I was expecting some general trends that are not improving, and that indicate things that the industry should work on. There definitely are some (sigh).
Instead I see:
- Android phones have bad USB ports
- Android phones have bad batteries
- iOS phones have a bad browser
- Some ramblings about WiMax (huh?)
- A conclusion that wonders if we will feel like idiots when these problems are fixed (huh?)
Which of these problems are not being fixed? Android battery life seems to be improving, at least in the devices that I tend to look at (Moto X, Moto G, LG G2, Note 2/3). The only Android device that I have had USB issues with was a SGSII (funny that his was the same :) ), but in general improvements to battery life improve that problem as well, as they reduce the number of cycles on the connector.
I know nothing about iOS and its browser, but there is a good chance alternatives will form there as well.
Should we really be focusing on some sort of idea that because things aren't perfect and tradeoffs have to be made, "technology still sucks"? It feels a bit like saying that all cars suck because my GT86 can't haul my boat.
(Note: Don't take the above as bashing. The story is just a guy ranting on his blog, and not every blog rant has to purport to be something profound to serve its purpose. There is nothing wrong with that.)
Sorry to disappoint, this is just one mans frustration with technology and why it still sucks for me as an example of a systemic issue that will probably never go away.
As for a conclusion that can be drawn, maybe -
"This is why technology still sucks, big time. You have these arbitrary boundaries of platforms that for a million stupid reasons can't accomplish the most fundamental, basic chore like keeping a charge or wrapping text or playing a video and you are supposed to just accept this without question."
Sorry to wax philosophical about technology and not deliver enough research and bullet points and trends and obvious conclusions but it would be interesting if you had any opinions on how these seemingly petty issues shape our behavior without us thinking of it. Reading the web on an iPhone IS a horrible experience yet nobody admits it. I conclude with a thought that I was hoping would lead to discussion of this unquestioning adaptive behavior we have with broken technology but as with most comments on HN it goes meta instantly.
To answer your question, this problem is called "status-quo bias". As long as they believe it's the default, people tend to accept things as they are. A browser that sucks. Manual processes. Even torture and other atrocities, at some places and times. On the other hand, people resist change.
From there you can get to many absurdities. My latest is the attitude towards device drivers. When a device doesn't work on Windows, it's the fault of the device maker. The onus is on them to provide suitable drivers. But when a device doesn't work on GNU/Linux, it's because Linux sucks. Why? Because "everyone is using Windows", so if I have a problem, it can't be from the one thing everyone uses. Linux on the desktop is not as established, so it's more suspect. My graphics card is popular and got stellar reviews dammit, so if it doesn't work on Linux, that must be because those kernels maintainers are morons.
Or the golden prison Apple lock us in: perfectly acceptable for the iPhone, while anyone who tries that on the desktop would probably be sued. Guess which is the default on which platform.
I expected something broader than smart phones. A less misleading title, such as "Smart Phones Still Suck" would have helped.
I expected some analysis on why technology sucks, or or how to address it. Instead I just get an experience report in the form of a stream of conciousness.
While this is a fine post to have on one's blog, it doesn't meet my standard for the HN Front Page.
Inspired by the title rather than the content:
Technology will suck until the day we have systems that have at least one of these properties:
1. They are resilient to programmer error and can mend themselves from most errors according to some idea of what was supposed to be accomplished.
2. Type safe programs that have with little effort been proven to work before deployment.
3. Self updating systems with close to flawless backwards compatibility support (for as long as there are non self updating ones) built into the framework.
Maybe Technology Is Not Perfect, but it doesn't suck.
>>"These devices are on an upgrade cycle that is ridiculous and its the height of first-world whining to complain about your ”old phone” when, for goodness sake, it gives you the internet in your pocket with what not-so-long-ago would have been subject to export controls as a supercomputer."
You complain about first world whining, and then whine about iOS not reflowing text? I don't understand the objective of this article.
Maybe if the author were using something less powerful than a processor that "not-so-long-ago would have been subject to export controls as a supercomputer", the battery would last longer ;-)
But then again it wouldn't run Flash or a browser (reflowing or not). The phone he wants today will be available in 5-10 years.
A title after my own heart, though I think you're using hyperbole in the same way I do.
I agree that charging is a weak point of modern portable computing. Having a phone with wireless Qi charging helps me appreciate that some innovation is happening, while not especially quickly. The fact that I still need to connect my tablet and laptop to charging cables betrays a curious indolence in the industry. Wired charging is not for 2014. It was for ten years ago.
