4 ms·

> Have we lost something? Where will future hackers get their inspiration from? Maybe a million different YouTube channels and proliferation of cheap ways to le

> Have we lost something? Where will future hackers get their inspiration from? Maybe a million different YouTube channels and proliferation of cheap ways to learn and tinker are fueling the next generation. Let’s hope so. I can watch rocket launches live streamed on a handheld device, then consume expert or very well informed layman analysis shortly afterwards. There’s probably 10 substacks for every scientific and engineering specialization written by experts. I can look up primary sources, even preprints, and aggregate a range of expert opinions on them. I can watch a million impeccably animated explainer videos on any topic. It’s harder to choose sources due to the plethora of choices, and the printed medium is tactile and nice, but in practically every other way now is vastly better!

musicale 3y ago
> It’s harder to choose sources due to the plethora of choices That's sort of why print magazines are/were helpful and approachable - they're an easy entry point with curation, discoverability, and an editorial staff. They're also somewhat self-contained rather than being an endless rabbit hole of attention-grabbing links (those generally being limited to the cover.) Arguably the best thing about HN and good aggregation blogs is that they provide curation and discoverability as well as some degree of editorial commentary. And hopefully they're not managed by attention-maximizing algorithms. The abundance of options and content - even if you were to limit yourself to a specific category, such as peer-reviewed articles in a particular field, or a particular medium, such as youtube videos - from online ources can be completely overwhelming.