3 ms·

Author of linked blog post here -- would love to hear what you think!

by genmon 12y ago

superpatosainz 12y ago
It's a very interesting concept, because now in 2015 I've seen more and more things using technology and computers where they shouldn't be used. People seem to not understand that the gimmick feature that needs a computer just adds a billion moving parts (one for each transistor, statement of code, etc) that may fail. I was in the process of buying a new TV and I couldn't find a good ol' TV, nope, all there was "super awesome smart voice commanded can see the weather TVs"... so I bought one intending to just use it for cable (I still used netflix in my computer) and after a whole damn day of updating firmwares and waiting for it to boot (I miss the CRT days)... some capacitors that were in the backlight circuit blew. Thank you very much Samsung. (Btw another clear example of misusing technology was yesterday's post about trains using GPS for "smart door controls") Oh also, the scale in your post is more of a Mercali than Richter.
- genmon 12y ago
  I didn't realise there was an effect-focused earthquake scale, that's definitely more what I meant
- laumars 12y ago
  Yes, thank you!! The KISS approach seems all but forgotten in gadgets these days. It's perverse that now that chips have never been cheaper, technology has become more expensive in terms of longevity since chips are thrown into everything and often for no good reason and then your equipment bricks at a whim because the skill level now required to fix faulty electronics is several orders of magnitude greater than the competence of your average geek. And does this added complexity improve usability? Of course not. It's just consumer masturbation so the Jones's can show off. Then there's the whole topic of security now that every device is a mini-computer. However I will concede the hypocrisy of this post given I'm sending it from a smart phone. But all good arguments deserve one exception to the rule ;)
Semiapies 12y ago
Logarithmic scales make sense for things with clear, quantifiable measures in some particular dimension. This scale both includes a large number of qualitative measures that aren't particularly obviously different orders of magnitude and conflates severity of effect and time to fix.
- genmon 12y ago
  I'd love for systems theory (cybernetics or whatever) to have gotten to the point where we could have an actual measure of disruption. Severity seems to come from both what the outage is, and also from our failure to build resilient systems... it's earthquake tremors vs whether we followed the building codes. But unlike earthquakes, it's really hard to tease those two apart
- superpatosainz 12y ago
  There's one like what you say: Mercali.
atlbeer 12y ago
An example that sprung to mind while reading was the arson/suicide attack on Chicago's air traffic control facility late last year http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Air_Route_Traffic_Control_Center#2014_fire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Air_Route_Traffic_Contr...

Author of linked blog post here -- would love to hear what you think!

by genmon 12y ago

Author of linked blog post here -- would love to hear what you think!

It's a very interesting concept, because now in 2015 I've seen more and more things using technology and computers where they shouldn't be used. People seem to not understand that the gimmick feature that needs a computer just adds a billion moving parts (one for each transistor, statement of code, etc) that may fail. I was in the process of buying a new TV and I couldn't find a good ol' TV, nope, all there was "super awesome smart voice commanded can see the weather TVs"... so I bought one intending to just use it for cable (I still used netflix in my computer) and after a whole damn day of updating firmwares and waiting for it to boot (I miss the CRT days)... some capacitors that were in the backlight circuit blew. Thank you very much Samsung. (Btw another clear example of misusing technology was yesterday's post about trains using GPS for "smart door controls") Oh also, the scale in your post is more of a Mercali than Richter.

genmon 12y ago
I didn't realise there was an effect-focused earthquake scale, that's definitely more what I meant
laumars 12y ago
Yes, thank you!! The KISS approach seems all but forgotten in gadgets these days. It's perverse that now that chips have never been cheaper, technology has become more expensive in terms of longevity since chips are thrown into everything and often for no good reason and then your equipment bricks at a whim because the skill level now required to fix faulty electronics is several orders of magnitude greater than the competence of your average geek. And does this added complexity improve usability? Of course not. It's just consumer masturbation so the Jones's can show off. Then there's the whole topic of security now that every device is a mini-computer. However I will concede the hypocrisy of this post given I'm sending it from a smart phone. But all good arguments deserve one exception to the rule ;)

Semiapies 12y ago

Logarithmic scales make sense for things with clear, quantifiable measures in some particular dimension. This scale both includes a large number of qualitative measures that aren't particularly obviously different orders of magnitude and conflates severity of effect and time to fix.

genmon 12y ago
I'd love for systems theory (cybernetics or whatever) to have gotten to the point where we could have an actual measure of disruption. Severity seems to come from both what the outage is, and also from our failure to build resilient systems... it's earthquake tremors vs whether we followed the building codes. But unlike earthquakes, it's really hard to tease those two apart
superpatosainz 12y ago
There's one like what you say: Mercali.

atlbeer 12y ago

An example that sprung to mind while reading was the arson/suicide attack on Chicago's air traffic control facility late last year http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Air_Route_Traffic_Control_Center#2014_fire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Air_Route_Traffic_Contr...