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Contact tracing apps were NEVER going to work. There are numerous fundamental technical problems but those aren’t even worth getting into, because people won’t
by cwhiz 6y ago
Contact tracing apps were NEVER going to work. There are numerous fundamental technical problems but those aren’t even worth getting into, because people won’t use this shit.
Smartphone contact tracing is an absurd silver bullet pipe dream from a bunch of hammers who see the world as full of nails. It won’t work, can’t work, and will not ever work.
How much more effort are people going to waste on this?? Every time this comes up on HN the horde mass downvotes anyone who dares to dissent. It’s been almost five months now.
- junipertea 6y agoCan you name those fundamental technical problems? From my understanding, the problems are adoption and states being slow in implementing the apps. I don’t have any exact numbers, but I would say even with some false positives it will be much more directed unlike testing everyone daily.
- toyg 6y agoI agree that it won’t work in Europe or the US and it was absurdly over-hyped, but mobile-based helpers have been effective in Asia. The critical difference is that Asian countries can mandate this sort of thing, since their populations seem to be culturally more willing to accept a higher degree of illiberal state control over their lives (for the good of society at large). If the app had to be installed and configured in every smartphone sold, and you were forced to show it to police spot-checks on the streets, adoption rates wouldn’t be a problem. This is obviously unfeasible and undesirable in most Western countries (at the moment...) so we’re left with a voluntary scheme that is only as effective as typical voluntary schemes (i.e. not much).
- fomine3 6y agoGrouping as "Asisan countries" is wrong.