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Personally, I think democratizing technology is a really, really good thing. Sure, we have to suffer through things like Comic Sans abuse and crappy apps, but t

by jpadvo 16y ago

Personally, I think democratizing technology is a really, really good thing. Sure, we have to suffer through things like Comic Sans abuse and crappy apps, but that is a minuscule price to pay for increasing the creative freedom of humanity. That's fundamentally why we build new tools -- to increase the freedom of people to impact the world. [Edit: Just read the article you linked. Losing 27 pounds by eating twinkies? Priceless. :) ]

thetrumanshow 16y ago
You have taken the high ground sir. Therefore, I surrender. :)
kragen 16y ago
App stores do not democratize technology. App stores limit access to technology to Officially Approved Developers who don't piss off the platform owner.
- moxiemk1 16y ago
  Democratizing technology isn't fundamentally about Freedom and Openness and Fairness. It's about making technology useable by everyday people. You can do that by making everyone an engineer, or by placing arbitrary limits that increase the likelihood of people using the thing, or any number of ways. Limiting access to technology can absolutely democratize it.
- biot 16y ago
  The word app doesn't only refer to something in an app store. The article mentions "I'm talking small, stupid applications that serve no purpose other than to take up space in some app store or some .com". threewords.me is such an app that takes up a domain. "But last time I checked, companies started with one application, sold it, then made a few more" ... like 37signals and their apps.
redthrowaway 16y ago
I agree, and I'll go a step further, risking HN pariah status in doing so: Comic Sans is a Good Thing. That capitalization isn't accidental. It, and every other easy to [mis]use cute, fun, and simple thing we've seen in the last couple decades have been incredibly beneficial to the tech industry and humanity as a whole. When the Mac and Windows came around, a lot of "computer people" hated them. They were slow and inefficient, and hurt productivity. RMS still rarely uses a mouse. That's fine for people like us, but it isn't fine for people who use a computer to keep in touch with friends or make lost cat posters. And the simple fact is that there aren't that many people like us. Casual users are by far the largest demographic, and that expanded market has been a huge boon for us. The proliferation of "toy" apps is no different. By sending the message that "you too can make an app", we expand the market hugely. That helps everyone. So what if most apps are garbage? Most websites were garbage in the 90s, but without them we would never have had the Internet that we have today. We needed that huge variety of sites for people to think the marketplace was worthwhile. Now, the Internet is mature, and we almost accept as an inevitability that it should be that way. It wasn't. Without geocities, porn, and even AOL it would just be a graphical Usenet with 2% of its current users. We're in a Geocities phase right now. There's a proliferation of garbage filling up the mobile sphere. Without that garbage, however, the sphere would be much smaller. Eventually, professional companies will step in and improve overall quality, but we need size at the moment. It grows the market, and it's good for everyone.
- nnash 16y ago
  Comic Sans, "The Geocities of Typefaces"... Yeah has a nice ring to it.

by jpadvo 16y ago

thetrumanshow 16y ago

You have taken the high ground sir. Therefore, I surrender. :)

kragen 16y ago

App stores do not democratize technology. App stores limit access to technology to Officially Approved Developers who don't piss off the platform owner.

moxiemk1 16y ago
Democratizing technology isn't fundamentally about Freedom and Openness and Fairness. It's about making technology useable by everyday people. You can do that by making everyone an engineer, or by placing arbitrary limits that increase the likelihood of people using the thing, or any number of ways. Limiting access to technology can absolutely democratize it.
biot 16y ago
The word app doesn't only refer to something in an app store. The article mentions "I'm talking small, stupid applications that serve no purpose other than to take up space in some app store or some .com". threewords.me is such an app that takes up a domain. "But last time I checked, companies started with one application, sold it, then made a few more" ... like 37signals and their apps.

redthrowaway 16y ago

I agree, and I'll go a step further, risking HN pariah status in doing so: Comic Sans is a Good Thing. That capitalization isn't accidental. It, and every other easy to [mis]use cute, fun, and simple thing we've seen in the last couple decades have been incredibly beneficial to the tech industry and humanity as a whole. When the Mac and Windows came around, a lot of "computer people" hated them. They were slow and inefficient, and hurt productivity. RMS still rarely uses a mouse. That's fine for people like us, but it isn't fine for people who use a computer to keep in touch with friends or make lost cat posters. And the simple fact is that there aren't that many people like us. Casual users are by far the largest demographic, and that expanded market has been a huge boon for us. The proliferation of "toy" apps is no different. By sending the message that "you too can make an app", we expand the market hugely. That helps everyone. So what if most apps are garbage? Most websites were garbage in the 90s, but without them we would never have had the Internet that we have today. We needed that huge variety of sites for people to think the marketplace was worthwhile. Now, the Internet is mature, and we almost accept as an inevitability that it should be that way. It wasn't. Without geocities, porn, and even AOL it would just be a graphical Usenet with 2% of its current users. We're in a Geocities phase right now. There's a proliferation of garbage filling up the mobile sphere. Without that garbage, however, the sphere would be much smaller. Eventually, professional companies will step in and improve overall quality, but we need size at the moment. It grows the market, and it's good for everyone.

nnash 16y ago
Comic Sans, "The Geocities of Typefaces"... Yeah has a nice ring to it.