number magic is probably a more entertaining place to start. As you say, not relevant to you, but do you think mathematic…

In general (there are exceptions) most adhere to the broader set of consequentialism of which utilitarianism is one form of. A number would say that ethics and morality are subjective and not objective and thus an attempt to apply a utilitarian metric or measure of "good" along with a (partial?) ordering such as "greatest good" is a doomed endeavour. Few would deny that from this , that would follow (for some specifi…

I'd essentially agree with that summary.

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#655

Post by aspenmayer »

maelito wrote: post #142

That's why I'm building a Web map app. The Web is universal. It's already very capable.

Maps seem like a distinct failure mode of web apps. How do you load the map data on the website to navigate or orient yourself if you got lost outside the network coverage area?

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#656

Post by MrDrMcCoy »

HDThoreaun wrote: post #641
ComposedPattern wrote: post #245

It's funny how people in this thread keep saying "well if you're going to complain about people being penalized for not using apps, you might as well complain about people being penalized for not using telephones/cars/internet"... and yes, I am going to complain about all of those things. I imagine that many or most homeless people don't have reliable access to any of the above. I have an anxiety disorder that makes…

[flagged]

For me, it's less about lifestyle choices, and more about managing failure domains. If a person is kicked off their ISP/ cell carrier due to a private dispute with them, why should their entire life have to grind to a screeching halt in every other area? It's maddening how little recourse there is and how difficult it can be if you lose both your phone and number, and I vehemently disagree that we should be ok with any of it.

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#657

Post by kstenerud »

petertodd wrote: post #486
kstenerud wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't buy overnight bunk tickets on Ukrainian trains anymore because I need to authenticate, and the only authentication methods require either Ukrainian citizenship or residency cards. I can't install the app for my new Amex card because my Google account was opened in Canada and I live in Germany now. And it keeps getting worse every year. I'm worried that eventually my American and Canadian banking apps will sto…

> I can't buy overnight bunk tickets on Ukrainian trains anymore because I need to authenticate, and the only authentication methods require either Ukrainian citizenship or residency cards. In fairness, that specific case is probably intentional. They have quite limited train capacity as all passenger air travel was forced to switch to trains/busses, and I suspect they're trying to save it for locals. It is annoying…

It's actually to stop buying and selling tickets on the secondary market, which is fair. It's just the tech mismatch causing unintended consequences. Even the guys at Privatbank were shaking their heads at the absurdity (and they're the ones who run one of the authentication mechanisms. Even having a bank account there in your name is not enough).

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#658

Post by what »

crazygringo wrote: post #258
ryandrake wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm weird, but when I go on a trip, I generally pack my smartphone, if I bring it at all. It would be a royal pain to go find it again when I get into line to board.

Yup, that's definitely weird. Most people get pretty bored going to the airport, in line at the airport, waiting for boarding, waiting to take off, during the flight. A smartphone loaded with books and magazine articles and podcasts seems pretty essential by this point for nearly everyone. Not to mention loved ones who want to reach you by text or phone...

You’re supposed to raw dog the flight.

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#659

Post by steelframe »

pqtyw wrote: post #141
joshdavham wrote: post #127

I’m fascinated by this phenomenon of apps proposing solutions that are far worse than the previous existing solutions. For example: 1. Parking apps are worse than parking meters. 2. Tinder is worse than IRL speed dating. 3. Duolingo is worse than language classes. 4. Airline apps that are worse than just printing a boarding pass. 5. Etc It really makes me frustrated as someone who builds software and generally thinks…

> 1. Parking apps are worse than parking meters. I certainly don't agree with that one. I really don't miss having to pay for a fixed number of hours and then having to figure out what to do if I'm running late (or wasting money if I get back early). > 4. Airline apps that are worse than just printing a boarding pass. Unless the app is exceptionally horrible you can just export it to Apple/Android wallet which is muc…

> > 1. Parking apps are worse than parking meters.

> I certainly don't agree with that one. I really don't miss having to pay for a fixed number of hours and then having to figure out what to do if I'm running late (or wasting money if I get back early).

The last time I tried parking in downtown Salt Lake City the city's app wouldn't even install on my phone, complaining about being built for an older Android version. Fortunately the web site still worked. Sort of. I had to try a couple of different browsers before I found one that functioned with the site.

When riding Caltrain I get charged for the maximum amount I could possibly pay (all stops) when I board. Then when I get off at my stop I tap again and get refunded for all the stops I ended up not getting to. It works fine. Seems a meter could be a "tap in/tap out" thing. If it's 5 hours until it's free to park, put a hold for 5 hours of time. If you get back in 2 hours, release the hold and only charge for 2 hours when you tap out.

It's even possible to do this with cash. Imagine a machine that calculates your change and spits out bills and/or coins. Oh wait, yeah, we've had that technology since around 1959. It would just need to print out a ticket with a bar code or something to authenticate that you're the one who paid in the first place. Did you lose your ticket? Sorry, looks like you're paying for the rest of the day. But that's still a lot cheaper than a citation.

I suspect it's not "pay max/get refund" because municipalities can't stop milking those sweet sweet citations from people who fail to correctly guess how much time they'll need up front.

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