6 ms·

> We really are seeing massive amounts of innovation in the economy that improve people's lives Name some? The issues people care most about atm seem to be ge

by dartos 2y ago

> We really are seeing massive amounts of innovation in the economy that improve people's lives Name some? The issues people care most about atm seem to be getting worse (housing prices, cost of living, etc)

bluGill 2y ago
Cell phones are getting better. There are lots of websites on the internet. Batteries are getting better. Cars are getting better. It is very common to focus on some large things that are bad and think that is the big picture without considering how much all the little things really add up to.
- wizzwizz4 2y ago
  All cell phones in my price range now have buggy firmware: this did not used to be the case. Good websites are much harder to find than they were in 2014. Cars are bigger and scarier and more numerous than ever before. There are things that are better, but "batteries" is the only one from your list that I agree with.
  - hparadiz 2y ago
    I just picked up a $200 oneplus just for work accounts. It's completely fine. No lag. No issues. Zero bugs so far. 10 years ago were using what? Android 4 and iOS 6?
- j33zusjuice 2y ago
  It’s also very common to be delusional.
  - shermantanktop 2y ago
    But not us, of course. That couldn’t happen to us. It’s those other people.
- dpassens 2y ago
  Are better cell phones making everyone's life better? I am doing nothing on my current smartphone that I didn't do on my first. I'm not even sure if I'm charging it less often. I guess the camera is a little better.
  - photonthug 2y ago
    > I guess the camera is a little better. Like many of the other items on the list, it’s a change that few people actually asked for and it’s more in the name of surveillance capitalism than consumer preferences or consumer choice. Sure, social media can con children into thinking they need this. And after it’s normalized then adults might point it out as an improvement, but in the end it’s part of why the “improved” phone takes more hours of labor to pay for and the consumer has fewer options than ever with an illusion of more choice.
    - dpassens 2y ago
      Oh, definitely. I just wanted to list the one improvement I have actually used, even if I didn't actually need it.
- Cumpiler69 2y ago
  >Cars are getting better. And expensive that , at least in Europe, nobody is buying them anymore so the industry is going through layoffs.
  - adamc 2y ago
    It's a problem in the US as well. New cars are basically too expensive for most people to afford.
    - lupusreal 2y ago
      And it's no longer even legal to make basic cars without luxury toys like built in screens. Oh I'm sorry, I mean ""essential safety features"", that we managed to get on fine without only a few years ago.
      - massysett 2y ago
        True, we did get along fine without them, but at the cost of injury, death, and property damage. "Backover crashes" cause hundreds of deaths in the US each year. https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/13237-parents_guide_playing_it_safe_tagged.pdf https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/13237-... Add the backup camera to the improved restraints, the collision warning system, the blind-spot monitor . . . and soon you're talking about some real money. One can argue about whether this is good or bad, but they're not really luxury toys.
        lupusreal 2y ago
        "Hundreds" in a country with hundreds of millions of people is inconsequential. The vast majority of people never backed over anybody because they used tricks called looking around and situational awareness. Techno gadgets meant to solve non-problems are toys in my books.
        adamc 2y ago
        They are certainly luxuries, given that we were willing to drive without them.
- adamc 2y ago
  I don't really care a lot about any of those. I'm a lot more interested in relationships with people, the state of the environment, and general happiness. A better cell phone has never made more than the most marginal difference in my happiness.
- tomcar288 2y ago
  what good is it if you have a ton of gadgets and iphones all over the place but no place to live? I'd take a home with a bed over all the gadgets in the world, if i could only choose 1. it's a fact that the housing standard of living has gone down for the last 26 years. See this graph: Nominal gpd per capita / case shiller housing index. and you'll see it's down 34% over the last 26 years!
- dartos 2y ago
  Incremental improvements I don’t think counts as the innovation you were hinting at. Especially not when both phone manufacturers and car manufacturers are engaging in more and more rent seeking behavior

by dartos 2y ago

bluGill 2y ago

Cell phones are getting better. There are lots of websites on the internet. Batteries are getting better. Cars are getting better. It is very common to focus on some large things that are bad and think that is the big picture without considering how much all the little things really add up to.

wizzwizz4 2y ago
All cell phones in my price range now have buggy firmware: this did not used to be the case. Good websites are much harder to find than they were in 2014. Cars are bigger and scarier and more numerous than ever before. There are things that are better, but "batteries" is the only one from your list that I agree with.
- hparadiz 2y ago
  I just picked up a $200 oneplus just for work accounts. It's completely fine. No lag. No issues. Zero bugs so far. 10 years ago were using what? Android 4 and iOS 6?
j33zusjuice 2y ago
It’s also very common to be delusional.
- shermantanktop 2y ago
  But not us, of course. That couldn’t happen to us. It’s those other people.
dpassens 2y ago
Are better cell phones making everyone's life better? I am doing nothing on my current smartphone that I didn't do on my first. I'm not even sure if I'm charging it less often. I guess the camera is a little better.
- photonthug 2y ago
  > I guess the camera is a little better. Like many of the other items on the list, it’s a change that few people actually asked for and it’s more in the name of surveillance capitalism than consumer preferences or consumer choice. Sure, social media can con children into thinking they need this. And after it’s normalized then adults might point it out as an improvement, but in the end it’s part of why the “improved” phone takes more hours of labor to pay for and the consumer has fewer options than ever with an illusion of more choice.
  - dpassens 2y ago
    Oh, definitely. I just wanted to list the one improvement I have actually used, even if I didn't actually need it.
Cumpiler69 2y ago
>Cars are getting better. And expensive that , at least in Europe, nobody is buying them anymore so the industry is going through layoffs.
- adamc 2y ago
  It's a problem in the US as well. New cars are basically too expensive for most people to afford.
  - lupusreal 2y ago
    And it's no longer even legal to make basic cars without luxury toys like built in screens. Oh I'm sorry, I mean ""essential safety features"", that we managed to get on fine without only a few years ago.
    - massysett 2y ago
      True, we did get along fine without them, but at the cost of injury, death, and property damage. "Backover crashes" cause hundreds of deaths in the US each year. https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/13237-parents_guide_playing_it_safe_tagged.pdf https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/13237-... Add the backup camera to the improved restraints, the collision warning system, the blind-spot monitor . . . and soon you're talking about some real money. One can argue about whether this is good or bad, but they're not really luxury toys.
      - lupusreal 2y ago
        "Hundreds" in a country with hundreds of millions of people is inconsequential. The vast majority of people never backed over anybody because they used tricks called looking around and situational awareness. Techno gadgets meant to solve non-problems are toys in my books.
      - adamc 2y ago
        They are certainly luxuries, given that we were willing to drive without them.
adamc 2y ago
I don't really care a lot about any of those. I'm a lot more interested in relationships with people, the state of the environment, and general happiness. A better cell phone has never made more than the most marginal difference in my happiness.
tomcar288 2y ago
what good is it if you have a ton of gadgets and iphones all over the place but no place to live? I'd take a home with a bed over all the gadgets in the world, if i could only choose 1. it's a fact that the housing standard of living has gone down for the last 26 years. See this graph: Nominal gpd per capita / case shiller housing index. and you'll see it's down 34% over the last 26 years!
dartos 2y ago
Incremental improvements I don’t think counts as the innovation you were hinting at. Especially not when both phone manufacturers and car manufacturers are engaging in more and more rent seeking behavior