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As a cyclist, I rather like the idea.
Of course, I'm still in the market for a bicycle-mountable anti-tank weapon.
Software Zen: delete this;
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In the 1950s in America healthcare wasn't as much about the patients as it was about the providers. The doctors didn't listen to you so much as tell you what was wrong with you - that's just how the industry was run and how providers were trained.
It took decades of industry navel gazing to move to what they now call "patient centered care" where doctors are encouraged to listen and let the patients make the primary decisions, with doctor in a supporting role rather than simply an absolute authority acting unilaterally.
It seems like software and hardware developers could take a page from that.
Windows forcing updates on you. Samsung and Apple forcing you to have all these partner products on their devices that you don't want. Basically an entire industry treating you like "Daddy knows best" and basically unconcerned about the idea of losing customers because you've insulted their intelligence and undercut their autonomy in a single stroke.
And they'll continue to do it as long as we put up with it.
I'm a software and hardware developer, so I have some amount of control over what I create, and what I'm *willing* to build. I've made the choice to not be part of the problem in this respect. I have the luxury of that choice, I understand that some people don't. I'm not judging you if you're stuck working to pay the bills for a company that treats its customer's like dirt, but to the degree that *you are able* I think it's good to avoid contributing to the attitude that users should just shut up and accept what they are handed. If my software can autoupdate, you can turn it off, for example. I have some amount of respect for the users of my creations to know what's good for them.
And maybe people have just gotten dumber and/or more pliant. Maybe that has created a responsibility vacuum that has allowed producers to just screw people every which way, not just on price anymore but on how you go about your daily routine. How much power can we exercise over your daily lives? You're not a person anymore.
I am not a number.
I am not "a consumer"
I am a human being, with my *own* drives, desires, and agendas. What I do with your device or your software is *my business*, not yours. That's why I gave you money. Not just so you'd give me the goods, but so you'd go away. I pay you to leave at least as much as I pay you to show up with the goods.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Prophecy from the late 60's[^] 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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That's precisely the scene I was thinking of when I wrote that. 
Real programmers use butterflies
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to them, you and I are numbers. It does not matter what you or I think.
$$$$$
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It can. They still need your money. They still need my money.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Quote: They still need your money. They still need my money.
No, they don't. There are enough ignorant (or just plain dumb) people out there that will believe everything they are told and just pay the money regardless as they think there is no choice - and because of this, there is basically no choice.
You can choose, most people won't - so they don't care.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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That's true. People are why we can't have nice things. 
Real programmers use butterflies
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They don't have to cater to the fringes.
Stupidity and ignorance reign.
How many times over the years I told family/friends/anyone about being spied on and how to reduce it (or even stop it) and they said that ultra-moronic mantra that "they have nothing to hide". Even when I ask them if they'd mind a whole lot if I opened their mail and read it (outrage!) they still just don't get it.
The lazy easy stupid path is the direction of choice. Why think? Someone else can do that for.
You are only a number. An income stream. Both of which, merely one of billions. To consider yourself expendable borders upon egocentric !
There's an old Pogo comic strip line that goes like this "We have met the enemy and he is us"[^]. The context, however, has expanded to engulf us.
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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The reason health providers are now providing "patient centered care" is because pharma no longer target the providers they are now targeting the patient. Proof, every time I watch regular TV, which is very rare, 2/3rds of the commercials are drug related.
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honey the codewitch wrote: Windows forcing updates on you.
I remember a while back when people were trying to sue Microsoft for NOT keeping their systems automatically updated. They are a big target and just can't please everyone.
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Well, you are the product.
What you thought was the product is just a necessary tool to get more of you (as the product).
Updates in the mobile phone space are seldom about desirable features you want, but ingenious ways to make the product (you) more valuable.
Samsung has even gone so far that if you refuse an update the app stops working (Wear) and of the apps from the Galaxy Store work the same way, they get removed or made invisible if you don't update.
The only choice that is left to make is to turn off.
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Or root their hardware and install your own custom, crowdsourced firmware.
Like the outfit that does it for samsung TVs, and the innumerable projects for rooting phones.
Perhaps the contempt companies have for their users will at least foster that sort of hacking effort as they become ever more encroaching and impositional. Eventually, maybe it will get so bad that it will bleed over from the weirdos and hardware hackers into the mainstream.
After that it would inevitably be monetized. "Get Deft Root for your samsung phone - by DeNice, Inc for $29.95" And we'll see ourselves in the crossfire of the Great Bloat/Debloat wars of the 2050s.
Or not. 
Real programmers use butterflies
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I agree, but I am left with the question of whose definition of "user centered" we should use. One person's or culture's easy to use user interface may totally baffle another person or someone from another culture. Simple things such as date order or 12-hour versus 24-hour time, for example. Using localization can help, but setting that up for each user is a pain and expecting the naïve user to do this is an exercise in wishful thinking.
Ordering of fields is another whole can of worms. Assuming left-to-right, then down "logical" order is problematic. Whose version of "logical order" should we use? What about people whose language reads right-to-left, then down or top-to-bottom, then right? Your answer, I will bet, is to allow the user to move fields around.
