This is such a great post and a lot of it also applies to how things are here in the UK with a few differences here and there. I've been tempted just ignore the web, to switch off my email, turn off social media etc. To build instead.... maybe not after reading this!! lol!!
Hey Vicki. If you know anybody who can actually build robots, here’s what I’ve always thought.
1. We’re kind of stuck on this idea of Rosie the Robot, the autonomous intelligent general purpose humanoid robot.
2. But in practice we’re stuck with single-purpose domestic robots, like vacuums.
3. This is because general-purpose robots are hard.
4. But we have an internet.
5. We have lots of people all over the world who need jobs.
6. Non-autonomous robots are something we can build today.
7. Why not build non-autonomous, remote-controlled humanoid robots that can get around our houses better than roombas, at least when driven by a human, and can do complicated things like dusting shelves because they’re controlled by humans, who are in South Dakota or some other place where $10-15/hr is pretty good pay?
8. And then someone in Uruguay could tutor our kids in Spanish for probably a great rate too.
Yes, it would displace jobs from local areas to remote areas, but on balance it would be OK. The problem of course is that building the robots would be expensive at first. The money to be made is in the ubering of it, you know, connecting the drivers to the customers.
Maybe a big part of the problem of "how do we solve things as individuals who don't have access to big sums of capital" is that there's no organized response from this kind of individuals (in the realm of "big tech"), or rather the few responses we see are tremendously outnumbered.
Maybe Marc Andreessen meant it’s time to buy. Maybe it’s time for him and all of his ultra wealthy pals to buy the latest batch of startups at discount prices or something less than absurd valuations.
I was surprised that the Andreessen post was so highly upvoted on Hackernews, but I guess people fawn over whatever you say when you’re a billionaire. It was inspiring and hopeful, but it reads more closely to some mediocre medium post.
Hopefully, a few of the next startups actually fix more things than they break. But I’m pretty pessimistic if that wasn’t already clear.
Tech Bros and Money Bros and flashy tool nerds are running out of stupid useless crap to build, so now they want to build Big Things.
Okay that might work out.... but definitely let's not have it done with the same cadence, quality, transactional fervor, pump-and-dump vibe, and "grab it while you can" ethos that built a lot of the social media crap that in turn supports centralized surveillance and neighborhood destruction we have now.
A bit rant-y, and not my goal to step on toes but do we really need Next Door to talk to our neighbors?
it's probably a little too anarcho for most people's tastes, but I think a lot of what we need is a loosening of centralized control and backing way off regulations.
Let's see if we can cut government down to 1/10 of its size at the State and Federal levels and simultaneously double the efficiency. Now that would show me you know something about coding, people, communities, collaboration etc. (Bring all the shiny tools you want as long as it gets the job done.)
Maybe after we get that base set up we can talk about building big things.
And now, like you, I'd probably benefit from a nap or a quiet reflective moment, too.
I’m literally in a CSPO product owner course breakout group ‘building’ Rosie the Robot this week with my toddler Zoom bombing user stories; send funding and we’ll fix all your tweet woes (and raze the precarious laundry basket city I’ve built)!
This is such a great post and a lot of it also applies to how things are here in the UK with a few differences here and there. I've been tempted just ignore the web, to switch off my email, turn off social media etc. To build instead.... maybe not after reading this!! lol!!
Hey Vicki. If you know anybody who can actually build robots, here’s what I’ve always thought.
1. We’re kind of stuck on this idea of Rosie the Robot, the autonomous intelligent general purpose humanoid robot.
2. But in practice we’re stuck with single-purpose domestic robots, like vacuums.
3. This is because general-purpose robots are hard.
4. But we have an internet.
5. We have lots of people all over the world who need jobs.
6. Non-autonomous robots are something we can build today.
7. Why not build non-autonomous, remote-controlled humanoid robots that can get around our houses better than roombas, at least when driven by a human, and can do complicated things like dusting shelves because they’re controlled by humans, who are in South Dakota or some other place where $10-15/hr is pretty good pay?
8. And then someone in Uruguay could tutor our kids in Spanish for probably a great rate too.
Yes, it would displace jobs from local areas to remote areas, but on balance it would be OK. The problem of course is that building the robots would be expensive at first. The money to be made is in the ubering of it, you know, connecting the drivers to the customers.
Maybe a big part of the problem of "how do we solve things as individuals who don't have access to big sums of capital" is that there's no organized response from this kind of individuals (in the realm of "big tech"), or rather the few responses we see are tremendously outnumbered.
https://rhizome.org/editorial/2020/apr/01/the-art-of-the-meta-scam/
Maybe Marc Andreessen meant it’s time to buy. Maybe it’s time for him and all of his ultra wealthy pals to buy the latest batch of startups at discount prices or something less than absurd valuations.
I was surprised that the Andreessen post was so highly upvoted on Hackernews, but I guess people fawn over whatever you say when you’re a billionaire. It was inspiring and hopeful, but it reads more closely to some mediocre medium post.
Hopefully, a few of the next startups actually fix more things than they break. But I’m pretty pessimistic if that wasn’t already clear.
Another good argument for simplicity.
Tech Bros and Money Bros and flashy tool nerds are running out of stupid useless crap to build, so now they want to build Big Things.
Okay that might work out.... but definitely let's not have it done with the same cadence, quality, transactional fervor, pump-and-dump vibe, and "grab it while you can" ethos that built a lot of the social media crap that in turn supports centralized surveillance and neighborhood destruction we have now.
A bit rant-y, and not my goal to step on toes but do we really need Next Door to talk to our neighbors?
it's probably a little too anarcho for most people's tastes, but I think a lot of what we need is a loosening of centralized control and backing way off regulations.
Let's see if we can cut government down to 1/10 of its size at the State and Federal levels and simultaneously double the efficiency. Now that would show me you know something about coding, people, communities, collaboration etc. (Bring all the shiny tools you want as long as it gets the job done.)
Maybe after we get that base set up we can talk about building big things.
And now, like you, I'd probably benefit from a nap or a quiet reflective moment, too.
Thanks for writing this.
I’m literally in a CSPO product owner course breakout group ‘building’ Rosie the Robot this week with my toddler Zoom bombing user stories; send funding and we’ll fix all your tweet woes (and raze the precarious laundry basket city I’ve built)!