12 comments
[ 0.23 ms ] story [ 28.6 ms ] threadContent: "The batteries of Android phones don't last, and Apple's phones don't play with the web well." There are other minor details.
Conclusion: none.
Frankly with such a title, I expected more. Wasted my time. Don't waste yours.
I guess phones are the only technologies now.
Instead I see:
- Android phones have bad USB ports
- Android phones have bad batteries
- iOS phones have a bad browser
- Some ramblings about WiMax (huh?)
- A conclusion that wonders if we will feel like idiots when these problems are fixed (huh?)
Which of these problems are not being fixed? Android battery life seems to be improving, at least in the devices that I tend to look at (Moto X, Moto G, LG G2, Note 2/3). The only Android device that I have had USB issues with was a SGSII (funny that his was the same :) ), but in general improvements to battery life improve that problem as well, as they reduce the number of cycles on the connector.
I know nothing about iOS and its browser, but there is a good chance alternatives will form there as well.
Should we really be focusing on some sort of idea that because things aren't perfect and tradeoffs have to be made, "technology still sucks"? It feels a bit like saying that all cars suck because my GT86 can't haul my boat.
(Note: Don't take the above as bashing. The story is just a guy ranting on his blog, and not every blog rant has to purport to be something profound to serve its purpose. There is nothing wrong with that.)
As for a conclusion that can be drawn, maybe -
"This is why technology still sucks, big time. You have these arbitrary boundaries of platforms that for a million stupid reasons can't accomplish the most fundamental, basic chore like keeping a charge or wrapping text or playing a video and you are supposed to just accept this without question."
Sorry to wax philosophical about technology and not deliver enough research and bullet points and trends and obvious conclusions but it would be interesting if you had any opinions on how these seemingly petty issues shape our behavior without us thinking of it. Reading the web on an iPhone IS a horrible experience yet nobody admits it. I conclude with a thought that I was hoping would lead to discussion of this unquestioning adaptive behavior we have with broken technology but as with most comments on HN it goes meta instantly.
Oh, so that was your main point. Much more HN worthy. Too bad it got lost in the boilerplate. You should write tighter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3QzdIMoLkk
To answer your question, this problem is called "status-quo bias". As long as they believe it's the default, people tend to accept things as they are. A browser that sucks. Manual processes. Even torture and other atrocities, at some places and times. On the other hand, people resist change.
From there you can get to many absurdities. My latest is the attitude towards device drivers. When a device doesn't work on Windows, it's the fault of the device maker. The onus is on them to provide suitable drivers. But when a device doesn't work on GNU/Linux, it's because Linux sucks. Why? Because "everyone is using Windows", so if I have a problem, it can't be from the one thing everyone uses. Linux on the desktop is not as established, so it's more suspect. My graphics card is popular and got stellar reviews dammit, so if it doesn't work on Linux, that must be because those kernels maintainers are morons.
Or the golden prison Apple lock us in: perfectly acceptable for the iPhone, while anyone who tries that on the desktop would probably be sued. Guess which is the default on which platform.
I expected some analysis on why technology sucks, or or how to address it. Instead I just get an experience report in the form of a stream of conciousness.
While this is a fine post to have on one's blog, it doesn't meet my standard for the HN Front Page.
1. They are resilient to programmer error and can mend themselves from most errors according to some idea of what was supposed to be accomplished.
2. Type safe programs that have with little effort been proven to work before deployment.
3. Self updating systems with close to flawless backwards compatibility support (for as long as there are non self updating ones) built into the framework.
>>"These devices are on an upgrade cycle that is ridiculous and its the height of first-world whining to complain about your ”old phone” when, for goodness sake, it gives you the internet in your pocket with what not-so-long-ago would have been subject to export controls as a supercomputer."
You complain about first world whining, and then whine about iOS not reflowing text? I don't understand the objective of this article.
But then again it wouldn't run Flash or a browser (reflowing or not). The phone he wants today will be available in 5-10 years.
I agree that charging is a weak point of modern portable computing. Having a phone with wireless Qi charging helps me appreciate that some innovation is happening, while not especially quickly. The fact that I still need to connect my tablet and laptop to charging cables betrays a curious indolence in the industry. Wired charging is not for 2014. It was for ten years ago.
My own rants: http://tiamat.tsotech.com/technology-sucks