I found this going through a bunch of my old bookmarks. I read this when I was first learning to program and it was the first piece of writing that made me think about the ethics of software development, something I hadn't even considered before. Thought it was worth a share
Does anyone else remember when facebook got rid of the friends only feed ~2014/2015? That's when I stopped using facebook so I'm not sure if it's been brought back since then, but I'm assuming they haven't.
To me getting rid of that feed is in direct conflict with "Meaningful Social Interactions".
I'm not sure if anyone else feels the same, but a lot of this post feels very gaslighty to me.
Agreed. That was a moment for me when I decided to remove the Facebook app and eventually delete my account. A social network that forces you to look at garbage other than friends’ posts is not really a “social network”.
I just don't understand what market Apple thinks they are targeting with the past few years of MacBook Pro releases, and I say this while on an early 2015 13" Pro.
If the Pro line is truly meant for professionals what does apple think they are accomplishing by getting rid of features that set them apart from the competition?
As a former Thinkpad x220 user the 2015's keys are not as good but they are good enough. When I contrast that to the absolutely horrendous keyboard on the 2017 model, I long for 2015 style keys with their somewhat existent key travel. The fact that a dedicated escape key was missing on the first keyboard revision baffles me, and makes me wonder what is going on in product design at Apple. I have not experienced their newest revision of the keyboard on the 16" so I cannot speak to that, but it seems to be received more positively than the 2017 model.
If the touch-bar were there to compliment the function keys instead of replace them I don't think it would be nearly as hated. As alexggordon mentioned, with BTT[0] much of the functionality of missing function keys is restored but why is third party software needed to give back full functionality on what is supposed to be a laptop for professionals?
On the IO port front, the loss of MagSafe charging is still felt, and while there are MagSafe like adapters for USB-C, I ask myself why does each new generation feel full of unneeded and unwanted compromise? Why can't Apple just stop at replacing the USB-3.0 & Thunderbolt ports with USB-C? A dongle for ethernet makes sense, a dongle for what seems to be everything is madness.
And what is Apples obsession with making their laptops ever-thinner? The Pro's are not netbooks from the early 2010s that you can fit in your pocket. Their obsession with making each generation thinner seems to cause thermal throttling, with the culprit always being... insufficient cooling. Shocker. Yet this is supposed to be laptop for professionals?
This isn't to say there haven't been improvements. Thinner bezels are always welcome and Apple clearly puts a great amount of thought into their displays and it does not go unnoticed. In addition MacBooks only seem to get better at increasing battery life at levels above the competition.
For the time being the it just works factor of Mac OS and being able to use almost any linux package/program thanks to homebrew will probably keep me as a user, but I can't help but notice their Pro lineup seems to less and less useful for professionals and makes me wonder who Apple thinks wants any of these changes.
While I definitely agree that FOSS is good enough that makes it paying for software that does the same thing less appealing, the average person that I talked about in my post doesn’t use and usually isn’t even aware of FOSS.
Do you think you would be less hesitant if there was a refund policy similar to that of steam's where a time window is provided for you to try and return if you are not happy with your purchase?
Instead of a refund, I'd prefer a free trial period (possibly with limited functionality) so I could evaluate the quality of the software before laying down my money. Knowing I'll need to go through the hassle of getting a refund if it doesn't work out makes me less likely to try the software in the first place. Contacting customer support for a refund is an unpleasant process at too many companies.
Also, as to your original question of why people are reluctant to pay for software, it depends a lot on the software. Much of the software that people sell (e.g., a game for a phone) is less useful to me than a cup of coffee, so I wouldn't bother downloading it even if it was free. And even if your software is useful to me, it has to compete with lots of free alternatives that are very good.
There are also the security/privacy risks that comes with installing software from unknown providers. A widely used open source program would be easier to trust than an app from some random person on HN that I've never heard of.
That said, I do buy software that's useful to me. For example, I buy tax prep software every year, and I pay for e-mail (Fastmail) and a web-based RSS aggregator (Newsblur).
I wonder if a meat shortage that causes people who previously hadn't eaten plant substitutes, will be enough to let plant substitute companies take a bigger chunk of the meat market for good.
Are any of those plant substitute companies in a position to help offset a meat supply shortfall in any meaningful way? Are the substitutes less labor-intensive to produce or otherwise less affected by the coronavirus?
Impossible Foods is expanding its grocery store presence right now, and says that its production plant is less susceptible than meatpacking plants due to increased amounts of automation....
The problem is that when there is availability fake meat can't compete on price, even with high local meat prices (mostly due to drought) real meat is still a much cheaper option. In my area 500g of ground beef is $6-7, up from $4 a year or two ago, but 300g of fake ground beef is $9. It just doesn't make sense to pay 30% more to get 30% less of an inferior substitute.
The question is why is the price so high, is it scale, inherent costs or just a virtue tax?
Guarantee its scale. I'm not a vegetarian but I've eaten meat analogues for decades - even before it was "trendy" - and they are actually better priced now than ever. The first few weeks of the panic buying had even my local kinda-small-town-turning-into-suburb grocery out of stock. Was hoping they would be a good alternative to have when my meat ran out. Guess I wasn't alone.
I was wondering the same thing. Even if the number of people who take that opportunity is small by meat-industry standards, it's still huge for companies like Beyond and Impossible. The market seems to agree; Beyond stock is way up in the past month. Wish I'd bought it when I first had this thought.
The products you're referring to started out more expensive; why do you think they will become relatively cheaper? And why would people who prefer meat not just eat smaller quantities? If butter becomes more expensive, I'm not going to substitute margarine.
What I meant by "people who previously hadn't eaten plant substitutes" was people who just haven't decided to try it because they just preferred to stick to meat, I should have phrased that better.
