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I think this can't be much of a surprise. But perhaps in a HN context, maybe the follow-on questions should be: - has tech made things better or worse in recen
by abeppu 5y ago
I think this can't be much of a surprise.
But perhaps in a HN context, maybe the follow-on questions should be:
- has tech made things better or worse in recent years, and why?
- how could tech make things better?
For example, one might have thought the rise of mobile devices would let people be more ... mobile. "Previously I would have sat at my desk to do this task, but now I can walk to the park and do the same task." But that seems not to happen that much. Or one might suppose that wireless headsets and voice commands might lead to people being able to do stuff while walking etc. That also seems to not happen too much. When devices support our mobility, why do we feel such a powerful pull to sit on couches looking at phones?
And in a forward-looking way, though some people see opportunities for VR-based exercise, I gotta wonder how effective that will really be?
- MattGaiser 5y ago> When devices support our mobility, why do we feel such a powerful pull to sit on couches looking at phones? Because we always wanted to sit on the couch. Before it was to watch TV. Phones made moving around more possible, but we never wanted to do that in the first place.
- lkbm 5y agoI can tell you that when I played Ingress, I walked a fair bit more as a result. I also ran a lot, but tbh my runs would cut short because by mile ~10 my phone battery would be low.)
- nonameiguess 5y agoMobile devices are great for passively consuming content and recording your surroundings. For the most part, that is not what people are using computers for when they're using computers for work. They need keyboards and full-size displays and the ability to install software that doesn't come from Google's or Apple's walled gardens. Heck, mobile devices might make it worse by keeping you constantly connected, receiving work calls, e-mails, Slack notifications, all reminding you to stop doing physical activity and get back to your desk. They might also make it worse by the fact that you can passively consume content from them. It's not like you can just walk around or go for a run while watching episodes of your favorite show on your phone. You need to watch the road in front of you, which means you need to stop moving to watch something, which you can now do from anywhere instead of only when you're on your couch.
- closeparen 5y agoThe smart watch is pretty powerful for motivating and giving a sense of achievement to running. Google Maps and its transit directions make it fairly idiot-proof to navigate a city on your own two feet, assuming transit is decent. Not so much our kind of tech, but bicycle materials and components have advanced pretty rapidly I think.