This is a placeholder for an opinion I would express if I would not get flamed and downvoted all the time I do this on a controversial topic like AMZN.
> One thing that always frustrates me a bit whenever Mozilla comes up on HN or elsewhere is that we are always held to impossibly high standards. Yes, as a non-profit, we should be held to higher standards, but not impossible standards.
People talk as if Mozilla and others could exist in their magic bubble outside of a world where all comes down to money.
Being a non-profit means they still have to pay rent, loans etc. so there has to be enough money to do that. While many use Mozilla products without donating it is strange for me that the same people wonder about Mozilla not having enough money to keep all their employees and infrastructure.
Focusing on other actions that promise an increase in revenue is necessary if people just take without giving back.
This is some serious and good advice for doing business and also managing personal relationships.
Do not fear to say 'No!' and do not try to be everyone's darling.
I had to learn this the hard way because of exactly the same eagerness to do business and take up on all opportunities.
My advice is to regularly reflect on your (business) relationships and evaluate them (good, ok, bad) and sort out everyone who just gives you more pain than value.
Of course 'value' in business is not only profit but also a good relationship to your customer and wanting to do the job rather than wanting to do another one.
In personal life 'value' can be that someone accepts you as you are and/or tells you their honest opinion even if you do not like what you hear.
You will have to define your own meaning of 'value' to evaluate these relationships.
I agree with the underlying conclusion but there is one thing you said but did not properly reason about:
> On the other hand, van life and tiny houses are logistically prohibitive to having children.
This is just not true. Only here in the wealthy west people think they need a big house to have children. In the rest of the world you will see whole families living in one tiny room together.
Also there is a lot of valid reasons not to put children into this world without being part of some lifestyle romance.
I do not need a sales department because my services and products speak for themselves and people want to have them. They come because of reputation and part of this is being sober, punctual, efficient and professional.
I am sad for you when you need to do this and I am happy for myself not to be in this position where one would force me to take drugs to do my job.
1. I managed to do business without taking drugs as long as I can think.
2. I am used to people coming to me for advice and my services. I never needed to advertise etc. so THEY will have to do business else where just as I said.
3. Just because in your opinion (data please) "many business relationships are formed from having some drinks" does not lead to "ALL business relationships are formed from having some drinks". This is a flaw in your logic.
4. If "feeling friendly/chatting/etc." is the reason for you to take drugs then I advice you to do therapy or something else to learn to be friendly, chatty etc. without the need to take drugs. If you need drugs to achieve this all the time this is a clear indicator that you have serious issues.
This is true and important. But I also have to admit that I like the interface of GH more and I am just used to searching on GH - it always has been like google search for code for me.
It does not make any sense for me to buy new macs anymore - especially when I have to run the new macos, which will take SECONDS to open apps that open in MILLISECONDS when you switch off wifi or just use a good OS.
Also I do not like their beta product experiments they tend to run on customers since years - I will wait for years before I trust their hard- and software to be useful for work or even personal things.
If they want me to beta test they should give me money for it.
How about some generic "how to not buy into a single ecosystem that will maybe screw you one day".
Most important is a personality that prevents you from doing things just like everyone else or this urge to always use the newest tech because it is sexy.
Also important is to be able to feel more pain and to have to work more to achieve a solution that follows this rule and to accept this.
Using Google etc. products is easiest and only people who are strong willed enough and maybe have more skills in IT (pro user instead of average user) can really be free.
Then separate it into personal and work because in the first sector you have an own choice whereas in the second one you will have to comply most of the times.
Also: Storing stuff in proprietary systems which does not provide an export capability (using an open format) is a bad idea - always.
Why on earth do you have to side load such a useful app? It does not make any sense.
The "we want your safety" statement is just useful for people who do not know any better. I do not want to be patronized like this as I am a professional user.
As a person with some understanding about economics I know this is about money of course but I am very interested in the outcome of this behaviour towards professionals who will turn their back on Apple when they go on like this.
Now they even managed to further decrease the value of their desktop OS - starting an app with internet connection takes literally seconds whereas they started in the blink of an eye on older versions because of their background checks. Awesome job @Apple :thumbsup:
When I see this I am really looking forward to just talking to my computer like to a real person :P
Keyboards are nice and in many cases a far superior input interface compared to a mouse/touchpad but in my opinion it is just a stepping stone towards "the real deal".
After voice interface there will be thought interfaces and then we can be productive if the hardware, apps and os-es are good enough.
> it's stupendously premature to assume that it is ready for products
Did you follow product development in recent decades? The iPhone was not ready for prime time as well but still people bought it and where very happy.
A lot of products nowadays are kind of MVP's or betas and people are willing to accept their flaws and edges just to be an early adopter of technologies which remind them of beloved Sci-Fi movies.
> by construction, it also cannot store information provided by the user for later use, nor can it "look up" facts
Other tools can do that. You can connect them just like you do with micro services or modular systems - what is the issue about this?
The statement "starting a business ... is a bad idea" cannot be proven and there are also no examples to strengthen this position. So until one does you just cannot prove this statement so this is just speculation.
If you buy something or worse you have to pay license fees on a regular base your earnings will be smaller.
We live in a world that is driven by economic growth so the ultimate goal is to maximize profit.
Of course this has a moral aspect to it as well and I see it but in this case I think it is not outraging enough to be something on the scale of a scandal.
Many businesses use ideas or products for free to start a successful enterprise that earns a lot of money.
# Scenario 1
You are using one device where all your apps are installed or you have permission to install anything you want. You will find this in smaller companies with BYOD policy.
# Scenario 2
You are using a lot of different devices and/or regularly have to work with a new device that is only setup with the basic applications. It is not possible or allowed to just install any app. You will find this in enterprise businesses with a lot of policies about devices and workflows.
For #1 a solid desktop app is probably preferable but for #2 (prerequisite is a stable and fast internet connection) you can start working immediately when all necessary apps and data is available online.
Also there could be web apps that benefit from a spreadsheet which is more than just a basic grid view.