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Why stop at computers? Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, and every other power tool uses its own proprietary battery connector. Why stop at DC power? Last I checked

by ken 7y ago

Why stop at computers? Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, and every other power tool uses its own proprietary battery connector. Why stop at DC power? Last I checked, Germany, France, England, Italy, and many of the smaller countries all had their own AC power connectors. Why stop at hardware? iMessage, Hangouts, Messenger, Slack, and all the rest use their own proprietary interfaces. I still can't even save "a spreadsheet" in one program and reliably open it in another. I can put any bit in any drill, and any blade in any saw, but as soon as electricity gets involved, everything gets stupid. A lot of programmers say they're interested in "visualization", but visualization was the default state of the world before electrons got involved. Most programmers use the invisible nature of software to disguise the proprietary and incompatible interfaces they're creating. I hear a lot of developers complain about how their Mac laptop is no longer expandable or upgradeable, and then they turn around and use it to write a web app which uses a custom client-server interface with no public API or import/export. An industry is only anti-consumer when I'm the consumer.

wang_li 7y ago
> iMessage, Hangouts, Messenger, Slack, and all the rest use their own proprietary interfaces. For a certain core level of functionality, there should be regulations and laws in place that these apps all support a public and open protocol. They can have their own, but I should be able to use imessage to send an IM to skype on the desktop. This is no different than requiring standard signalling on the wires during the era of landlines. > I still can't even save "a spreadsheet" in one program and reliably open it in another. This becomes more difficult when a spreadsheet could be the latest version of excel v. a hobby project on github. Though I expect the vast majority of spreadsheet applications will export a csv.
- JoeAltmaier 7y ago
  I spent 8 years in a 'startup' trying to make collaboration into a service. Couldn't get any traction. The idea of always-on collaboration services was hard for folks. They would launch the service, have a 1-hour meeting, and kill the service. With no expectation of available clients it was hard to market APIs to talk with non-existant clients. Sigh.
- jefftk 7y ago
  > For a certain core level of functionality, there should be regulations and laws in place that these apps all support a public and open protocol. They can have their own, but I should be able to use imessage to send an IM to skype on the desktop. Historically, open protocols like this have had a major issue with spam. How does the Skype network verify that the iMessage IM is legitimate? What about the incoming IM from the TotallyNotAFrontForSpammers service? Email is pretty much the only fully open federated push protocol, and it is only able to handle spam via complex reputation based hacks and message inspection (which is a poor fit for IM). This is no different than requiring standard signalling on the wires during the era of landlines. With the level of spam phone calls I get these days, you may see why I'm not excited about using the phone system as a model!
gonzo 7y ago
> I can put any bit in any drill, and any blade in any saw, Not really, no. Try fitting a bit with a 1/2” shank into your typical consumer battery-powered drill.
9HZZRfNlpR 7y ago
AC wall plugs all work with each other besides the UK.
- ken 7y ago
  How’s that? We don’t agree on voltage. Japan alone uses two different frequencies!
- dzhiurgis 7y ago
  You can insert European plug in to UK socket if you stick scissors into ground pin hole which unlocks the curtains for main pins. Probably one of the worst safety features with unintended consequences...
fierarul 7y ago
> Why stop at computers? Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, and every other power tool uses its own proprietary battery connector. This is a good idea too. Lots of industries 'differentiate' only to lock-in users. There is no technical reason these connectors need to be different.
dublin 7y ago
FWIW, batteries period may be the wrong technology for most users of these devices. Personally, I'd happily trade the need to have multiple battery packs with long charging times for ultracapacitor powered tools that might not run as long, but could be recharged to full power in seconds. Cost really might not prohibitively higher since you wouldn't need so many of the battery packs anyhow, and chargers could readily be run off of either wall current or your car/truck.

by ken 7y ago

wang_li 7y ago

> iMessage, Hangouts, Messenger, Slack, and all the rest use their own proprietary interfaces. For a certain core level of functionality, there should be regulations and laws in place that these apps all support a public and open protocol. They can have their own, but I should be able to use imessage to send an IM to skype on the desktop. This is no different than requiring standard signalling on the wires during the era of landlines. > I still can't even save "a spreadsheet" in one program and reliably open it in another. This becomes more difficult when a spreadsheet could be the latest version of excel v. a hobby project on github. Though I expect the vast majority of spreadsheet applications will export a csv.

JoeAltmaier 7y ago
I spent 8 years in a 'startup' trying to make collaboration into a service. Couldn't get any traction. The idea of always-on collaboration services was hard for folks. They would launch the service, have a 1-hour meeting, and kill the service. With no expectation of available clients it was hard to market APIs to talk with non-existant clients. Sigh.
jefftk 7y ago
> For a certain core level of functionality, there should be regulations and laws in place that these apps all support a public and open protocol. They can have their own, but I should be able to use imessage to send an IM to skype on the desktop. Historically, open protocols like this have had a major issue with spam. How does the Skype network verify that the iMessage IM is legitimate? What about the incoming IM from the TotallyNotAFrontForSpammers service? Email is pretty much the only fully open federated push protocol, and it is only able to handle spam via complex reputation based hacks and message inspection (which is a poor fit for IM). This is no different than requiring standard signalling on the wires during the era of landlines. With the level of spam phone calls I get these days, you may see why I'm not excited about using the phone system as a model!

gonzo 7y ago

> I can put any bit in any drill, and any blade in any saw, Not really, no. Try fitting a bit with a 1/2” shank into your typical consumer battery-powered drill.

9HZZRfNlpR 7y ago

AC wall plugs all work with each other besides the UK.

ken 7y ago
How’s that? We don’t agree on voltage. Japan alone uses two different frequencies!
dzhiurgis 7y ago
You can insert European plug in to UK socket if you stick scissors into ground pin hole which unlocks the curtains for main pins. Probably one of the worst safety features with unintended consequences...

fierarul 7y ago

> Why stop at computers? Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, and every other power tool uses its own proprietary battery connector. This is a good idea too. Lots of industries 'differentiate' only to lock-in users. There is no technical reason these connectors need to be different.

dublin 7y ago

FWIW, batteries period may be the wrong technology for most users of these devices. Personally, I'd happily trade the need to have multiple battery packs with long charging times for ultracapacitor powered tools that might not run as long, but could be recharged to full power in seconds. Cost really might not prohibitively higher since you wouldn't need so many of the battery packs anyhow, and chargers could readily be run off of either wall current or your car/truck.