It's funny people refer to me as a luddite because I don't carry a smart phone often or use social media. I'm not the right product for them. I see value in the tools, but value my privacy instead. The tools aren't made for (power) users, they're made for profit. AND if they're good now, they won't be in 5 years.
The Slow Death of the Power User
91–100 of 102 posts
Re: The Slow Death of the Power User
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
An important difference is that governments are elected, but private companies (in some cases monopolies) are not
I agree with the sentiment but to a certain degree you can vote with your currency. Also, in many places you can certainly vote for elected officials who are interested in using government tools to prevent and breakup monopolies.
Right, and people do vote with their wallets. They vote for the iPhone. We don't have iPhones because they exist; they exist because we keep buying them. This isn't a chicken and egg situation. Apple offered people a deliciously simplified computer in their pocket and people wanted that more than they wanted control. Their app store model hasn't meaningfully changed in almost two decades (except for whatever malicious compliance they're currently deploying in the EU). so to really examine the scope of the problem we need to acknowledge that almost everyone had a hand in creating it. I researched and ordered a new router that runs on open-source software today, and started setting up a Linux server. And now I'm in bed, scrolling HN on my iPhone.
Re: The Slow Death of the Power User
#93> This isn’t an accident. This is the result of two decades of deliberate, calculated effort by the largest technology companies on earth to turn users into consumers, instruments into appliances, and technical literacy into a niche hobby for weirdos. They succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. Congratulations to everyone involved. You’ve built a generation that can’t extract a zip file without a dedicated app…
That's a wide spectrum. Not understanding that gmail isn't email is well into "How do you not know this?" territory. Whereas only very specific users know about Bash and Emacs. I do often have that experience of needing to climb 47 levels upward to successfully explain something to someone. Right now I'm just intrigued by the fact that I can go out into my neighbourhood and nobody will know what 90% of these things are, yet I'm probably far from the only person on this forum who recognizes and has experience with the vast majority of that list.
Re: The Slow Death of the Power User
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most likely basically because the cut off for atdt being any use to most users was mid 1990s. I still like the fact that it is still being used millions of times per day by cell phones. DNS and SSH were/are things 'techie' people know. I can assure you most people had no idea what their IP was or what a DNS was. Being the "hey my computer is acting kinda slow can you look at it" guy. It felt like they actively sought…
What I'm saying is that being a 'power user' is not a static thing, it's relative. It changes and evolves (or downgrades) over time. But most importantly, and what the author missed, is that it works both ways. I know how to connect to a BBS, but I was literally paralysed by the fact that there is no LAN game in Counter-Strike 2 . Where is LAN?! Why do I need a Steam account for every player to play with friends sitt…
I suppose it depends on what you think a power user is. Personally, I think it's someone who is interested in solving their own problems and thinking critically or outside the box. Someone who understands not only how to do something, but also why you do it that way.
In a Bash terminal, if something goes wrong, it's probably my fault and there's a clear path forward to troubleshooting and fixing it. That feels way more palatable than a bloated website that throws an "Oops, something went wrong" error. For us, that's hitting a wall, but for people who aren't living in a Linux terminal, needing to open one at all is hitting a wall.
LAN gameplay disappeared because it was the power user way. Steam is a complex centralized proprietary software stack that abstracts all the hard parts of online gaming away so anyone can do it. You can't just intuit the existence of Steam using knowledge of computer and networking fundamentals. That's a knowledge gap, not a lack of skill.
Re: The Slow Death of the Power User
#95Most people, when they turn the tap on, they don't know where the water comes from. Try asking someone "What is the physical principle that makes the water come out of the tap? How do they make it come out?" you might be surprised how many people don't know and most importantly don't care . The water comes out. The water has always come out, every time, so it's not really a thing worth investigating. Like the sunrise…
> Most people, when they turn the tap on, they don't know where the water comes from. Yeah, but at some point you need a plumber who at least has a passing understanding of where it comes from, and more importantly knows how to fix any problems you may have with your plumbing and its connection to municipal water/sewer. And there needs to be someone employed somewhere who understands the whole municipal water supply…
My point was meant to be a bit more subtle; that we all engage with abstractions of reality. Whenever I'm tempted to complain about people not knowing stuff, I pause and think about how little I really know.