Now for the zinger....In an industrial setting, a generic user id is often used with invoice numbers or order numbers used to distinguish who is entering the data.
In my experience, user interfaces for job settings need to be the least objectionable and most convenient to the majority culture using the software. The outputs need to be tailored to meet the needs of the next program in the job flow, with the appropriate reporting forms being generated as prescribed by the bureaucratic chimpanzees from the government and from "Harvard MBA" chimpanzees belonging to, or consulting to, other departments within the organization.
Being retired has some real advantages. I take on the projects I want, do it my way and if they accept my demonstration, get paid when I deliver the software installation package, help files and manual.
__________________
Lord, grant me the serenity to accept that there are some things I just can’t keep up with, the determination to keep up with the things I must keep up with, and the wisdom to find a good RSS feed from someone who keeps up with what I’d like to, but just don’t have the damn bandwidth to handle right now.
© 2009, Rex Hammock
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Well said.
I do agree that you appeal to the majority of users who use your product. If a significant plurality of them have an issue with say, left-to-right or top-to-bottom-order - maybe they use an eastern language for example - then you respond by releasing a variant of the application. What constitutes a significant plurality? In practice I'd think the market would dictate that.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Not that I'm disagreeing with you, but there are some who insist consumers don't know what they want. But as far as I'm concerned, there has to be some middle ground to be reached that everyone can agree upon.
That reminds me of the numerous times my sister has asked me to come over to "fix her computer"; on more than one occasion I offered to show her what to do if she gets back into whatever situation she's found herself in. And every time she actually gets mad and tells me she doesn't have time for that, she doesn't care, she just wants it to work and wants me to fix it, end of story. What I conclude from that is that if you're giving someone too many options, they'll want nothing to do with it and prefer a black box that'll take no input from them.
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I'd argue that's precisely why PCs aren't a silver bullet. I'm a fan of smart appliances for the same reason that your sister is not a fan of computers. Dedicated hardware just works. It does one thing, and it does it very well. PCs - or anything really - that try to do everything won't typically excel at them, and to the degree that they can, they are more complicated as a result, and they break. And even attempts to make them easier fail because as Douglas Adams lamented, "the problem with making something completely foolproof is people underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools"
So make things simpler. That's user centric. Your sister may be better served with a chromebook for browsing the web and several smart appliances like TVs for using things like netflix.
Real programmers use butterflies
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You're making a reasoned argument. Separation of concerns. Different black boxes for different purposes.
But then, the average person would end up with many, many small black boxes all over the house. 
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That is common now! And worse, most of them are seldom used. The only exceptions are usually the toaster, the microwave and the television.
Dig through someone's shelves and drawers and you will find old cell ph9ones, flashlights, film cameras, digital cameras, blenders, food mixers, bread makers, electric fry pans, electric griddles, croc pots, calculators, radios, headsets, waffle irons, clothing irons, alarm clocks, wrist watches, and what-not, most of which has not been used in at least a year.
When it comes to smart phone and PCs, at least they are used — even if only for email, web surfing and telephone calls.
__________________
Lord, grant me the serenity to accept that there are some things I just can’t keep up with, the determination to keep up with the things I must keep up with, and the wisdom to find a good RSS feed from someone who keeps up with what I’d like to, but just don’t have the damn bandwidth to handle right now.
© 2009, Rex Hammock
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My wife attempted to login to her laptop this morning so she could clock-in to work.
The keyboard would not allow any entry. Mouse was moving properly.
Nothing on keyboard.
Finally, we used the "restart computer" choice available on login screen and via mouse.
The machine finally came up and it said..."Let's complete your update..." and then tons of marketing questions and answers.
"Would you like to subscribe to MS Office for eternity...??"
Many more questions before she could escape to use her laptop for her business requirement of clock-in.
Thanks, M$, you just made me late for work. 
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They just tried to make sure you can't ruin their update...
Now reading your post they will remove the option to restart the computer with mouse only...
Next step will be wireless electricity to ensure you can't event turn of the computer without shutting down the neighborhood...
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
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Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote: They just tried to make sure you can't ruin their update...
yep, taking control so we don't "mess up their stuff" 
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What is it with companies these days? They think they still own your product *after* you bought it and took it home.
You know who else does that? thieves and conmen.
If I bought something, it's mine. That means I control when it gets used, and how it gets used.
If you don't agree with that, then at least have the courtesy to let me know before I buy so I can move along to something better.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Absolutely! It's very odd kind of partnership-ownership these days.
The really odd thing is that there is no clue that an update had gone on. The keyboard just wouldn't do anything (which feels really odd on a laptop).
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Me: "I use your TV as as a computer monitor. I just want to switch from netflix back to my PC without scrolling through 3 pages of services like "hulu" that I will never use.
Them: "You can't delete the apps that come preinstalled with the TV"
Me: "Ah, so my solution is to return your product and exchange it for a competitors product. That seems like a bad solution for both of us, no?"
Them: "It's a limitation of the product"
Me: "No, the product can handle it just fine. I build hardware and software for a living. None of them require hulu in order to function. This is a triumph of marketing over good sense"
Them: "I'm sorry you feel that way"
Me: "Me too, but it could be worse. At least I don't work for samsung"
Real programmers use butterflies
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