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I can't tell you how excited I am about this announcement. The fact that Google are finally acknowledging that they have a role to play to help their users use
by spuz 8y ago
I can't tell you how excited I am about this announcement. The fact that Google are finally acknowledging that they have a role to play to help their users use their technology in a healthy rather than unhealthy way is extremely promising.
Take for example, the feature that allows you to set a limit on the time you spend on YouTube per day and the fact that it works across both mobile and desktop. This would seem to be in conflict with all the efforts they have made up until now with the auto-play and related videos features to keep you on YouTube. Some how, someone at Google has finally recognised that perhaps the person who spends their entire day watching one video after another is actually not as valuable a user to them as the one that watches a healthier 1-2 hours per day is amazing to me.
Edit: I should add that while my hope is that ultimately Google's 'wellbeing' algorithm will align with my own internal one, I can see that the initial implementation doesn't quite go far enough. For example, I have a cronjob on my laptop that shuts it down every day at midnight. Google's equivalent is that the screen simply goes greyscale. I would prefer that my phone simply turns off no questions asked (I know that you can schedule your phone to turn off at a particular time but it gives a 30 second warning which is too easy to dismiss - and when you do dismiss it, no more shut down attempts are made). Hopefully, Google will open enough access to these features to developers so that users can have the kind of control over their own technology that they need.
- thankthunk 8y ago>I can't tell you how excited I am about this announcement. You are excited that google is going to continue to monitor and spy on their users? > Edit: I should add that while my hope is that ultimately Google's 'wellbeing' algorithm will align with my own internal one Why should everyone adhere to your "wellbeing"? > For example, I have a cronjob on my laptop that shuts it down every day at midnight. Are you incapable of just going to sleep? Do you really need a cronjob to shutdown your laptop? Why do you assume that your lack of self control projects to everyone else? Instead of looking to google or tech companies, why don't you develop self-control? Do you leave your TV on and then complain that broadcasters aren't coming to your home and turning it off for you? People like you scare me because you have a tyrannical mindset. The "everyone must be like me or they should all be forced to be like me" mindset.
- spuz 8y ago> You are excited that google is going to continue to monitor and spy on their users? No of course not. I'd rather they didn't spy on anyone. > Why should everyone adhere to your "wellbeing"? I don't want everyone to adhere to my definition of wellbeing. I am simply happy that Google are developing tools that I believe will help me personally. This has nothing to do with my expectations for everyone else. > Are you incapable of just going to sleep? Do you really need a cronjob to shutdown your laptop? Yes. > Why do you assume that your lack of self control projects to everyone else? I don't. > Instead of looking to google or tech companies, why don't you develop self-control? Do you leave your TV on and then complain that broadcasters aren't coming to your home and turning it off for you? Believe me I've tried. I meditate, I see a therapist, I get help from my social group, I have hobbies and relationships to occupy me. That doesn't mean I am not also addicted technology. > People like you scare me because you have a tyrannical mindset. The "everyone must be like me or they should all be forced to be like me" mindset. This is such a bizarre conclusion to me. Firstly, I don't really care what Google provide for anyone but me. I think this is exciting because I think I will find it useful. I haven't said anything about how I think it will cure societies ills or anything regarding how it will affect anyone but myself. Secondly, you realise that up until now Google's algorithms are tuned very specifically to increase the time you spend using their products. They use all kinds of psychological tricks to bypass your normal self control. The best thing Google could do for me is to stop using these tricks but unfortunately, that would probably cost them a lot of money. Instead, here they are providing help for people like me who need it while not changing the experience of their services for the rest. I don't see why it's tyrannical to want the services I choose to use to have the features I want in them.
- ssorallen 8y ago> Are you incapable of just going to sleep? Do you really need a cronjob to shutdown your laptop? Why do you assume that your lack of self control projects to everyone else? When the products we use every day like Facebook and YouTube capitalize on the same reward pathways in our brain that drugs do by pumping out little bursts of dopamine, we might not actually have as much of a conscious choice whether to use (or stop using) these products as we think we do. [The Hacking of the American Mind][0] is an interesting exploration into brain chemistry and just how addictive some of these products can be. There's some glimmer of hope for me that these addictive products are admitting just how addictive they are and are starting to offer ways to manage the addictions. [0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34237719-the-hacking-of-the-american-mind https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34237719-the-hacking-of-...
- some_account 8y agoGoogle is now your daddy and Facebook is your Mommy. They really do love you and wants what's best for you. Some of us choose the blue pill, others the red one.
- romanovcode 8y agoThis sure reads like a PR statement.