The Future of Computers: The Neighborhood and the Nursing Home | Hacker News Reader

The Future of Computers: The Neighborhood and the Nursing Home

puri.sm

58 pointsteddyh24 comments

This article just unintentionally explained why there is an incredible number of people in a nation such as China who are completely happy with its more autocratic operations.

Just as people have chosen the convenience of a “locked down” mobile device, sometimes folks don’t want total and absolute freedom; it’s just too much.

I came to iOS after 3-4 years of Android ownership. For about 6 Mos I missed the functionality and ease with which some things could be done. And now I much prefer the stability and ease of use in iOS.

To be clear, I acknowledge that Android can be just as stable and easy to use (especially now, with the Pixel devices). But I don’t miss Android flavors depending on manufacturers. And I don’t miss sideloading and rom flashing.

So I suppose I willingly turned in the keys to my super fast sports car for a Ford pinto (or moved into a nursing home). But I’m happier and more productive here. I don’t miss or need “the freedom.”

I also acknowledge that this can be a dangerous slippery slope. But that’s a whole separate conversation.

Big difference is that the vast majority of people in China did not _choose_ to live under that model and can't easily try a different model to see which they like more.

But neither did I "choose" to be born in a democratic republic with individual freedom (and a very corrupt state/political class)

(note: I was not born in USA)

...so it's not all that different

In the USA at least, you can't choose to be born there, but you can choose to be involved with the democratic process and even vehemently criticize the government at all levels. Not quite the same in China.

And it's working out great! Our infrastructure is falling apart, we can't get together and build infrastructure for public transportation, our healthcare system is abysmal, many policies make it quite expensive to be poor, etc. While our politicians cater to rich interests and strut about and soapbox about emotional issues, and focus on getting re-elected instead of what citizens care about.

But I can criticize the state and federal government without going to jail, so there's that. Life is really great, so long as you find good paying jobs (sorry teachers, firefighters, EMTs...), avoid crushing debt from medical crises or frivolous lawsuits if you happen to interact with a power-tripping cop.

Yes, it is working out great, as shown by the millions of people who risk life and limb to come to the US and the billions who would move here yesterday if they had the chance. Things not being perfect here doesn't mean they're not better than a lot of other places, at least in some if not all ways. Comments like yours completely trivialize the much worse conditions that exist in other places. South Korea isn't perfect either, but it's still a way better place to be than North Korea.

I'm really tired of this argument of "people want to move to X country, so criticism is not possible of X country". I'm sure that many people want to move to China. I'm sure that many people want to move to X, Y, and Z developed countries.

So what?

Nothing useful is gained from comparing the US with some other country further down the rankings. The issues I mention are don't go away because X country has it worse than the US. Saying "well, X country has it worse" is just a deflection.

I am -not- saying countries Y and Z are just so much better than the US. What I'm saying is what makes a country "good" or "desirable" is multi-faceted and very complex, much more complex than "does the government randomly arrest people or not". That is one factor, but that does not automatically make the US such a utopia.

The many, serious problems the US has won't go away until we actually start addressing them as a nation, instead of deflecting by going "well, it mustn't be so bad since people want to move here".

"To be clear, I acknowledge that Android can be just as stable and easy to use (especially now, with the Pixel devices). But I don’t miss Android flavors depending on manufacturers. And I don’t miss sideloading and rom flashing."

But you don't have to do those things. With all things being roughly equal, I think consumers are doing themselves a disservice by asking for less. Being able to install a different rom has no impact on the usability of the device for a majority of users, but it makes a huge difference for the small set of users that want to use that functionality.

This reminds me of Cory Doctorow's talk on the “coming war on general computation”.

https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/2/2677097/cory-doctorow-28c3...

> Once the transition is complete and previous APK-based packages are fully deprecated, it’s easy to see a future Android release that no longer supports APK at all. At that point Android and Google Play will have caught up with iOS and the App Store in its ability to control what software users can install.

I don't follow this argument and it seems to get some facts wrong. There is no sign that APKs are going to lose android support, AABs will be used to create dynamic smaller APKs that are customized to your device.

The closest this comes is if Google stops updating tools to build your own APKs, which would seem to have a huge negative impact on the development and testing cycle...

Google already could implement APK signing requirements to break the ability for non-rooted devices to install APKs not co-signed by google, they don't need AABs for that.

