bepotts

6 ms·

1.
by bepotts 7y ago
They do and I will give them props for that. But no company should have as much control over open source that Microsoft does.
2.
by bepotts 7y ago
I think people are "okay" with Microsoft because so many hackers have a problem with the data agglomeration and monetization strategy of Google and Facebook, but this Microsoft "embrace" will come to a head within the ne
3.
by bepotts 7y ago
Gotta respect how Microsoft couldn't build anything the open source community wanted to work with/on so instead they used their Windows and Office monopoly to buy everyone's favorite playgrounds.
4.
by bepotts 7y ago
Americans don't believe the onus is on the whole to make sure the individual lives a happy life. We just don't have the collectivist culture the Europeans have. I think this is a great thing, and is why America is where most of th
5.
by bepotts 8y ago
I agree, but the problem is that people who hate "tracking" use the same terminology. You see them all over Hacker News. To say "privacy advocates" are disingenuous is a huge understatement.
6.
by bepotts 8y ago
All that stuff is private and is never disclosed to anyone without a court order; or at least that is supposed to be how it works. Yellowpages told the public. That is the point.
7.
by bepotts 8y ago
I can't remember who said it, but someone once compared the outrage over how tech companies use data to Yellowpages. There used to be this free book that had everyone's name, address, and phone number and the only way to opt out w
8.
by bepotts 8y ago
Sure. I'd agree that futurists need room to think and invent the future; but VR, Blockchain, and Cryptocurrencies are not the Model T.
9.
by bepotts 8y ago
If the past two years have shown me anything, it's that people are becoming skeptical of the technologist mantra that "technology will make people's lives better." Not always; and with Apple introducing Screen Time and p
10.
by bepotts 8y ago
Because I want GitHub to be agnostic and not pushing me towards anything? This was always one of the core worries about GitHub and Microsoft. Microsoft will not leave GitHub alone. It's too important to developers, and no matter how
11.
by bepotts 8y ago
I always believed Microsoft saw GitHub as a potential "in" for millions of developers, rather than a product that could generate revenue. This move doesn't worry me, as I'm sure Microsoft would look to do something easy
12.
by bepotts 8y ago
God I wish I could upvote this more than once. I almost fell out my chair laughing.
13.
by bepotts 8y ago
> then it is fair to say that all of the usual criticisms you see on the Internet at large, where people explain why Apple products are not good enough/too expensive/whatever for them personally, are irrelevant. You could swap
14.
by bepotts 8y ago
The only reason Facebook is under so much fire is because Facebook is a scapegoat for entire groups of people. You have tech people who hate Facebook because Facebook is a social network and many tech people aren't social, so Faceboo
15.
by bepotts 8y ago
I recently graduated from college and was heavily involved in national hackathons, and this story is just BS. It's so laughably BS that this story can be used as proof of the New York Time's willingness to publish anything that&#x
16.
by bepotts 8y ago
Which basically confirms that the media is out to get Facebook. I mean I suspect the same thing, but I wish everyone would be upfront with their motives instead of acting like they're just concerned citizens. Facebook's biggest cr
17.
by bepotts 8y ago
> Their lack of willingness to make executive-level changes is appalling given what has come out in the last 12 months. They're under no obligation to. Firms don't (and shouldn't) make personal decisions based on the whims
18.
by bepotts 8y ago
Yeah it's really off putting. A lot of people here cannot come to grips with the fact that many tech companies are big because their customers people love their products; this includes Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Nobody is pul
19.
by bepotts 8y ago
The problem with that plan is that if Google were to release such a service in the EU, the EU would then fine Google for using their search monopoly to prop up a service in another industry (News). The EU did something similar when Google u
20.
by bepotts 8y ago
And it's so transparent at this point. I've listened to podcasts with reporters and they lament the rise of Facebook and how "Facebook is stealing their business" through ads and algorithm changes that hurt them. But t
21.
by bepotts 8y ago
Testifying before Congress doesn't mean one is in crisis. People are called to testify before Congress all the time and you don't hear about it because the testimony is irrelevant.
22.
by bepotts 8y ago
Because of Trump and the US Government abdicating all responsibility in checking the Executive Branch? NYT's subscriptions jumped after the 2016 election because a free press is extremely vital at this point. The US is in a very weird
23.
by bepotts 8y ago
This is exactly it. Look, Facebook needs to get its act together. They are in need for serious reform. However, mainstream media knows that Facebook is under a ton of pressure and these types of stories generate a ton of clicks. I know peop
24.
by bepotts 8y ago
Losing 2 to 4 million users out of 375 million users is hardly "significant". It's something to look out for of course, but trying to insinuate that Facebook is in trouble in Europe with those numbers is a stretch.
25.
by bepotts 8y ago
The argument for Austin or Pittsburgh isn't too different than an argument for NYC or Washington, DC. My point is that there are cities in the United States that attracting talent, creatives, and business investment and instead of cryi
26.
by bepotts 8y ago
Agree completely. To some people, the tradeoffs between having Amazon come with a couple tax breaks and not having Amazon come at all is worth it. Nobody put a gun to the heads of these city officials - everyone knew what was going on and c
27.
by bepotts 8y ago
Toronto wasn't chosen because Toronto wasn't competitive. People that live in Toronto talk about how they're underpaid and how their tech sector pales in comparison to major US cities. Even many Waterloo CS graduates have a &
28.
by bepotts 8y ago
The areas with the most growth are cities, not states. And Boston is already wealthy. The states you mentioned all have major cities that are seeing the type of growth I'm talking about. The real "losers" in this situation ar
29.
by bepotts 8y ago
I feel like not many places are willing to do the work in order to attract an Amazon; or better yet, foster an environment where one could build one organically. Too many pundits are trying to shame Amazon into moving to a city like Detroit
30.
by bepotts 8y ago
Microsoft isn't mentioned because the world shifted in such a manner where Microsoft's monopoly is no longer as important. Nobody could have predicted this in the 80s and 90s, and this situation should be a learning lesson as to w

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