In my grandfather's peer group, you were lacking essential knowledge if you couldn't rebuild an engine.
Re: The Slow Death of the Power User
#96I am a person that understanding what happens behind the screen, in the browser, in the phone, in the systems I interact with. It is my main source of unhappiness. I sometimes wish I didn't know.
Re: The Slow Death of the Power User
#97Most people, when they turn the tap on, they don't know where the water comes from. Try asking someone "What is the physical principle that makes the water come out of the tap? How do they make it come out?" you might be surprised how many people don't know and most importantly don't care . The water comes out. The water has always come out, every time, so it's not really a thing worth investigating. Like the sunrise…
I feel a certain uncomfortableness when I don't know these things. It's annoying, and yet it brings me many things as well. When I drive off in my car, I half visualize the clutch plates coming into contact with each other etc etc etc. But my kids call any internet connection WiFi. My wife didn't understand why she couldn't print with the WiFi switch off (back when we had switches). And every time I try to tell them…
> But my kids call any internet connection WiFi.
I was listening to a tech podcast last week, and a guest host, who's a tech reporter and an intelligent person, at some point talked about "Wi-Fi plans" and "getting Wi-Fi for your house". I cringed so hard inside.
Nothing against them personally, and I don't think it's super meaningful (e.g. "how could a tech reporter say that?!"), but yeah, it was a little sad for me.
Bonus anecdote:
A while back I was considering renting an ADU-type unit, and I remember bunches of listing saying "Wi-Fi available". One place I looked at in person, the landlord said a similar thing, and seemed nonplussed when I asked if I could pay for my own internet service to be set up (which I can understand for more valid reasons).
Re: The Slow Death of the Power User
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
> and most importantly don't care That's the depressing part in modern (western) society. The lack of curiosity is one thing, but it seems to spread to a overall lack of care for anything these days. First it's lack of knowledge, then it's lack of care for fellow beings, then it's lack of care for the broken windows everywhere. Community breaks down in real time with the reaction of a shrug. >If a person doesn't know…
> That's the depressing part in modern (western) society Do you think the average medieval farmer was questioning how everything around him worked while he worked day and night trying not to starve? Do you think today the average Japanese person knows more about water supply than the average American? This is such a weirdly romantic view about the past that I don't know where to even start. > Food comes from trucks d…
> Do you think today the average Japanese person knows more about water supply than the average American?
Probably yes. Our education systems and culture are so very different. Japan is far more structured and standardized. In the US, schools are a complete gamble unless you've got the means and motivation to explicitly move to an area with "good schools". Given the incredible number of adults who read below a sixth grade level, I'd fully expect the average US citizen to be less informed and less capable of informing themselves as the average Japanese citizen. This would translate into more Japanese citizens being familiar with things like water pressure.
Re: The Slow Death of the Power User
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Most people, when they turn the tap on, they don't know where the water comes from. Yeah, but at some point you need a plumber who at least has a passing understanding of where it comes from, and more importantly knows how to fix any problems you may have with your plumbing and its connection to municipal water/sewer. And there needs to be someone employed somewhere who understands the whole municipal water supply…
My point was meant to be a bit more subtle; that we all engage with abstractions of reality. Whenever I'm tempted to complain about people not knowing stuff, I pause and think about how little I really know. In my grandfather's peer group, you were lacking essential knowledge if you couldn't rebuild an engine.
Interestingly, I've got a truck with a dead engine that I'm considering if I should yank it out and replace/rebuild it... Never done that before and don't know how to do it...
Re: The Slow Death of the Power User
#100Being superuser is hobby. That's why it well never be a mainstream.