4 ms·
Kids in the first world having access to mobile broadband at speeds and prices that make Photoshop-as-a-service feasible on their chromebooks is explicitly not
by na85 12y ago
Kids in the first world having access to mobile broadband at speeds and prices that make Photoshop-as-a-service feasible on their chromebooks is explicitly not awesome unless you're one of those privileged kids.
This is a "rich get richer" situation that is developing.
The problem with the centralized model is that it rather fucks over even people in developing or under-developed countries, and also places like, say, South Africa where broadband speeds are internally decent but are notoriously slow to the rest of the planet.
- dkokelley 12y agoI don't see how lowering the barrier to entry (access to tech) has any impact on the "rich getting richer".
- na85 12y agoDo you not understand analogies or something?
- seanflyon 12y agoIf I understand na85 correctly, they are suggesting that the terminal model of chrome books requires decent internet and thus increases the barrier to entry. I agree with you that Chromebooks lower the barrier to entry because hardware cost is too big of a factor (and many things still work offline).
- danieldk 12y agoAnd there are other barriers (I actually think the bandwidth problem is solvable, by caching large parts of the program). Before SaaS, a poor kid from Egypt could (although it's illegal) get a pirated copy of Photoshop, Office or Visual Studio and improve their skills with modest means. Now they need software subscriptions that they can't afford. I can see two things happening: it increases the popularity of FLOSS software in such countries and/or companies will adjust the monthly subscription fee to be proportional to e.g. the median income. Anyway, I think thinks can be said for both models. Regardless my worries about SaaS, I also like always having the latest version, not having to install and maintain programs, etc.
- TazeTSchnitzel 12y agoAnd not all of us have super-reliable constantly-available mobile broadband. Here in Aberdeen, when I walk down the street, it varies from HSDPA to GPRS. There's occasionally University WiFi, but that only helps if I'm near a University building. This access is far from constant or consistently speedy.
- dannyr 12y agoI bet this argument has been used on the early days of dial-up modem and cell phones as well. History proved that these things get cheaper and become accessible to the masses.
- astrocat 12y agook... so kids in the first world have mobile broadband and can sit on a bench in central park and photoshop away on their fancy chromebook pixel. Meanwhile, kids in Egypt who don't have mobile broadband sit at a desk in an internet cafe and photoshop away on their cheap chromebook. I don't see what the problem is?
- jiggy2011 12y agoThe internet cafe would still be slow, and not being able to work from home is worse that their current situation.