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Normal people bristle at restrictions they run into -- but also apps that take advantage of the freedoms granted them. The early value of browsers and AJAX was
by akkartik 4y ago
Normal people bristle at restrictions they run into -- but also apps that take advantage of the freedoms granted them. The early value of browsers and AJAX was precisely that the browser was locked down. "Nothing to install" is valuable because of this. So I think both of you can be right. "Buying devices because it's locked down" only seems disingenuous if the locking down is for oneself.
- rfoo 4y agoIf the user can choose to unlock their devices, it's the users themselves locking down the device and it makes sense to say "Buying devices because it's locked down / can be locked down". Otherwise, it's not "Buying devices because it's locked down", it's "I have no other choice but buying locked down devices". The browser is something running on top of an open general purpose computing device. In this case, it's the user (who decided to run a browser instead of native apps) decided to lock themselves down and it's totally different.
- akkartik 4y agoSure. You're not disagreeing. People want control and people want safety without having to think about it all the time. I think we haven't found the best technical solution to this tension, and we're stuck on a local optimum of "ignorance is bliss." Ideal would be something people can learn at their own pace over time -- and still not think about most of the time. You know, what the word "abstraction" is supposed to mean.