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Directions can be done offline just fine using openstreetmap data and a library like graphhopper. Music could and should be locally stored. And yes, the news ha

by Joeri 10y ago

Directions can be done offline just fine using openstreetmap data and a library like graphhopper. Music could and should be locally stored. And yes, the news has to come from a server, but this could be done anonymously instead of with the full range of google tracking. I'm starting to get really annoyed at the tendency to put everything online when it doesn't need to be. Online-integrated devices are brittle and have a built-in expiration date. We should prefer devices for which online integration, if it exists at all, is optional and easily replaced by your own server.

tracker1 10y ago
Now you need a pretty beefy server in your home to have all of that data, and be able to return results relatively quickly. The music could be an integrated NAS device though. All of that said, most home users aren't going to want to setup a home server with a database in order to get directions.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  It's not so dire. OSMAnd discards data it doesn't use and has worldwide coverage in about 25 gigabytes. That data needs to grow a lot to have better coverage for stuff like POIs, but 100 or 200 gigabytes is going to go a long way. On my phone with 1 gigabyte of memory, it can calculate a several hundred mile route in a few seconds. That's not as cool as the instant routes you get from real actual beefy servers, but it isn't unusable. With just a little complexity you could do local routes on device and call out to a server for longer routes. That dramatically lowers the data requirement and tightens up the calculation times.
RIMR 10y ago
>We should prefer devices for which online integration, if it exists at all, is optional and easily replaced by your own server. This is something that's only going to be important to the tech-savvy. Your typical consumer wants idiot-proof instant gratification, and cloud-powered apps and devices provide that.
- nightski 10y ago
  Privacy is not something only cherished by the tech savvy. The problem is, there is a lack of openness about the deal being engaged in when using these services. Consumers do not know what is being done with their data or even that it is being collected. That may be obvious to us, as engineers who understand it, but it isn't to your every day user. They are not stupid. It's just that our industry is not transparent and to be honest pretty damn deceptive in how customers are engaged.
  - crdoconnor 10y ago
    We really need a ratings agency for IoT devices that gives them a score based upon how much they leak data.
- Joeri 10y ago
  I would argue that you cannot make a cloud-powered device idiot-proof. Inevitably the network will hiccup and you will have to be tech-savvy to fix it. I predict a consumer backlash against smart devices once people realize just how dumb they become without the cloud.
- hackney 10y ago
  True, right up until the internet stops working in which case they really will be idiots for not having better, read smarter, infrastructure. I, for one, want google as far from me as is possible.
mgraczyk 10y ago
> Music could and should be locally stored. With Spotify and YouTube, I access dozens of new songs every day, songs I have never heard before. Would I have to purchase each of these songs, download them, and put them on the device in advance?
- Joeri 10y ago
  There's nothing wrong with subscribing to a music service, as long as the music doesn't stop when the network does. That's why I say music should be stored locally, even if just in a cache.

by Joeri 10y ago

tracker1 10y ago

Now you need a pretty beefy server in your home to have all of that data, and be able to return results relatively quickly. The music could be an integrated NAS device though. All of that said, most home users aren't going to want to setup a home server with a database in order to get directions.

maxerickson 10y ago
It's not so dire. OSMAnd discards data it doesn't use and has worldwide coverage in about 25 gigabytes. That data needs to grow a lot to have better coverage for stuff like POIs, but 100 or 200 gigabytes is going to go a long way. On my phone with 1 gigabyte of memory, it can calculate a several hundred mile route in a few seconds. That's not as cool as the instant routes you get from real actual beefy servers, but it isn't unusable. With just a little complexity you could do local routes on device and call out to a server for longer routes. That dramatically lowers the data requirement and tightens up the calculation times.

RIMR 10y ago

>We should prefer devices for which online integration, if it exists at all, is optional and easily replaced by your own server. This is something that's only going to be important to the tech-savvy. Your typical consumer wants idiot-proof instant gratification, and cloud-powered apps and devices provide that.

nightski 10y ago
Privacy is not something only cherished by the tech savvy. The problem is, there is a lack of openness about the deal being engaged in when using these services. Consumers do not know what is being done with their data or even that it is being collected. That may be obvious to us, as engineers who understand it, but it isn't to your every day user. They are not stupid. It's just that our industry is not transparent and to be honest pretty damn deceptive in how customers are engaged.
- crdoconnor 10y ago
  We really need a ratings agency for IoT devices that gives them a score based upon how much they leak data.
Joeri 10y ago
I would argue that you cannot make a cloud-powered device idiot-proof. Inevitably the network will hiccup and you will have to be tech-savvy to fix it. I predict a consumer backlash against smart devices once people realize just how dumb they become without the cloud.
hackney 10y ago
True, right up until the internet stops working in which case they really will be idiots for not having better, read smarter, infrastructure. I, for one, want google as far from me as is possible.

mgraczyk 10y ago

> Music could and should be locally stored. With Spotify and YouTube, I access dozens of new songs every day, songs I have never heard before. Would I have to purchase each of these songs, download them, and put them on the device in advance?

Joeri 10y ago
There's nothing wrong with subscribing to a music service, as long as the music doesn't stop when the network does. That's why I say music should be stored locally, even if just in a cache.