4 ms·

It’s pretty amazing that we’re almost at the point where a single laptop computer with no internet connection can contain (1) most of humanity’s recorded knowle

by thorum 2y ago

It’s pretty amazing that we’re almost at the point where a single laptop computer with no internet connection can contain (1) most of humanity’s recorded knowledge and (2) an intelligence that can explain it to you.

dsr_ 2y ago
(2) assumes technology not in evidence, unless you have a really low threshold of "explain it to you". Like, "explains it as well as a person who doesn't know anything about it but is reading the wikipedia page". Like, "explains it but lies, and when you catch them at it, insists that they weren't lying". Like, "can't actually do math, but has had heard lots of math problems so they guess and hope you don't check on them". A sleazy marketer's idea of "explains it to you".
dingaling 2y ago
> (1) most of humanity’s recorded knowledge A lot of historical information on the Internet only scrape the top 50% of the knowledge on niche subjects, if even that. So often I see forum requests along the lines of "can someone scan page 242 of book X please".
kvark 2y ago
That’s a great business idea: sell a laptop survival kit for tough times.
- theamk 2y ago
  .. and to maximize profit, make it live-updateable and subscription-based. And don't forget periodic online license checks which are mandatory for app to run. /s
  - blitzar 2y ago
    You forgot the targetted ads, with the subscription tier to reduce it from 100 ads per page to just 10.
    - _heimdall 2y ago
      You also want to make sure you know exactly what your users are doing so you can offer the best experience. Include a key logger and a daemon to grab full screenshots every few seconds.
      - blitzar 2y ago
        Bring back some old school methods with a modern twist too - upload all your contacts. Instead of just emailing everyone inviting them to join and telling them which kind friend reccomended they join - use the birthday and home address information and send them real tangible marketing material for their birthday (+ on Anniversaries, Christmas, Easter and on any day ending with a "y").
        ashmelo 2y ago
        That's may need over million TB to collect all data, actually is there anyway to host they data without doing cloud or Hardiver things in the world?
- huevosabio 2y ago
  I actually really like this idea. Choose some reasonably good llm model + corpus of data to enhance the generation (e.g. wikipedia). Package it in a long-lasting battery, rough device. Think of a tablet/laptop you would take deep into the desert for a multi-week trip.
  - doubled112 2y ago
    A solar panel would be capable of charging a laptop. Perhaps one of those could be ruggedized along with the package.
- oaiey 2y ago
  Google: One Laptop per Child ;) replace education in places without electricity with survival in case of civilization end.
- emsign 2y ago
  Or a USB stick filled with knowledge and entertainment for a budget price.
  - robertlagrant 2y ago
    A USB stick with all public domain content would be amazing. New one each year; loads of stuff on it!
    - anticensor 2y ago
      You'd need a full size SSD (hundreds of terabytes), not a USB stick (2 terabytes today).
hyperific 2y ago
This reminds me of how the Cuban people get a weekly distillation of the internet from an external hard drive that gets passed around. https://www.wired.com/2017/07/inside-cubas-diy-internet-revolution/ https://www.wired.com/2017/07/inside-cubas-diy-internet-revo...
supportengineer 2y ago
It would be very interesting to package this as a machine to be deployed into the field without any supporting tech infrastructure. Picture an epoxy cube with a connection for a speaker, a microphone and power. And maybe a serial port. There’s no network connection because it’s designed to be off the grid and last for decades
- scionthefly 2y ago
  With a big friendly cover and the words "Don't Panic!"
- 1899-12-30 2y ago
  irl Standard Template Constructs
nine_k 2y ago
It's very far from all the humanity's accumulated knowledge. Wikipedia is but a digest of of the deeper end of science, and barely scratches the applied sciences that are required for the modern advanced technology. To preserve a copy of the humanity's recorded knowledge, you'd have to keep a copy of the library of Congress + archives of all scientific journals + arxiv.org, and equivalents of it for other languages, like Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Hindi,.. Then there is a ton of proprietary and sometimes secret information held by companies and crucial for their functioning.
- Gooblebrai 2y ago
  > applied sciences that are required for modern advanced technology. Where would you find this?

