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The personal computing era happened partly because, while there were demands for computing, users' connectivity to the internet were poor or limited and so they
by wolpoli 11mo ago
The personal computing era happened partly because, while there were demands for computing, users' connectivity to the internet were poor or limited and so they couldn't just connect to the mainframe. We now have high speed internet access everywhere - I don't know what would drive the equivalent of the era of personal computing this time.
- almostnormal 11mo agoCentralized only became mainstream when everything started to be offered "for free". When it was buy or pay recurrently more often the choice was to buy.
- troupo 11mo agoThere are no longer options to buy. Everything is a subscription
- rightbyte 11mo agoBetween mobilephone service including SMS and an ISP service which usually include mail I don't see the need for any hosted service. There are FOSS alternatives for about everything for hobbyist and consumer use.
- api 11mo agoThere are no FOSS alternatives for consumer use unless the consumer is an IT pro or a developer. Regular people can’t use most open source software without help. Some of it, like Linux desktop stuff, has a nice enough UI that they can use it casually but they can’t install or configure or fix it. Making software that is polished and reliable and automatic enough that non computer people can use it is a lot harder than just making software. I’d say it’s usually many times harder.
- rightbyte 11mo agoI don't think that is a software issue but a social issue nowadays. FOSS alternatives have become quite OK in my opinion. If computers came with Debian, Firefox and Libre Office preinstalled instead of only W11, Edge and with some Office 365 trail, the relative difficulty would be gone I think. Same thing with most IT departments only dealing with Windows in professional settings. If you even are allowed to use something different you are on your own.
- torginus 11mo agoI think people have seen enough of this 'free' business model to know the things being sold for free are in fact, not.
- mlrtime 11mo agoSome people, but a majority see it as free. Go to your local town center and randomly poll people how much they pay for email or google search, 99% will say it is free and stop there.
- ruszki 11mo ago> We now have high speed internet access everywhere As I travel a ton, I can confidently tell you, that this is still not true at all, and I’m kinda disappointed that the general rule of optimizing for bad reception died.
- ChadNauseam 11mo agoI work on a local-first app for fun and someone told me I was simply creating problems for myself and I could just be using a server. But I'm in the same boat as you. I regularly don't have good internet and I'm always surprised when people act like an internet connection is a safe assumption. Even every day I go up and down an elevator where I have no internet, I travel regularly, I go to concerts and music festivals, and so on.
- sampullman 11mo agoI don't even travel that much, and still have trouble. Tethering at the local library or coffee shops is hit or miss, everything slows down during storms, etc.
- BoxOfRain 11mo ago> everything slows down during storms One problem I've found in my current house is that the connection becomes flakier in heavy rain, presumably due to poor connections between the cabinet and houses. I live in Cardiff which for those unaware is one of Britain's rainiest cities. Fun times.
- mlrtime 11mo agoNot true because of cost or access? If you consider starlink high speed, it truly is available everywhere.
- virgilp 11mo agoBecause of many reasons. It's not practical to have a Starlink antenna with you everywhere. And then yes, cost is a significant factor too - even in the dialup era satellite internet connection was a thing that existed "everywhere", in theory....
- Razengan 11mo ago> I don't know what would drive the equivalent of the era of personal computing this time. Space. You don't want to wait 3-22 minutes for a ping from Mars.
- AlecSchueler 11mo agoI'm not sure if the handful of people in space stations are a big enough market to drive such changes.
- threetonesun 11mo agoPrivacy. I absolutely will not ever open my personal files to an LLM over the web, and even with my mid-tier M4 Macbook I’m close to a point where I don’t have to. I wonder how much the cat is out of the back for private companies in this regard. I don’t believe the AI companies founded on stealing IP have stopped.
- AlecSchueler 11mo agoPrivacy is a niche concern sadly.
- jimbokun 11mo agoI believe Apple has made a significant number of iPhone sales due to a perception of better privacy than Android.
- AlecSchueler 11mo agoI believe you could be in a bubble.
- kakacik 11mo agoNot a single person I know that has any apple device would claim that, nobody cares or even knows in detail stuff we discuss here. Its HN bubble at its best. Another point is, subjectively, added privacy compared to say South Korean products is mostly a myth. It 100% doesn't apply if you are not US citizen and even then, fingers crossed all 3-letter agencies and device creator are not over-analyzing every single data point about you continuously, is naive. What may be better is devices are harder to steal & take ownership, but for that I would need to see some serious independent comparison, not some paid PR from which HN is not completely immune to.
- netdevphoenix 11mo ago> We now have high speed internet access everywhere This is such a HN comment illustrating how little your average HN knows of the world beyond their tech bubble. Internet everywhere, you might have something of a point. But "high speed internet access everywhere" sounds like "I haven't travelled much in my life".
- unethical_ban 11mo agoPrivacy, reliable access when not connected to the web, the principal of decentralizing for some. Less supply chain risk for private enterprise.