I understand wanting to know how things work. My problem is that I don't have the time to work on all the things that I might work on. If I had an Android phone (I don't but not for any important reason), I doubt that I would have the time to work on it. There are too many other things I want to spend my time doing.
My wife's computer is always doing something flaky. I'm the one she looks to for help. Often it's not too much of a hassle. But there are times when it takes forever to track down what's wrong. I don't want to spend too much of my time doing that--even though it's nice to find out what's really going on. My life is full enough with technology that I often really like having a gadget that just works--and I don't have to think about it. In fact, that should be one of the selling points of the iPhone and iPad. My complaint about them is that they don't live up to that promise. *-- Russ * On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 3:21 PM, glen <g...@ropella.name> wrote: > ERIC P. CHARLES wrote at 06/07/2011 12:59 PM: > > If by "enslaved to a corporate cabal" you mean that I use my cell phone > > mostly as a phone, > > No, it really has nothing to do with _how_ you use any given device. > It's more about what you're paying for. Did you pay for an actual > _thing_ or did you pay for a key to a door or facility, someone else's > property? > > The whole SaaS paradigm is reprehensible to a given degree. You "buy" a > phone and you really don't own anything. What you've "bought" is really > a fake, kinda startup fee.[*] If you stop paying the monthly fee, that > initial $100 or $150 is lost in the wind. > > If they were more honest about it, they'd treat these devices like the > cable companies or ISPs treat their modems. You either buy the thing > outright (and admit that it'll be largely useless when you quit) or you > lease it during the time you use their service. > > > Personally, > > I have trouble imagining why anyone would want to do otherwise. The > > complaints of people who have to 'go through the trouble' to jailbreak > > iPhones, for example, strike me as silly. If you don't like what the > > iPhone is, why did you buy one? It's like someone who buys a new house > > and then complains it is not laid out the way they want, and then > > complains about how hard it was to redo the floor plan: You know there > > were other houses, right? You know it was a perfectly functional house > > already, right? > > I suppose there are two ways to think about this. (There are 2 types of > people in the world: 1) those who divide the people in the world into 2 > types and 2) those who don't.) > > 1) There are those of us who find satisfaction in _doing_ rather than > having, and > > 2) There are those of us who enjoy "nesting", i.e. surrounding ourselves > with our own accomplishments. > > (1) and (2) are, by no means, disjoint. When I look at my phone, I see > things that I've achieved (on the shoulders of giants, of course). > That's satisfying to some extent. Similarly, when the phone behaves in > some way that I didn't expect, it is relatively trivial for me to figure > out why it behaved that way and why I expected something different. Had > I not rooted it and replaced the OS, this would not be the case. The > former is a result of (2) and the latter is a result of (1). > > If you think either (1) or (2) are silly, then we are at a rhetorical > impasse. ;-) > > What boggles my mind are the tech-savvy people who seem to blank out on > some things. Like a programmer who can't change their own oil. Or a > mechanic who is baffled by computers. By saying it boggles me, I'm not > implying that they are _silly_, or wrong, or whatever. It just confuses > me. It seems that you either want to know how things work, or you > don't. It is _so_ EASY to root and replace the OS on Android phones > that I can't imagine any tech savvy person with disposable income _not_ > doing so. > > [*] There's also a kind of "consumerist", disposable culture, influence > at work, here. If you don't/can't root and replace the OS on your cell > phone, then that phone is a lot like a Bic lighter or disposable razor. > Your supposed to use it once, then throw it into some landfill because > it's become useless. Now, I'm no tree-hugging liberal. But it seems to > me that this disposable computer culture lacks an ability to account for > its externalities. I should be able to use my phone for many years. > And if, in order to do that, I have to maintain the OS _myself_, then I > should be allowed to do so. I used my G1 long past the point where > T-Mobile was pushing updates only because I used CyanogenMod. And when > I finally found the $$ to buy a new phone, I passed that old G1 on to a > less fortunate, but more geeky, friend who is still using it. I can say > the same about many of the desk- and lap-tops around my house. And when > they are finally of no use to me, I give them to FreeGeek.org, who > refurbishes them and gives them to people who don't have computers. It > just seems reasonable to me; but perhaps I've drunk too much Kool Aid? > > -- > glen > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
