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I don't think the advice is valid because it comes from a place of dogmatic declaration I hear this from people once in a while, so I've been trying to watch m

I don't think the advice is valid because it comes from a place of dogmatic declaration I hear this from people once in a while, so I've been trying to watch my tone when I say and write stuff. The thing is, I don't mean to be dogmatic (and it's not how things sound in my head). These are my truths that I discovered, and things I try to look out for. When people find a different set of truths that work for them -- that's absolutely wonderful. I always try to learn from others, and try to never make prescriptive statements. I really should learn what about my tone makes it come off prescriptive and dogmatic, and then not do that. 'cperciva's startup, Tarsnap, is not something I'd say "augments the human condition for a huge number of people in a meaningful way" On the contrary, I would say it does. It lets people store their data and have a complete peace of mind -- people can be secure in knowledge that others won't read it. It changes how people feel as they walk about their day, because security of their data is in the back of their minds. That's changing the human condition. This encourages the stream of, for example, crappy camera apps that currently saturate the app store. It also discourages the stream of, for example, services that try to let people order pizzas online, when it's clear that pizza shops don't want them, they never wanted them, and nothing has changed that will make them want such a service now. This isn't the only criteria to look out for -- it's necessary but not sufficient.

philh 13y ago
> It changes how people feel as they walk about their day, because security of their data is in the back of their minds. Not necessarily. I'm confident there are people who do backups not because they actively worry about data security, but because they know that not worrying won't protect them. (edit: though I guess this isn't particularly relevant, if it changes how many people feel as they go about their day.) > That's changing the human condition. This seems like a stretch; I suspect the phrase means something slightly different to you than it does to me?
dylangs1030 13y ago
Hey, thanks for responding to my comment directly. Sorry if I sounded harsh :) I understand you didn't intentionally mean to be dogmatic, I probably could have worded that more appropriately. But I think it comes across that way because it's unintentional. That said, it's not as though every piece of advice came across that way. And again, I want to emphasize I'm attacking the advice stated in that way, not you, because you didn't apply this blanket to every piece of advice. If you believe Tarsnap fits into your own definition of augmenting the human condition, then I suppose I can't argue that. But taken at face value, the original statement appeared to strike a chord with a number of commenters and myself because of the implicit scale - if you ask which companies augment the human condition, I believe most people would respond with companies on the scale of Apple. Small, almost boutique-level startups are very successful without this level of grandeur. But again, I revise my original criticism if the definition of impact is broadened, like you just clarified. As for pizza shops - I can see how your advice encourages appropriate behavior, and I agree to that. But I also believe that (and this wouldn't be your fault) it can also encourage "easy exit" mentalities where people just copy a fad and tweak it for success.
jules 13y ago
In the Netherlands just such a service where you can order food from a lot of different places is very succesful: http://www.thuisbezorgd.nl/en/ http://www.thuisbezorgd.nl/en/
bloopletech 13y ago
I'm confused by your last line. Here in Australia, both the major pizza chains (Dominos and Pizza Hut) have full online ordering. Personally, I always use them when ordering pizza. Is this a US cultural assumption? Or is there something else I'm missing?

philh 13y ago

> It changes how people feel as they walk about their day, because security of their data is in the back of their minds. Not necessarily. I'm confident there are people who do backups not because they actively worry about data security, but because they know that not worrying won't protect them. (edit: though I guess this isn't particularly relevant, if it changes how many people feel as they go about their day.) > That's changing the human condition. This seems like a stretch; I suspect the phrase means something slightly different to you than it does to me?

dylangs1030 13y ago

Hey, thanks for responding to my comment directly. Sorry if I sounded harsh :) I understand you didn't intentionally mean to be dogmatic, I probably could have worded that more appropriately. But I think it comes across that way because it's unintentional. That said, it's not as though every piece of advice came across that way. And again, I want to emphasize I'm attacking the advice stated in that way, not you, because you didn't apply this blanket to every piece of advice. If you believe Tarsnap fits into your own definition of augmenting the human condition, then I suppose I can't argue that. But taken at face value, the original statement appeared to strike a chord with a number of commenters and myself because of the implicit scale - if you ask which companies augment the human condition, I believe most people would respond with companies on the scale of Apple. Small, almost boutique-level startups are very successful without this level of grandeur. But again, I revise my original criticism if the definition of impact is broadened, like you just clarified. As for pizza shops - I can see how your advice encourages appropriate behavior, and I agree to that. But I also believe that (and this wouldn't be your fault) it can also encourage "easy exit" mentalities where people just copy a fad and tweak it for success.

jules 13y ago

In the Netherlands just such a service where you can order food from a lot of different places is very succesful: http://www.thuisbezorgd.nl/en/ http://www.thuisbezorgd.nl/en/

bloopletech 13y ago

I'm confused by your last line. Here in Australia, both the major pizza chains (Dominos and Pizza Hut) have full online ordering. Personally, I always use them when ordering pizza. Is this a US cultural assumption? Or is there something else I'm missing?