When I saw my first computer and it had a painting program, I was blown away at the creative possibilities.
Today many people have a super computer in their pocket, but 99% do nothing creative with this power. [1]
TV, Radio, Books we've always seen the potential to amplify humanity early in roll-out of the technology, but eventually settle on the lowest common denominator as human behavior gravitates towards self-indulgence and entertainment.
We should try to curb corporate abuses, but I don't expect a shift in how the masses use technology.
I have long wondered how much Mozart could have composed with a modern synthesizer and garageband. And similarly, Shakespeare with an electric typewriter, or (more incredible yet) a word processing rather than a quill and ink!
But then my cynicism kicks in and I imagine them each spending days on facebook and watching cat videos.
> When I saw my first computer and it had a painting program, I was blown away at the creative possibilities.
> Today many people have a super computer in their pocket, but 99% do nothing creative with this power. [1]
That's apples to oranges.
Moreover people don't have computers in their pockets. They have smartphones to keep in touch, read the news, the feeds, listening to music and snapping photos. They don't see it as a computer because/and it's not marketed as such.
While it mentions uBlock in their list of recommended apps, it does not seem to give ad-blocking much importance with a dedicated description. At least in this list it seems less important than, e.g. "go grayscale". The countermeasures subpage does not even mention ads.
The general problem will always be that the lowest common denominator of users will always fall into Skinner boxes, and barring a complete change how resources are allocated services that use low level manipulation of human psychology will attract advertising dollars.
So long as we accept the idea of being the product that is sold, yes, that is the case. I expect the market to stratify though, as some not-insignificant percentage realizes their life/time is too valuable to be wasted on someone else's marketing spend.
They might as well say "We are your betters and you should live how we think is best for you"
Maybe I like the YouTube feature that autostreams the next video. It's like they didn't even consider that maybe not everyone wants to live exactly their way.
They even go so far as "We are advising governments on smart policies and better user protections." Please save me from the Youtube autostreaming feature! Please save me from looking at my friends' selfies on Instagram.
You're right, it would be great if we could all use software how we wanted.
Unfortunately by exploiting people's psychologies, what people want and what people do become very different things for some.
For example, it's currently not possible to turn off youtube's autoplay feature on some devices. This is a practice that could be deemed unethical.
Of course, as an adult, I can actively seek out forms of improving my self control and getting out of habit loops, but children are not educated in these subjects and need to seek them out themselves. They could be taught these subjects in school.
These are just some areas that governments could help with that could potentially help people achieve more of what they want in life without infringing on what anyone wants to do with software.
On the plus side, Netflix is saving children from hundreds of hours of commercials a year!
Snapchat does add the metric of conversation streaks, but _that isnt the point_ and it's honestly not enough to keep me using it. I like snapchat cuz I like seeing people's faces or the random things that they are seeing.
I think it's great that you don't find that Snapchat impacts your life negatively, and you're probably in good company. For many people this isn't the case.
All we have is our life. Some people feel that they waste theirs on platforms like Snapchat and they're powerless to stop. I don't think that for those people this initiative is stupid.
ozten|8 years ago
Today many people have a super computer in their pocket, but 99% do nothing creative with this power. [1]
TV, Radio, Books we've always seen the potential to amplify humanity early in roll-out of the technology, but eventually settle on the lowest common denominator as human behavior gravitates towards self-indulgence and entertainment.
We should try to curb corporate abuses, but I don't expect a shift in how the masses use technology.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture)
jackhack|8 years ago
But then my cynicism kicks in and I imagine them each spending days on facebook and watching cat videos.
johnchristopher|8 years ago
> Today many people have a super computer in their pocket, but 99% do nothing creative with this power. [1]
That's apples to oranges.
Moreover people don't have computers in their pockets. They have smartphones to keep in touch, read the news, the feeds, listening to music and snapping photos. They don't see it as a computer because/and it's not marketed as such.
8_hours_ago|8 years ago
DanielleMolloy|8 years ago
While it mentions uBlock in their list of recommended apps, it does not seem to give ad-blocking much importance with a dedicated description. At least in this list it seems less important than, e.g. "go grayscale". The countermeasures subpage does not even mention ads.
GCU-Empiricist|8 years ago
jackhack|8 years ago
joeblow9999|8 years ago
They might as well say "We are your betters and you should live how we think is best for you"
Maybe I like the YouTube feature that autostreams the next video. It's like they didn't even consider that maybe not everyone wants to live exactly their way.
They even go so far as "We are advising governments on smart policies and better user protections." Please save me from the Youtube autostreaming feature! Please save me from looking at my friends' selfies on Instagram.
Jesus Christ people.
rbongers|8 years ago
Unfortunately by exploiting people's psychologies, what people want and what people do become very different things for some.
For example, it's currently not possible to turn off youtube's autoplay feature on some devices. This is a practice that could be deemed unethical.
Of course, as an adult, I can actively seek out forms of improving my self control and getting out of habit loops, but children are not educated in these subjects and need to seek them out themselves. They could be taught these subjects in school.
These are just some areas that governments could help with that could potentially help people achieve more of what they want in life without infringing on what anyone wants to do with software.
civilian|8 years ago
Snapchat does add the metric of conversation streaks, but _that isnt the point_ and it's honestly not enough to keep me using it. I like snapchat cuz I like seeing people's faces or the random things that they are seeing.
This is a stupid initiative.
rbongers|8 years ago
All we have is our life. Some people feel that they waste theirs on platforms like Snapchat and they're powerless to stop. I don't think that for those people this initiative is stupid.