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> Tech is still really cool, compared to decades ago I think a huge factor I haven't seen mentioned is continuous delivery. How often were new operating system

> Tech is still really cool, compared to decades ago I think a huge factor I haven't seen mentioned is continuous delivery. How often were new operating systems released? How often were new products announced? When you bought software, the devs would be hard at work working on the next version with the incentive to make it good enough that people would buy again. Now software is continually released. "Major" updates are expected every year, and they're often free and people are expected to upgrade. Subscription models have rolled out, so while directly interacting with your customer probably leads to a better product, there's less incentive to re-invent the wheel - you don't need to upsell all your previous clients. I would assume that all of this is leading to better products, but all of the baby steps make it all seem so lacklustre. For example, compare the iPhone 13 Pro's camera to, say, the iPhone 8's camera. Had Apple waited 5 years to release the upgrade, the new camera would have blown. peoples. freaking. minds. However, since it's been getting slightly better each year, we instead have people complaining about how the only difference is a slightly better camera.

csande17 5y ago
I am skeptical that, particularly in software, rolling releases are a net improvement. If users are locked into subscription services or monetized via data collection, version N+1 no longer needs to be better than version N for the company to keep making money. (In fact, it can be worse, if users are sufficiently locked in via network services or app/plugin ecosystems.)
randomdata 5y ago
I think you're right. A decade ago the hype behind the self-driving car made it sound pretty cool. The closer we get to having them, the more boring the idea seems. Each new model with improved driver assistance is just a small improvement over the previous model. When a true fully autonomous model lands, it too will just be a small improvement over the previous year's model, which will be almost fully autonomous. The day you can go down to the dealer's lot and buy a self-driving car for the first time will be a fairly uneventful day. Like you say, in the days of yore the product cycles were long. It was many years between updates. The innovation that took place over that long period was significant, so it was much more wowing when all that behind the scenes work appeared in view.

csande17 5y ago

I am skeptical that, particularly in software, rolling releases are a net improvement. If users are locked into subscription services or monetized via data collection, version N+1 no longer needs to be better than version N for the company to keep making money. (In fact, it can be worse, if users are sufficiently locked in via network services or app/plugin ecosystems.)

randomdata 5y ago

I think you're right. A decade ago the hype behind the self-driving car made it sound pretty cool. The closer we get to having them, the more boring the idea seems. Each new model with improved driver assistance is just a small improvement over the previous model. When a true fully autonomous model lands, it too will just be a small improvement over the previous year's model, which will be almost fully autonomous. The day you can go down to the dealer's lot and buy a self-driving car for the first time will be a fairly uneventful day. Like you say, in the days of yore the product cycles were long. It was many years between updates. The innovation that took place over that long period was significant, so it was much more wowing when all that behind the scenes work appeared in view.