3 ms·

- I can't buy stuff on Facebook. - I can't sell stuff on Facebook. - I can't hail a cab on Facebook. - I can't unlock my doors on Facebook. - I can't turn t

- I can't buy stuff on Facebook. - I can't sell stuff on Facebook. - I can't hail a cab on Facebook. - I can't unlock my doors on Facebook. - I can't turn the lights on on Facebook. - I can't play a song on Facebook. - I can't pay for my parking spot on Facebook. - I can't reserve a table at a restaurant on Facebook. - I can't manage tasks on Facebook. - I can't review products on Facebook. - I can't track my sleep on Facebook. Unless you consider Status/Messages/Comments as an interface to all these things. In which case we could all use IRC and live happily ever after. Which doesn't work because IRC is text, and text is an poor medium.

nickpsecurity 11y ago
Oh, I see what you mean. Something doesn't do a lot in one app unless it runs all software on Earth in one app (or some subset thereof). I think you meant operating system or runtime platform instead of app. I recommend Android or iOS for your needs. Back to apps and my claim, Facebook directly provides email, messaging, phone calls, group activities, meetup, games, and so on. Hence, the claim their model is to do much of what people need in one app good enough for convenience to ensure a win. No single app is going to do all on your list because users would reject it outside maybe South Korea where such a mixed bag is common. People always look for a better app with better interface, integration, price, whatever. No incentive whatsoever to build an app with your exact combination of features if 99+% of people prefer to have a set of apps best for that and aren't vendor loyal at all. Not to mention, what startup is going to build that app for $1 or so in an app store? The functionality you describe could cost hundreds of thousands to millions to develop. With no expectation of a return. Not happening any time soon.
- miguelrochefort 11y ago
  There seems to be some misunderstanding. I'm not talking about one app with all these functionalities as distinct features. I'm talking about one app that enables the use of a modern computer-assisted general-purpose language with which people can achieve most of these tasks. The app won't know anything about cabs, sleep, restaurant tables, doors, lights, parking spots. These things are part of a lexicon that exists outside the app, as part of the graph that powers it. Think of this graph as a knowledge base which smart (automated or not) agents can interact with. Once you nail the UX algorithm, you don't need to manually craft unique user interfaces for all possible use cases. It is all done automatically. Also, I don't understand where this need to discuss cost or revenue comes from. Projects that have the largest impact are not motivated by self-interest or money of any kind. What I'm describing will be entirely free, open source, decentralized, etc. It's closer to "English" or "The Internet" than it is to "Instagram" or "Amazon".
  - nickpsecurity 11y ago
    I think you're describing what Semantic Web or agent-oriented computing (esp bots) before it tried to achieve. It would be nice but it might not be possible. The reason is it's against most vendor's and service's interest to standardize their data formats and interfaces for that level of 3rd party integration. They monetize and control more if they do the opposite. Interesting enough, inspired by Siri and AI craze, Facebook is developing a human-assisted AI that might fit the bill. I read about it recently: http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/time-to-meet-the-wizard-facebooks-messenger-head-pulls-back http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/time-to-meet-the-wiza... Watson might be able to pull it off, too. But most people underestimate how hard this stuff is. My stuff long ago used a Tcl variant with restricted use of English verbs and grammar. It was still difficult, slower, and so on. New stuff uses deep NN's, GPU's, etc. You might get your app in next 10 years if they keep progressing as they do.
    - miguelrochefort 11y ago
      People won't interact through natural language. That's the big different. I understand how difficult NLP is. I'm talking about creating a completely new language, that looks nothing like English, French or Esperanto. The plan is to introduce this language to kids through a smartphone app. Once they're hooked, the world will change forever.
      - nickpsecurity 11y ago
        Start with something like MIT's Scratch, maybe? They used different shapes and colors like legos to intuitively help kids understood what statements fit together. They ran with it and made all kinds of stuff.

nickpsecurity 11y ago

Oh, I see what you mean. Something doesn't do a lot in one app unless it runs all software on Earth in one app (or some subset thereof). I think you meant operating system or runtime platform instead of app. I recommend Android or iOS for your needs. Back to apps and my claim, Facebook directly provides email, messaging, phone calls, group activities, meetup, games, and so on. Hence, the claim their model is to do much of what people need in one app good enough for convenience to ensure a win. No single app is going to do all on your list because users would reject it outside maybe South Korea where such a mixed bag is common. People always look for a better app with better interface, integration, price, whatever. No incentive whatsoever to build an app with your exact combination of features if 99+% of people prefer to have a set of apps best for that and aren't vendor loyal at all. Not to mention, what startup is going to build that app for $1 or so in an app store? The functionality you describe could cost hundreds of thousands to millions to develop. With no expectation of a return. Not happening any time soon.

miguelrochefort 11y ago
There seems to be some misunderstanding. I'm not talking about one app with all these functionalities as distinct features. I'm talking about one app that enables the use of a modern computer-assisted general-purpose language with which people can achieve most of these tasks. The app won't know anything about cabs, sleep, restaurant tables, doors, lights, parking spots. These things are part of a lexicon that exists outside the app, as part of the graph that powers it. Think of this graph as a knowledge base which smart (automated or not) agents can interact with. Once you nail the UX algorithm, you don't need to manually craft unique user interfaces for all possible use cases. It is all done automatically. Also, I don't understand where this need to discuss cost or revenue comes from. Projects that have the largest impact are not motivated by self-interest or money of any kind. What I'm describing will be entirely free, open source, decentralized, etc. It's closer to "English" or "The Internet" than it is to "Instagram" or "Amazon".
- nickpsecurity 11y ago
  I think you're describing what Semantic Web or agent-oriented computing (esp bots) before it tried to achieve. It would be nice but it might not be possible. The reason is it's against most vendor's and service's interest to standardize their data formats and interfaces for that level of 3rd party integration. They monetize and control more if they do the opposite. Interesting enough, inspired by Siri and AI craze, Facebook is developing a human-assisted AI that might fit the bill. I read about it recently: http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/time-to-meet-the-wizard-facebooks-messenger-head-pulls-back http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/time-to-meet-the-wiza... Watson might be able to pull it off, too. But most people underestimate how hard this stuff is. My stuff long ago used a Tcl variant with restricted use of English verbs and grammar. It was still difficult, slower, and so on. New stuff uses deep NN's, GPU's, etc. You might get your app in next 10 years if they keep progressing as they do.
  - miguelrochefort 11y ago
    People won't interact through natural language. That's the big different. I understand how difficult NLP is. I'm talking about creating a completely new language, that looks nothing like English, French or Esperanto. The plan is to introduce this language to kids through a smartphone app. Once they're hooked, the world will change forever.
    - nickpsecurity 11y ago
      Start with something like MIT's Scratch, maybe? They used different shapes and colors like legos to intuitively help kids understood what statements fit together. They ran with it and made all kinds of stuff.