4 ms·
> we are going to have our own "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." moment that people will link to for years to come. That quote is a product of its
by throwawaymath 8y ago
> we are going to have our own "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." moment that people will link to for years to come.
That quote is a product of its time, and only seems foolish or misguided with the benefit of hindsight. There is no shame in skepticism, even if it ultimately ends up being incorrect (likewise I'd have no misgivings about making a wrong decision rationally). There is also an element of survivorship bias: many such quotes about things which did fail were wagered on similar amounts of information, but have since fallen into obscurity. I don't think it's fair to call the author of that quote a Luddite.
Speaking as someone well acquainted with the technicalities of distributed systems and cryptography, I am deeply skeptical of blockchain technology. I think the vast majority (but not all) of it is "lame"[1], for lack of a better word. I would happily accept being quoted for a decade or two if I'm wrong.
___________________________
1. I'm skeptical for reasons I'm not going to try to defend, because they've been rehashed on Hacker News over and over. The justifications will likely not convince anyone who remains unconvinced.
- albedoa 8y ago> That quote is a product of its time, and only seems foolish or misguided with the benefit of hindsight. "Only"? There were top-level comments in that very thread [1] that pointed out why it was misguided and foolish. Hindsight is not the requirement that some want it to be. 1. https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-ipod https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-i...
- dingaling 8y agoYet wireless and large capacity proved, in the long run, to be exactly what the market wanted and Apple had to incorporate those features into later iPods.
- kemiller 8y agoI think that’s sort of OP’s point. The criticisms that come up may be valid, but that doesn’t mean the whole enterprise is doomed.
- rdiddly 8y agoThe other thing is, something can be both lame and popular. Its popularity doesn't somehow magically erase its shortcomings.
- Skunkleton 8y agoThe reverse can also be true. Zune for life.
- jjeaff 8y agoI still think the Zune is a superior product. Great build quality, software layout was great and I think most people that put them side by side would agree. But network effects are very strong.
- raverbashing 8y agoAlso the success of the iPod want a product of only the iPod but also of iTunes (store)