I think it's better to compare VR to Ham Radio in that there's a hobbyist or niche interest but not enough to spawn a mainstream adoption of the technology. Even AR I think has a similar problem since it's all about making a market where no real demand exists. VR is cool in my opinion but it really isn't something I can see even my nieces and nephew using beyond once or twice in their lives. The games they play tend to be focused on the relaxation they bring with the ability to just lounge in the living room which VR breaks from that format of leisure. VR seems to take effort to consume and if you don't find that kind of effort relaxing then you're not likely to do it for a pass time or hobby. Frankly, I think too many in Silicon Valley assume their interests mirror the interests of non-Valley and non-technically-minded people.
I'm not surprised. It seems to me that they lost their way when they thought their competition was Spotify when it really was Bandcamp. At least Bandcamp is still growing especially when it comes to independent musicians and niche genres like synthwave. I really wish them the best of luck to get back on their feet because I think there's still plenty of room for competition in music hosting and sales.
I think there's a huge difference between an owner of a small company and a majority owner in a major corporation or that a CEO of said major corporation. The former has little, if any, support beyond a small circle of friends, associates, and business partners. The latter has an entire tax system setup to let them fail and come up smelling like roses. Not to mention the latter has many more options and seem to be rewarded by stockholders for failing (aka golden parachute).
I think the problem is that we have one network doing many things that need to have builtin redundancy both in terms of messaging and data storage. So putting a bank's entire database into Azure or AWS isn't wise in my opinion. Rather, I think the network either needs to be fragmented to serve different sets of customers or the end points need to be improved to the point that onsite hosting becomes the norm again. Centralization is much like specialization in that it can be adopted to the point of diseconomy.
I think this and Twitter's attempts to police the language of its users is quite flawed since context is hard to read into a sentence if you're doing the most naive analysis as it seems both are doing right now. I doubt throwing ML or NLP at this problem will ever work because the biggest problem with moderation is that people tend to get into fights without much intention of getting into one. So for me moderation is a human-level concern that should be solely done by humans since human moderators despite their own biases are better judges of misdeeds and outright trolling. Once FB and Twitter get on board with this idea and stop pretending it's a technology problem the sooner their parts of the Web might be tolerable.
Depends. As I use to bicycle all over my hometown during my college days rim brakes could be a problem when it rained or snowed. Mostly because the obvious problem of getting a solid grip on the rim is impeded by the moisture. I'm not sure if a disc brake is any better in this capacity but if it is even marginally better then if I was a PD using bikes to get riot police around I would accept the cost of the maintenance of a disc brake over rim ones.
The harsh reality is the US govt doesn't want a strong NATO. If France and Germany decided tomorrow to spend similarly to the US on defense there would be a collective gum swallowing moment in DC on both wings. It would mean that the EU isn't so toothless and that inevitably in some future that the US would have to go toe to toe with them in a military conflict. Regardless of outcome of such a conflict, it would mean more spending in the US to ensure against not only China and Russia (nominally) in a fashion far more unsustainable than it is today. The last time Europe was a legitimate region in terms of military power was the last world war. And we know that wasn't a pretty sight for all.
Or we create bullshit jobs for folks like David Graeber talks about in his essays. It seems to me that half of the private sector is busy work kind of work in the fashion that public institutions have. I'll never understand the fascination that certain managers have with adding useless jobs to the roster.
Well, I don't mind an 8 hour shift myself since often I just use some or most of the time doing research on the particular technology I'm going to use in the software I maintain or enhance. Or even just looking over code to see if it needs cleaning up or improved documentation. But I think the idea that shifts make sense for certain businesses is odd to me. It seems more out of tradition than productivity.
Even an online life without facebook and twitter is still fun. I think we're at a point where social networks are kind of pointless. At best, they're an easier to use alternative to the rolodex/black-book and email client. At worse, they make it harder to keep tabs on actual friends and family. So, I think everyone should weigh the effectiveness of their utilization of such products rather than being driven by fear of not being fashionable (leave that to the teenagers and celebrities).
I wonder how long before some left leaning NGOs build their own zero-rated Basics-clone which then the GOP will collectively clutch pearls in horror. It'll be amusing to see them try to make a law that's patently dumb that even conservative judges will strike it down.
I must be in the minority but I think the design looks too empty. I really don't understand why so many UI designs fear putting in some depth or color to demarcate where certain elements begin/end. Mind you, I prefer subjectively uglier UIs like Windows 95/98's or Mac OS 9. I just think GUIs should look like something even if that something doesn't exist anymore.
What concerns me regarding Amazon becoming a retail monopoly is what happens when Amazon can't sustain itself with respect to persistent economic downturns? Like just one bad year I suspect could wipe them out if they're not careful. So putting all our eggs in one basket isn't good in my opinion. I'd rather have a dozen smaller retailers which half could go down in flames than one huge one which causes a long term disruption if it files for bankruptcy.
I don't know if the writer understands the fundamental problem in the discussion of Silicon Valley centers on the fact that it's the peak of capitalism gone awry. So for every little research project he listed there's ten or more silly "ventures" into DRM'd juicing machines or spying social media apps.
I'm not sure if I hate self-checkout or not. But I do think they're abused too often by stores who don't have adequate staff. I know it's all about a cost saving measure but I have to wonder how much are they saving when people are avoiding them?
