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Am I the only one who finds the new Apps-based world boring?
zridling:
A simple solution for boredom.
Find something to do that does not involve computers, television or any other way of electronic entertainment. That way you will not get bored.-rxantos (September 29, 2010, 12:02 PM)
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Indeed. I have many other interests that take me away from the computer, but what is becoming boring (for me) is that content is being tunneled toward "services" through ubiquitous ads. If AdBlock didn't exist, I'd go insane.
As of instant communications:
1. We are fomenting a culture of instant gratification. Which is never good.
2. We do feel we have time to think things over before sending a response. Thereof responses tend to be emotional instead of rational.-rxantos (September 29, 2010, 12:02 PM)
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That's a keen observation.
I think that what Zaine is complaining about is really part of the bigger issue of the internet becoming more standardized and controlled and its evolution resulting from the appearance of truly handheld internet enabled devices - smartphones, iPod Touches, tablets, etc-Darwin (September 29, 2010, 08:47 AM)
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Yea, one big reason I don't care so much for mobile computing is that I could spend as much on a mobile data bill in one month than I spend in an entire year for internet access on my desktop! Standards are fine as long as they are open standards, the kind that made it possible for the internet to flourish. But what corporations (and many governments) are doing when they fight against basic data privacy measures, support ACTA, and against the ability to take my data and business elsewhere without losing it, my big wondrous online world suddenly gets a lot smaller, more legalistic, overwhelmed by ads, and locked in by insane TOS agreements at every turn.
Target:
There are many types of computer user, but there are two key ones for this issue; the content producer and the content consumer. The producers will always need a laptop or desktop, you really can't even write blog posts properly on an iPad, never mind a smart phone. Consumers only need internet and a touchscreen. The new 'app' revolution is aimed at the consumers, and that makes perfect sense, the vast vast vast majority of people are consumers only. -Eóin (September 29, 2010, 03:46 PM)
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this is it in a nutshell - the idea that appliances like ipads or 'smart' phones provide anything like portable computing is patently ridiculous.
These things are largely gimick, and they are only successful where the end user doesn't require a portable computing solution.
Sending emails, (inane) tweets, playing (lame) games, watching video. listening to music, reading documents, browsing, or updating facebook do not (IMHO) qualify as computing - try running a big spreadsheet or database, or drafting a substantial document, or coding and see how far you get (or how long your patience holds out)
You could probably draw a parallel with consoles - I've never been a fan, but I know several ordinary households that have versions of ALL the available platforms, apparently because each offers something the others don't (though a single PC could provide all of them and then some...)
Darwin:
What I find distrubing is that kids in middle school are able to convince their parents (or is it marketing that does this?) that a smartphone or an iPod Touch is an "essential". For a 14 year old? WTF? I guess this has been going on for millenia...
Josh:
It's a status symbol, just as driving a car in your senior year was a status symbol.
Darwin:
Yeah, that's pretty much what I had concluded as well. But good grief! What a waste of resources (to manufacture the devices), money to first buy and then/or to pay for the monthly data plan and, in short what a waste of TIME.
Up here in Canada we've actually seen a debate over whether or not smartphones have a role to play in the classroom! This from a provincial premier (Ontario).
We simply can't keep up this pace of conspicuous consumption and ostentatious display.
Ridiculous.
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