Just anti-technigarchy.
I don’t like how Industry attempts to self protect by ‘buying’ the legistlators to pass laws of self protection, cutting out the little guys. Its usually the little guys that come up with the smart ideas.
And I think a lot of what happened in the American Auto Industry was of similar vein. Shut out the little guys through technical complexity, paywalls, and specialty tooling all around (saw that back in the shops. Special tools to do a timing belt on ONE type of engine in a Ford. Different set for Dodge,,,) Now that wasn’t purely legislation; that was a corporate choice and the reasoning is beyond this little fish in a big pond. There was once this thing called Brand Loyalty, and it was built by being loyal to the buyers (in some sense) Making it so the buyer is beholden to the maker for every repair or service is NOT building Brand Loyalty; its subscription service that borders on indentured servitude. Broad reach there, but only just. They charge you for the product, then charge to maintain the product, and THEY decide how long that product remains in circulation and can cut support when and how they choose. It even says it in contracts people sign when buying these things (that no one EVER reads. Like ‘signing’ that EULA on your smartphone.) I’d like to say that Bill Gates provided a working model to the rest of Corporate America, as there is quite a bit of parallelism between MS and what the auto industry is now doing.
But there are good things from this as well. Back up cameras for one. Bloo has this big honkin’ box bed and seeing behind is a problem. Yes, mirrors, I like mirrors, and use those a lot. BUT, there is this big ass bling spot right smack dab in the middle of those mirrors. I did install an aftermarket backup camera to see into that blindspot. No CANBUS crap needed. Just a small cable along the frame and a hole cut to mount the camera. That plugs into the entertainment system that was made to fit the radio spot in the dash.
LED powered headlights, superbrite ones. Cost almost the same as standard halogen bulbs, and are twice as bright. Made to fit the same spot with no modifications. Hell yes! I’m older and wanna see those deer getting ready to be stoopid and step into traffic.
See, its not the tech, its how the tech is applied, or in most cases, Leveraged against the consumer. Even in the smartphone industry, there is backlash. Some small companies producing phones that don’t spy on you. ANd yes, they sell at a real premium price point. Thats the advantage in some ways, because you are actually buying the product, not getting a discount on the product with you being the income generator, in data collection, for the seller. People are wise to it in some ways too. Remember the app/game ‘Pokemon Go’? Died really really fast even though it was the hottest download in forever. People realized that the game was collecting camera inputs EVERYWHERE, including the bathrooms and bedrooms of the kids playing the game. That was a ballsey gambit on the developers part, but it crashed out quick.
I don’t know where things are going. AI is not becoming that thing that everyone is freaking out about. Good evidence the ‘Freakout’ is being fed by the very people creating the tools; not as warning, but as fear mongering to get stronger legislation in place to remove competition from the smaller Devs. I clued to that when I heard the CEO of one of them begging for legislation for restrictions, on “Safety” grounds. Got news for him. Bad guys already have the tools to steal/hack/harm, and no amount of legislation is going to stop that. This is the Gun Legislation Argument with different terms applied. Only this time, its applied as a Protection Scheme: protection of those already in place. “Be a real shame if AI got loose and took over the markets, Maybe we need a leash on us to keep that from happening” read between the lines and you see the reality of the argument.
Anygoobberbugzies,,, I have to go make the FRN’s now. I’ll be back laters with more. Love y’all
LLLLL!
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Dio's Workshop 