It would be all well and good if either better jobs came to replace he drudgery of old (honestly, worked in light industrial and plastics so I can't imagine anyone doing the work if they could get a better paying job with fewer hours) or that the over all price of goods dropped to reflect the actual material intensity of production. But neither has occurred, especially in former industrial centers in the US. Until that happens the benefit of automation will always go to those who own the majority of the companies in question. Which is why I think they either need to be taxed or their means of production held in common ownership by the state.
>I am sorry but that's like the opposite of economic logic. Ceritus paribus, more competition means lower prices.
It doesn't hold under empirical study of firms of any industry. Competition can be offset by jacking up prices or otherwise hiding the price. Prices are never set by the market, so everyone pays a ransom for the good or service in question, especially in healthcare.
There's cheaper places like Wichita, KS but they don't have many good paying jobs which keeps many of the nicer townhomes and larger apartments in good neighborhoods out of reach unless you work aircraft. It's a weird situation that basically we got plenty of housing here but none of it is accessible to the average citizen at a cost effective price.
I don't think the collapse of advertising is necessarily a collapse of Google. Google (Alphabet, really) has so much IP and many other possible ways to grow that if crap hits the fan they can change course. Not to mention they do seem to be generating plenty of revenue to keep people interested in buying their stock. So long as Wall Street is willing to bear the weight of their ventures then I don't see Google going away any time soon. More likely is that Google eventually leaves the advertising business as it becomes less relevant to their bottom line just like how Amazon isn't about books as much anymore (they still sell them, but they got so many other revenue streams that if books as a market cratered they wouldn't go bankrupt from it). When that "eventually" will happen I can't say but I'll say I'd be surprised advertising would be relevant to them in twenty years beyond a marginal line of business.
Then it seems to me that more nurses and less dependence on fragile technology is a better option. Costs can be economized by many other methods. Labor is something that should be the last thing to pare down.
It's kind of heartening to see programming languages like COBOL, Fortran, and Ada still are chugging along helping folks solve their problems. I think instead of trying to replace the language how about we design modern hardware and software to work around it? Isn't that where virtualization can help (I'm assuming too much probably with this question considering how many programs of that era are hardware specific)?
Okay but why does a dialysis machine need to be on the internet? Even if it's done to forward reports regarding the usage of the machine that can be done in a daily dump when you swap it out I'm guessing, right? So, it doesn't need to be an always-on device with respect to its NIC. Plus, there's no benefit to the user to have their life giving machinery be online. It's just another thing to overcharge the hospital for all in the false name of productivity.
It doesn't account for the majority of wages since the wage dampening done by immigration is oddly done by legal immigration (H1b). The regular manufacturing or service industry job is more affected by outsourcing than immigration.
I would suggest some of the essays regarding Mutualism and Georgism at C4SS. They tend to do a decent job breaking down the problems of capitalism without smothering you with thick language.
I'm not sure if my professor was being nice or not as savvy as you describe because the course was taught with a printed out book by him and another professor but all he charged for the entire book (plus homework problems) was 40 bucks USD. This was back in 2006 so I don't know what he's charging now (assuming he's not retired by now). By comparison, the average new book at the university book store was around 80 USD (at the lowest).
It's just interesting to see how quickly the flip happened. I think it's in part due to the fact the Democrats have tried, and failed, to capture the business interests the Republicans have largely accumulated over the decades. I even remember back in '98 hearing from folks who called themselves the "new" Democrats which were supposedly business friendly but also socially progressive. Clearly that approach didn't work and I don't think it'll ever work since businesses have no interest in pushing for social change when largely it doesn't improve their profits. So now the Democrats are going back (sorta) to their roots of being for the "little guy" but the fact that folks like Pelosi continue to squawk about being capitalists shows how fake that change is that it amuses me to no end. The fact Pelosi even freaks out at the idea of single payer healthcare proves the Democrats can't or won't really change and this is all for show.
Honestly, I'd rather be led by a "dinosaur" programmer than some marketing or MBA geek any day. At least then I know that my boss would go to bat for me when it's clear something is achievable within the capacities of the team or department. I've worked for too many clowns that think computers are magic boxes where you just whisper a few words into then you get a fully fleshed out platform out of it. Seriously, it should be a legal requirement that you have at least a year of experience in the profession you'll be acting as manager in.
That's creepy TBH. Even though I have some respect for those who made things like a smart phone possible I don't see my iPhone as indispensable beyond its utility. I won't cry when my iPhone finally stops working, so I can't imagine how anyone could develop any affection for theirs.
It's more about what makes us human is being lost. The ability to socialize, even if you're bad at it like me, is a big part of the human condition. If we let capitalists continue to alienate us from each other all we'll become is just smarter cows. And my complaint isn't even remotely like that of a Victorian complaining about Tinder for one good reason: I don't care with whom you socialize or how. But latching onto corporate brands in place of a fully sentient being is a recipe for permanent slave mentality. And I'd rather someone make a friend with a robot (like in the film Robot and Frank) than pledge undying love to a corporation. A corporation and its "brands" aren't our friends. It's why I despise companies like Apple because they've tried (and in some part succeeded) in shoving the lifestyle consumerism crap down our throats.