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So this is semantic sugar for selecting text then pasting into chatGPT interface? What real advantage does it offer other than saving a click or two?

by r00fus 2y ago

dewey 2y ago
A lot of products are "semantic sugar" for saving a click or two. It's a big difference if something is included in an OS or app vs having to know about it, switch context to it and using it every time. Would you use reader mode if you always had to switch to another app and paste the content? Would you use bookmarks as often if you have to click 4 times instead of dragging it into the menu bar? This applies for this AI feature, but also for any other feature in general.
- djmips 2y ago
  It's true - for example for Chrome built in Google image search gets used way more than the old way of copying and pasting an image to another tab.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > Would you use reader mode if you always had to switch to another app and paste the content? I don't use reader mode to begin with. > Would you use bookmarks as often if you have to click 4 times instead of dragging it into the menu bar? Absolutely -- that's what I currently do. I don't keep my bookmarks in the browser, because I want to be able to access them from any browser from anywhere. So I use an independent bookmark server instead. Adding a new bookmark takes three clicks (four if I have to manually browse to my server first). It's a minor inconvenience that the benefits more than compensate for.
  - dewey 2y ago
    The point is not that nobody ever would reach to other workflows but that the majority of people will stick the defaults (https://www.nngroup.com/articles/the-power-of-defaults/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/the-power-of-defaults/) and also don't install a lot of third party apps. HN is of course a very different bubble and very different to how regular people use computers or the internet.
    - JohnFen 2y ago
      Sure, but the question was posed to the readership here, not to the general public, so I answered.

So this is semantic sugar for selecting text then pasting into chatGPT interface? What real advantage does it offer other than saving a click or two?

by r00fus 2y ago

So this is semantic sugar for selecting text then pasting into chatGPT interface? What real advantage does it offer other than saving a click or two?

dewey 2y ago

A lot of products are "semantic sugar" for saving a click or two. It's a big difference if something is included in an OS or app vs having to know about it, switch context to it and using it every time. Would you use reader mode if you always had to switch to another app and paste the content? Would you use bookmarks as often if you have to click 4 times instead of dragging it into the menu bar? This applies for this AI feature, but also for any other feature in general.

djmips 2y ago
It's true - for example for Chrome built in Google image search gets used way more than the old way of copying and pasting an image to another tab.
JohnFen 2y ago
> Would you use reader mode if you always had to switch to another app and paste the content? I don't use reader mode to begin with. > Would you use bookmarks as often if you have to click 4 times instead of dragging it into the menu bar? Absolutely -- that's what I currently do. I don't keep my bookmarks in the browser, because I want to be able to access them from any browser from anywhere. So I use an independent bookmark server instead. Adding a new bookmark takes three clicks (four if I have to manually browse to my server first). It's a minor inconvenience that the benefits more than compensate for.
- dewey 2y ago
  The point is not that nobody ever would reach to other workflows but that the majority of people will stick the defaults (https://www.nngroup.com/articles/the-power-of-defaults/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/the-power-of-defaults/) and also don't install a lot of third party apps. HN is of course a very different bubble and very different to how regular people use computers or the internet.
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    Sure, but the question was posed to the readership here, not to the general public, so I answered.