by thorum 2y ago

dsr_ 2y ago

(2) assumes technology not in evidence, unless you have a really low threshold of "explain it to you". Like, "explains it as well as a person who doesn't know anything about it but is reading the wikipedia page". Like, "explains it but lies, and when you catch them at it, insists that they weren't lying". Like, "can't actually do math, but has had heard lots of math problems so they guess and hope you don't check on them". A sleazy marketer's idea of "explains it to you".

dingaling 2y ago

> (1) most of humanity’s recorded knowledge A lot of historical information on the Internet only scrape the top 50% of the knowledge on niche subjects, if even that. So often I see forum requests along the lines of "can someone scan page 242 of book X please".

kvark 2y ago

That’s a great business idea: sell a laptop survival kit for tough times.

theamk 2y ago
.. and to maximize profit, make it live-updateable and subscription-based. And don't forget periodic online license checks which are mandatory for app to run. /s
- blitzar 2y ago
  You forgot the targetted ads, with the subscription tier to reduce it from 100 ads per page to just 10.
  - _heimdall 2y ago
    You also want to make sure you know exactly what your users are doing so you can offer the best experience. Include a key logger and a daemon to grab full screenshots every few seconds.
    - blitzar 2y ago
      Bring back some old school methods with a modern twist too - upload all your contacts. Instead of just emailing everyone inviting them to join and telling them which kind friend reccomended they join - use the birthday and home address information and send them real tangible marketing material for their birthday (+ on Anniversaries, Christmas, Easter and on any day ending with a "y").
      - ashmelo 2y ago
        That's may need over million TB to collect all data, actually is there anyway to host they data without doing cloud or Hardiver things in the world?
huevosabio 2y ago
I actually really like this idea. Choose some reasonably good llm model + corpus of data to enhance the generation (e.g. wikipedia). Package it in a long-lasting battery, rough device. Think of a tablet/laptop you would take deep into the desert for a multi-week trip.
- doubled112 2y ago
  A solar panel would be capable of charging a laptop. Perhaps one of those could be ruggedized along with the package.
oaiey 2y ago
Google: One Laptop per Child ;) replace education in places without electricity with survival in case of civilization end.
emsign 2y ago
Or a USB stick filled with knowledge and entertainment for a budget price.
- robertlagrant 2y ago
  A USB stick with all public domain content would be amazing. New one each year; loads of stuff on it!
  - anticensor 2y ago
    You'd need a full size SSD (hundreds of terabytes), not a USB stick (2 terabytes today).

hyperific 2y ago

This reminds me of how the Cuban people get a weekly distillation of the internet from an external hard drive that gets passed around. https://www.wired.com/2017/07/inside-cubas-diy-internet-revolution/ https://www.wired.com/2017/07/inside-cubas-diy-internet-revo...

supportengineer 2y ago

It would be very interesting to package this as a machine to be deployed into the field without any supporting tech infrastructure. Picture an epoxy cube with a connection for a speaker, a microphone and power. And maybe a serial port. There’s no network connection because it’s designed to be off the grid and last for decades

scionthefly 2y ago
With a big friendly cover and the words "Don't Panic!"
1899-12-30 2y ago
irl Standard Template Constructs

nine_k 2y ago

It's very far from all the humanity's accumulated knowledge. Wikipedia is but a digest of of the deeper end of science, and barely scratches the applied sciences that are required for the modern advanced technology. To preserve a copy of the humanity's recorded knowledge, you'd have to keep a copy of the library of Congress + archives of all scientific journals + arxiv.org, and equivalents of it for other languages, like Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Hindi,.. Then there is a ton of proprietary and sometimes secret information held by companies and crucial for their functioning.

Gooblebrai 2y ago
> applied sciences that are required for modern advanced technology. Where would you find this?