4 ms·

> That might be the case economically, but this isn't the future that I or end users want It might not be the future you or I want, but it is the future that t

> That might be the case economically, but this isn't the future that I or end users want It might not be the future you or I want, but it is the future that the majority of end users want. Market forces don't always work for getting users what they want (see privacy) but in this case the money is talking. Slack's desktop app is a classic example of being a memory hog, but Slack has been enormously successful.

userbinator 7y ago
"want", for sufficiently well-chosen values of "want." ;-) Every time you hear someone complain about how their new PC is so slow to do $trivial_task, think again. Most users unfortunately don't know any better, nor have the inclination to teach themselves to.
- paulryanrogers 7y ago
  This reminds me of the 'dir' test my friends and I used to gauge computer speed in the DOS era. Listing directories was so common its speed was easy to notice and compare to other machines. Modern OS's don't really have an equivalent to that. Probably because usage has become more fragmented.
kelnos 7y ago
A regular user certainly isn't going to say "I want my Slack app to be built with a lean framework that uses less resources". But they very well might say "It's really frustrating that my new computer is so sluggish all the time", without knowing why.
- mrec 7y ago
  There seems to be an opportunity here for platform vendors like Microsoft or Apple to be a bit more aggressive about "this application is what's slowing you down" notifications. (With the ability for the user to say "yes, I'm editing a 4-hour movie, don't warn me about this app again".) Don't Apple already do something similar for battery hogs? May be misremembering, but I'd have thought a similar principle applied. Half the challenge of course would be dissuading the vendor from excluding their own apps from these notifications.
  - dotancohen 7y ago
    > There seems to be an opportunity here for platform vendors like Microsoft > or Apple to be a bit more aggressive about "this application is what's > slowing you down" notifications. Once I wanted my desktop's features in a phone. Now I want my phone's features on my desktop.
  - ilikehurdles 7y ago
    Microsoft did something similar for every browser that wasn't Edge. But yes, on OS X, the battery drop-down will list any apps that are consuming significant amounts of energy. For me these are constantly Chrome and Intellij IDEA.
    - AlchemistCamp 7y ago
      > For me these are constantly Chrome and Intellij IDEA. Well, JetBrains is one of few choices that's even more of a hog than Atom.
      - pjmlp 7y ago
        Does Atom provide a GUI, ER or UML designer out of the box?
        AlchemistCamp 7y ago
        I don't know. Atom is too slow for me as well. I generally use VS Code or just VIM.

userbinator 7y ago

"want", for sufficiently well-chosen values of "want." ;-) Every time you hear someone complain about how their new PC is so slow to do $trivial_task, think again. Most users unfortunately don't know any better, nor have the inclination to teach themselves to.

paulryanrogers 7y ago
This reminds me of the 'dir' test my friends and I used to gauge computer speed in the DOS era. Listing directories was so common its speed was easy to notice and compare to other machines. Modern OS's don't really have an equivalent to that. Probably because usage has become more fragmented.

kelnos 7y ago

A regular user certainly isn't going to say "I want my Slack app to be built with a lean framework that uses less resources". But they very well might say "It's really frustrating that my new computer is so sluggish all the time", without knowing why.

mrec 7y ago
There seems to be an opportunity here for platform vendors like Microsoft or Apple to be a bit more aggressive about "this application is what's slowing you down" notifications. (With the ability for the user to say "yes, I'm editing a 4-hour movie, don't warn me about this app again".) Don't Apple already do something similar for battery hogs? May be misremembering, but I'd have thought a similar principle applied. Half the challenge of course would be dissuading the vendor from excluding their own apps from these notifications.
- dotancohen 7y ago
  > There seems to be an opportunity here for platform vendors like Microsoft > or Apple to be a bit more aggressive about "this application is what's > slowing you down" notifications. Once I wanted my desktop's features in a phone. Now I want my phone's features on my desktop.
- ilikehurdles 7y ago
  Microsoft did something similar for every browser that wasn't Edge. But yes, on OS X, the battery drop-down will list any apps that are consuming significant amounts of energy. For me these are constantly Chrome and Intellij IDEA.
  - AlchemistCamp 7y ago
    > For me these are constantly Chrome and Intellij IDEA. Well, JetBrains is one of few choices that's even more of a hog than Atom.
    - pjmlp 7y ago
      Does Atom provide a GUI, ER or UML designer out of the box?
      - AlchemistCamp 7y ago
        I don't know. Atom is too slow for me as well. I generally use VS Code or just VIM.