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Ask HN: If not a bicycle for the mind then what?
Software was supposed to be a bicycle for the mind. Instead we got something else, what is the best analogy for "the thing" software actually became?
- meltyness 2y agoSomewhere between tv and an infinite filing cabinet for bureaucracies; not to mention the holy grail of false productivity for the NYSE-conscious, an 'activity treadmill' for rosters of highly-credentialed people to seem concerned about.
- cratermoon 2y agoSnake oil
- crowdhailer 2y agoonly snake oil?
- LinuxBender 2y agoSnake oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids so there is some benefit. It was just over-hyped by unscrupulous sales demons in that it doesn't cure baldness, liver disease, incontinence, erectile dysfunction, blindness, anxiety and surely does not attract the ladies even when mixed with horse urine. I wish I could somehow undo its bad reputation. A lot of software now is just colorful bloatware wrappers around existing software. Old stuff, found new money. I still can't wrap my head around the concept of phone apps. as in why they even exist in the first place. I've heard all the reasons but my mind can not accept any of them.
- muzani 2y agoSnake oil salesmen were also not selling actual snake oil most of the time. I think the analogy works.
- cratermoon 2y ago> It was just over-hyped by unscrupulous sales demons in that it doesn't cure baldness, liver disease, incontinence, erectile dysfunction, blindness, anxiety and surely does not attract the ladies even when mixed with horse urine. Just as LLMs have a useful niche but they are hyped as being able to cure baldness, liver disease, incontinence, erectile dysfunction, blindness, anxiety and surely and attract the ladies even when mixed with agentic tools. In medicine, it's a rule of thumb that if a product claims to cure a wide variety of things that have no common pathogenesis, the claims are bunk. In software, if a product claims to solve a variety of problems that have no common cause, those claims are bunk.
- k310 2y agoThe best analogy? opium. The only "beneficiaries" are the makers. So be a maker of great things. Every one of us can make software the great tool for empowerment and creativity that it was meant to be. To quote early Apple employee Guy Kawasaki: "Don't kvetch; Kick Butt" As to what technology wants: Ask Kevin Kelley This is the earlier version of what he wrote: https://kk.org/thetechnium/what-technology/ https://kk.org/thetechnium/what-technology/ But in short (summarized with human intelligence) Extrapolated, technology wants what life wants: Increasing efficiency Increasing opportunity Increasing emergence Increasing complexity Increasing diversity Increasing specialization Increasing ubiquity Increasing freedom Increasing mutualism Increasing beauty Increasing sentience Increasing structure Increasing evolvability
- linguae 2y agoThere’s a documentary that should be released soon named “Message Not Understood” that covers the history of personal computing, with a heavy emphasis on Xerox PARC and its contributions, and how modern computing has become less about user empowerment these days. There is a publicly-available trailer, and I’ve seen a 30-minute preview (disclaimer: I was one of the Kickstarter donors). https://messagenotunderstood.com/ https://messagenotunderstood.com/
- krapp 2y agoThere is no broad analogy for "software" because the concept is too general. Obviously, there are plenty of examples of software being a "bicycle for the mind," and plenty not.
- purple-leafy 2y agoMake your own software, and find yourself not wanting.
- rosy876 2y ago[dead]
- tacostakohashi 2y agoA hamster wheel for the mind. A tricycle with training wheels for the mind.