3 ms·

Many "engineer types" will gladly care about doorknobs and infrastructure details. There is ideological opposition against from business types and some other te

by watwut 3mo ago

Many "engineer types" will gladly care about doorknobs and infrastructure details. There is ideological opposition against from business types and some other tech types. > it's not the tech companies' fault that it's perennially underfunded, it's politicians and the voters who put them there. Tech companies pushed for exactly that outcome and spent a lot on lobbying and convincing. We totally can blame them for it.

thereisnospork 3mo ago
How are Tech companies fighting public transit? At least in these parts a relatively high fraction of their employees commute by (private) bus. I can only presume that Tech companies would prefer the government provide safe, clean, and timely bussing for the public to save the company the cost and effort.
- TulliusCicero 3mo ago
  They generally would, though for the most part I imagine they're just ambivalent here. As long as workers can get to work, that's most of what they care about.
- hamdingers 3mo ago
  Hyperloop and Boring Company were both created as distractions from real proven transit technologies, and the latter has been quite successful at getting rail projects cancelled or at least confusing politicians enough to delay them.
  - TulliusCicero 3mo ago
    So it's basically just Tesla/Musk here, when people say "tech companies"? Musk is an asshole, no argument there, but most tech company CEOs aren't nearly that crazy.
    - hamdingers 3mo ago
      No, I provided one particularly eggregious example. Uber/Lyft have also lobbied against transit. The Google shuttles OP alludes to interfered with real transit operations.
- roughly 3mo ago
  Every time a tech company lobbies against taxes, they’re fighting public transit. Every time they spend the exact same money they just argued shouldn’t go to the state on privatized busses, they’re fighting public transit.
TulliusCicero 3mo ago
> Many "engineer types" will gladly care about doorknobs and infrastructure details. Some will, and that's great, but as the blog post accurately points out, the invention of these things isn't the primary issue, it's the lack of implementation. And that isn't the fault of the engineers designing better doorknobs or ramps. > Tech companies pushed for exactly that outcome and spent a lot on lobbying and convincing. We totally can blame them for it. Bullshit. The US has had underfunded transit for near a century now because of our obsession with cars. Trying to blame this on tech companies is a lame excuse.
- bluefirebrand 3mo ago
  > Trying to blame this on tech companies is a lame excuse. Depends. Do car manufacturers count as tech companies? The obsession with cars and car infrastructure isn't accidental either, it's been manufactured and pushed heavily by car companies over decades. Same with the opposition to public transit. None of this stuff is happening 100% organically, it's being pushed by corporate interests via lobbying with government and funding advertising at individuals
  - SpicyLemonZest 3mo ago
    If someone watched a press video for the RAV4, and responded by saying "Toyota Motor Corporation Hates Me and You" and demanding that Toyota fix the bus routes in their city, I would think that's pretty silly. Everything's interrelated, and no consumer demand is 100% organic, but the linkage is just too remote to make sense.
    - inigyou 3mo ago
      It's literal, direct linkage. About a century ago, when cars were starting to become popular, car makers spent a shitload of money on bribes to city governments to make the cities only usable by car.
    - 8note 3mo ago
      toyota is a late comer though. "jaywalking" is a term made up by car companies because they hate you, as a better example
threatofrain 3mo ago
Better doorknobs? Better civil infrastructure? A lot of those companies in that space aren't even tech companies, even if they deal with tech. The companies he talks about have a Very different business culture, and thus a very different response to if an in-house tech person wanted to do anything, really.

by watwut 3mo ago

thereisnospork 3mo ago

How are Tech companies fighting public transit? At least in these parts a relatively high fraction of their employees commute by (private) bus. I can only presume that Tech companies would prefer the government provide safe, clean, and timely bussing for the public to save the company the cost and effort.

TulliusCicero 3mo ago
They generally would, though for the most part I imagine they're just ambivalent here. As long as workers can get to work, that's most of what they care about.
hamdingers 3mo ago
Hyperloop and Boring Company were both created as distractions from real proven transit technologies, and the latter has been quite successful at getting rail projects cancelled or at least confusing politicians enough to delay them.
- TulliusCicero 3mo ago
  So it's basically just Tesla/Musk here, when people say "tech companies"? Musk is an asshole, no argument there, but most tech company CEOs aren't nearly that crazy.
  - hamdingers 3mo ago
    No, I provided one particularly eggregious example. Uber/Lyft have also lobbied against transit. The Google shuttles OP alludes to interfered with real transit operations.
roughly 3mo ago
Every time a tech company lobbies against taxes, they’re fighting public transit. Every time they spend the exact same money they just argued shouldn’t go to the state on privatized busses, they’re fighting public transit.

TulliusCicero 3mo ago

> Many "engineer types" will gladly care about doorknobs and infrastructure details. Some will, and that's great, but as the blog post accurately points out, the invention of these things isn't the primary issue, it's the lack of implementation. And that isn't the fault of the engineers designing better doorknobs or ramps. > Tech companies pushed for exactly that outcome and spent a lot on lobbying and convincing. We totally can blame them for it. Bullshit. The US has had underfunded transit for near a century now because of our obsession with cars. Trying to blame this on tech companies is a lame excuse.

bluefirebrand 3mo ago
> Trying to blame this on tech companies is a lame excuse. Depends. Do car manufacturers count as tech companies? The obsession with cars and car infrastructure isn't accidental either, it's been manufactured and pushed heavily by car companies over decades. Same with the opposition to public transit. None of this stuff is happening 100% organically, it's being pushed by corporate interests via lobbying with government and funding advertising at individuals
- SpicyLemonZest 3mo ago
  If someone watched a press video for the RAV4, and responded by saying "Toyota Motor Corporation Hates Me and You" and demanding that Toyota fix the bus routes in their city, I would think that's pretty silly. Everything's interrelated, and no consumer demand is 100% organic, but the linkage is just too remote to make sense.
  - inigyou 3mo ago
    It's literal, direct linkage. About a century ago, when cars were starting to become popular, car makers spent a shitload of money on bribes to city governments to make the cities only usable by car.
  - 8note 3mo ago
    toyota is a late comer though. "jaywalking" is a term made up by car companies because they hate you, as a better example

threatofrain 3mo ago

Better doorknobs? Better civil infrastructure? A lot of those companies in that space aren't even tech companies, even if they deal with tech. The companies he talks about have a Very different business culture, and thus a very different response to if an in-house tech person wanted to do anything, really.