|
That and I'm old and it was part of my childhood.
|
|
|
|
|
Is Silicon Valley a force for good?[^]
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare
Home | LinkedIn | Google+ | Twitter
|
|
|
|
|
If you are holding votes on the "good" of a company, you are already lost. A company is there to make money.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
|
|
|
|
|
Of course they are, but that's not the point to the article. The question is whether the tech giants provide a net benefit or not. Despite the technoligical advances they provide, there is a cost to be paid. Those costs include censorship, surveilance, loss of personal data and free expression etc.
In my opinion whatever value such tech giants provide, overall they are a net cost rather than a net gain.
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare
Home | LinkedIn | Google+ | Twitter
|
|
|
|
|
Dominic Burford wrote: Despite the technoligical advances they provide, there is a cost to be paid. Those costs include censorship, surveilance, loss of personal data and free expression etc.
You forget that "good" is subjective; the things you call costs are considered benefits by many governments. Also, knowing the metric does not change their decision-making.
Dominic Burford wrote: In my opinion whatever value such tech giants provide, overall they are a net cost rather than a net gain.
Any "gaint" corporation is a threat. Once a business is bigger than the smallest country, it has too much power.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
|
|
|
|
|
Eddy Vluggen wrote: You forget that "good" is subjective; the things you call costs are considered benefits by many governments
I didn't use the word 'good', I said 'costs'. Describing something as good or bad is subjective, whereas describing it's 'cost' is more objective and is more quantifiable.
It should be fairly obvious that I am coming at this from the perspective of a user, not of a government. All the examples in the article relate to people, not governments. And yes, the fact that many of the 'costs' that tech giants provide are net gains for the goverment is also precisely the problem. That should also be obvious.
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare
Home | LinkedIn | Google+ | Twitter
|
|
|
|
|
Dominic Burford wrote: I didn't use the word 'good', I said 'costs'.
Topic was referring to good, not to costs. Still, had to upvote it for providing good arguments.
Dominic Burford wrote: It should be fairly obvious that I am coming at this from the perspective of a user, not of a government. All the examples in the article relate to people, not governments. And yes, the fact that many of the 'costs' that tech giants provide are net gains for the goverment is also precisely the problem.
In that case, there's also a military-industrial complex that has a high "cost". As a voting user, I know that we'll get little say in the matter.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
|
|
|
|
|
Eddy Vluggen wrote: In that case, there's also a military-industrial complex that has a high "cost". As a voting user, I know that we'll get little say in the matter.
That's a good point. As a society we need to balance out whether the costs ultimately justify the means. And that's never going to be easy. And if it's decided that the costs are too high, how do we do about rolling those services back in again?
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare
Home | LinkedIn | Google+ | Twitter
|
|
|
|
|
If you keep talking like that, you'll be labelled a communist soon 
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
|
|
|
|
|
I'm not sure how the conversation managed to stray from Silicon Valley to communism but I think this thread has now come to an end 
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare
Home | LinkedIn | Google+ | Twitter
|
|
|
|
|
Dominic Burford wrote: I think this thread has now come to an end
I think one more post 
Dominic Burford wrote: I'm not sure how the conversation managed to stray from Silicon Valley to communism
You want to measure "social costs" and take actions against those deemed "too expensive". That was what you wanted to suggest, no?
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
|
|
|
|
|
"Despite the technological advances they provide..."
The ones who bring those costs along with them provide zero advances, technological or otherwise. In my opinion anyway.
|
|
|
|
|
Don't count on it.
A force for greed, possibly.
|
|
|
|
|
It's not a force for anything, it just is. The problem is that many in Silicon Valley perceive what they are doing in moral terms and given how insular the bay area is, the result is, as you point out, biased toward a group think approach.
|
|
|
|
|
Good essay. One of the reasons I read CodeProject almost every day is because it's relatively free from this claustrophobic right-think (that and Kent Sharkey's captions, and Mark Wallace's acerbic replies. They start my working day ).
I've never touched the likes of Twitter and Facebook, but I urgently need an alternative to PayPal since they started dictating who can use their services based on which political party they support.
Found a really good one that lets you generate pre-loaded credit card numbers, but it's only available in the US, and I'm in Blighty like you.
|
|
|
|
|
Tasadit wrote: I urgently need an alternative to PayPal since they started dictating who can use their services based on which political party they support.
Is that actually a thing?
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. - Mark Twain
|
|
|
|
|
For disposable sensors, silicon will never be the right fit—but cheaper tech is nearly here We're going to need a bigger junk drawer
|
|
|
|
|
So far for the ecology... 
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
|
|
|
|
|
Well on the plus side, rotting hardware will limit the lifespan of Io(pwnd)T botnets. 
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
|
|
|
|
|
I think it would be highly appropriate for many of them to be made of toilet paper.
At least they'd then serve a useful purpose.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
|
|
|
|
|
You should read this[^]
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
|
|
|
|
|
Acerbic? Moi?
I'm a little fluffy bunny rabbit, full of sweetness and light.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
|
|
|
|
|
Just had an idea; and IoT disposable device that does EVERYTHING, but to save you the cost of shipping, the hassles of setting it up and the effort of disposing it, I'll do that for you. Just select what you want your device to do, send me the money and I'll create it and then dispose of it. I'll even send a picture of it disposed so you know it's not a scam.
|
|
|
|
|
You can use Visual Studio for your C++ cross platform development when using CMake without needing to create or generate Visual Studio projects. sudo make me an app
|
|
|
|
|
i use it for Linux dev. well, i use it as an editor, because it beats vi.
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