There are significant security concerns with AABs regarding giving keys and APK checksum verification...but that's a different topic.

Oddly, this works up and down the OSI model...do you own the hardware your VM runs on, or does Amazon? Do you own your phone, or is it effectively a lease (because after 2 years, you 'buy' a new phone on payments...but then hand in your old phone for credit....that's now ownership, per se)

very much what both Android & Chrome seem headed towards, with ever harshening permissions model, ever shrinking extensions capabilities. there is alas very little competition/drive to empower users in the os or browser space.

Also Windows S, which is the same idea for the Windows OS. Only approved programs from the Microsoft App Store can be run.

Windows 10 S was a trial run. Any PC owner could exit S mode, although you can't go back. In Windows 11 S, you can only get out of S mode if master control at Microsoft lets you. So that privilege can be arbitrarily revoked. Or charged for.

Expect an increasing number of machines to be Windows S only.

It cost money to leave Windows 10 S mode initially. I had a couple Customers who bought S mode by-default Surface machines (the model with the fuzzy dirt-attracting fabric palm rest) that had to pay the fee to get normal Windows 10. Microsoft dropped the fee requirement fairly soon after introducing the "feature".

Instead of being Neighborhood vs Nursing home, I think it is more of rural versus urban.

If you live out in the country, generally you can do whatever you want with your property. You can grow food, have livestock, have 15 cars that you are repairing, etc. However, you won’t have as much social interaction as in a big city and you won’t have the entertainment and culture ( no Broadway or Met) and you will be responsible for providing more of your own services (for example, you will likely have your own well for water).

If you live in an urban area, say NYC, you will be more regulated in what you can do. In addition, the city will have its own taxes and fees and more regulations about what employment in the city. The benefit is that you will have more interaction with people and more of your services will be provided by the city.

I think this more accurately captures Purism vs Apple/Google. Purism will give you more freedom, but you will likely have to do more stuff yourself. You also won’t be able to benefit as easily from the developed ecosystems that Google and Apple have.

You lack freedom in urban settings due to spacial constraints. There's no reason for personal computing to be like that other than people in California wanting to concentrate money and power for themselves. The analogy in TFA is much better.

Anyone have experience with their Librem 5 USA phone or Librem 14 laptop?

> Google just announced a new proprietary packaging format to replace APKs ... Once the transition is complete and previous APK-based packages are fully deprecated, it’s easy to see a future Android release that no longer supports APK at all.

I use CalyxOS. Most of the apps I install are open source apps from F Droid. But probably 20% of the apps I use don't have a suitable alternative, so I get APKs from Google via the Aurora Store. If APK packages are deprecated, I imagine there will be several apps that I can't get at all without installing Google Play and surrendering to be tracked and controlled by Google. I've already got a very small (Unihertz Jelly) phone that I use only for some banking apps that require Google Play Services. I could switch to an Apple device to protect myself from being exploited by surveillance capitalism, but the Apple "nursing home" is far worse than Google at blocking open source software.

The nursing home analogy highlights an important aspect of the "present" of computers that goes under-reported:

Nursing homes are filled with people that no longer contribute to the economy. Agency, privacy, control, exercising of options etc are the very heart of value creation and you simply don't have them when reduced to a transparent, monitored and mined entity. The value generated by the feudal landlord carers can hardly compensate for what is potentially gone missing.

If that is so, why aren't "neighborhoods" already thriving economically and thus consigning nursing homes to the dustbin of history where they belong?

The answer probably involves many factors besides systemic inertia (recall that feudalism thrived for many centuries). Two of them must be i) oligopolistic scorched earth practices and ii) the missing digital commons (A public good infrastructure that joins private neighborhoods into a functioning whole).

While people like Zuboff and others have pointed out the insidious, corrosive nature of surveillance capitalism, the potential economic upside of alternative arrangements needs far more study.

I finally realized I'm not fully in control of my PC when I tried to take a screenshot of an old Godzilla movie, and Windows blacked out the browser to prevent me from screenshotting DRMd content.

What, really? I have never had that happen to me.

Yep. The AMD Adrenalin software would also fail to screenshot or record the screen because it said there was restricted content visible.

Here's what it looks like when I try to take a screenshot of the browser while a movie is streaming.

https://i.imgur.com/4BRiFfC.png

Good metaphor for the computing hellworld we are living in.

Lol, I read that as "helloworld".

I need a coffee.

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