Yeah and we all did that. Each and every one of us here that over the last 30+ years built part of that infrastructure, software, companies, culture etc. We all set out to build one thing and ended up building another in some weird switch-trick or something. Each of course in their own little micro cosmos within the macro, brick by brick, router by router.
I mostly agree, and I try not to argue on things that are either not that important or ok either way, or what I call "religious grounds" - things people will defend outside of logic or truth, only because it's to them tied to their identity/faith/being. The only time I would present an opposite case is if I know for a fact that the "other way" might not end well.
Yes we can support the people who fight it, and also at the same time admit that I, personally, cannot fight it. Some people are driven by the fight. I am not. And want or need, what is the difference? I'm there, I need or want X, I am also busy.
Also, as a company director, I'm required by law now to verify my identity plus my face.
If I have no choice, and no alternative, what can I do? I will never use an OS that require it on the OS level, and nobody can mandate it, not to a Linux user as myself - there will always be "another distro". But as a company director I have a legal requirement to verify my identity with my face. That's one. Every CCTV camera I pass by London, I assume is likely to have some soft of potential face recognition. Every transfer type transaction I do with my bank app requires me to face-up. So fine, I will skip Facebook or Instagram, but where will I get my cat-video dopamine fix?
I don't see myself as admitting defeat here. I'm choosing my battles. The gov here will drive this through as we're stuck with them until 2029.
I'm considering (with a heavy heart) to leave the UK and this is just one nail in a coffin full of nails.
If there is a substitute and I am not time constrained 100% i'm switching. But I've been in a situation already where a platform I'm using required me to face-up. I can't even remember which to be honest but I had no alternative or recourse to refuse. In addition, in the UK company directors are legaly required to face-up to Companies House and confirm their identity, so they have my face too. Ah, and so is every single CCTV camera around London. I don't know how to fight this particular battle.
It ends with "The platforms need you far more than you need them".
And I think this is the misconception. No, they don't. The amount of people who will sign this, is a fraction of a fraction of a "platform"'s users. They will not care if they lose 50,000 users out of 2 Billion. A drop in the ocean. Not the target audience anyway.
And that is the real shame. Because I don't want to have to give my face or do age verification but I know when the time comes, and If I need to use a service now, I will give them whatever they want to get past the hurdle and use the service. It sucks, but I don't think a petition will help. Unless of course you get the 50 million to sign the petition AND stick to it.
Leaving IS the hard decision for me. I love the UK, and I am full of gratitude to live in England. I know anywhere else will be a downgrade. See my reply above for my current list of options.
If it was just ID, or just X or just Y, that would have been manageable. It's the barrage of action against people who are actually trying to be productive in society. Success is now penalised here.
Where to go - well... There are options. Not many but they exist; south east asia (e.g. Thailand), The Channel islands, The Emirates if that's your thing. I'm sure there are more - I'm doing my due diligence on the options now. But I REALLY wish I didn't feel like I have to. I want my country to love me back like I love it, but right now it feels a bit one-sided.
While I do support restricting social media to younger minds, the way they go about it, and the collateral damage that will result is unacceptable. For about 500ms I thought I might have found the "one thing" I agree with this government, but nope... I'm considering whether it's time to leave the UK. There is an air of hostility here towards... well everything.
Thanks for the warning. I would have chosen to be pragmatic as well but with another vendor. While I applaud your generosity with trust mine would have been evaporated at the first invoice.
10 minutes sounds like a very long time. Maybe I'm using it differently but I don't see those wait times. I give specific instructions, and use pro plans, and the turnaround is fast.
The example in the video was a generation of a dashboard app of some sort. I can do that with a "normal speed" Claude in a few minutes. The difference is a few minutes. This is compared to a few weeks in old school development time. I don't have a problem with taking it a little "slow" (as in - few minutes) and lending my thought to it rather than just going for fast generation and who knows what's inside. I get your use case, but this is a specialised one, and not the one 90% of people will think of - everyone want that fast app in 12 seconds... Or so it seems from me being downvoted on that comment.
A few things in life I can't fully grasp why they are so sought after. One is that constant need to exhibit growth. As if being massive and staying as massive is not good enough, one has to always and continuously grow. The other is constant speed increases. We're already operating at 50x speed. My output is much wider and so much faster, I am sometimes my own bottleneck. And now as if that is not enough we want more speed. "I want a full software product from scratch in 12 seconds, Because 5 minute is too long and I got things to do..."
Not on those terms. Nobody wants to pay through the nose and see a return in a decade. We wouldn't be paying through the nose if we used our own gas instead of importing it. Crazy idea, I know...
To me, 7.5 years is not worth it. and the 1K in 20 years is nothing. This should be the standard and it should be free. Until then we'll keep paying through the nose for energy...