In some contexts, I'm pro-regulation... but I HATE how many countries (especially the USA) go about it.
My biggest pet peeve is prescriptive/closed-ended regulation, specifying EXACTLY what must be done... instead of specifying an outcome & allowing for multiple solutions.
For example: in the US, a lot of kids get run over by vehicles in reverse, due to blind spots.
Did they simply mandate that new vehicle designs eliminate those blind spots? NO, they SPECIFICALLY mandated back-up cameras 😬
The side effect of the back-up camera requirement is that EVERY new vehicle ends up with a fucking screen, a goddamn computer, and a shitload of electronics in it.
Now, I don't like cars, but I ESPECIALLY don't like enshittified computerized cars.
If they'd instead left it open-ended and mandated that blind spots be eliminated, we likely would've seen all sorts of innovative solutions... cameras, sure, but probably also some simple/reliable optical solutions involving mirrors and light pipes.
@IrelandTorin everything was headed in that direction anyway, starting with engines. Also, there's a lot more you can do with onboard computers that you can't do even with sophisticated optics, e.g., brighten an image.
@hallmarc Actually, you can brighten an image (and do quite a bit more image processing) without any onboard computers.
Ever heard of a photomultiplier tube or an image intensifier tube?
That's right, you can brighten an image purely in the analog domain, no computers required.
Believe it or not, photomultiplier tubes are actually WAY BETTER at capturing detail in low-light environments than traditional cameras with image brightening algorithms.They're even used in military night vision.
@hallmarc You don't really need any kind of general-purpose computer for even the most sophisticated engine control, either.
You can do everything a modern ECU does with a "hard-wired" ASIC, and that has many benefits:
- It FORCES the manufacturer to make sure they "get it right" before release (instead of shipping buggy software) lest they face a recall;
- It makes enshittification MUCH less likely;
- No software crashes;
- Lower stack complexity / fewer points of failure, & more...
@hallmarc I'm of the mind that if it doesn't *absolutely need* a general-purpose computer in it (most things don't), it shouldn't have a general-purpose computer in it.
Similarly, if it doesn't *absolutely need* to connect to the Internet (and very few things actually do), it shouldn't connect to the Internet.
There are risks involved with introducing unnecessary complexity/interconnection. Those risks should be avoided if at all possible, by shedding any unnecessary complexity/connectivity.
@IrelandTorin you're also forgetting that now that it's here it has inertia. People want streaming and digital services in their car, Bluetooth, sensors for lane changing, lane assist, etc. The genie's out of the bottle.
@IrelandTorin most people do because they've been trained (or bludgeoned) to believe that the good outweighs the bad, whether it's true or not. I mean a EULA is a great example (South Park had a fantastic episode on this called HumancentiPad). You use the software, you agree to the terms. Very few people know what it says and it's extremely long by design. Even when fully apprised, people think the value is greater than the cost. It goes for almost everything in first world life these days.
@hallmarc Hmm... my experience, at least with the EULA thing, is that the people around me don't feel like it's *worth it* per se - it's that they feel like socially speaking they don't have another option.
They feel forced into it because that's what everyone else is doing, and they're afraid to step out of line or come across as weird... so they just sign in blood on the dotted line on autopilot and do their best not to think about whatever Faustian bargain they just got themselves into.
@hallmarc Some people do.
Other people are tired of everything being shitty, glitchy, unreliable, fragile, and just generally a huge pain in the ass.
The latter segment of society is a lot bigger than you might think... the problem is almost nobody caters to that market segment because it's much harder to engage in rent-seeking behaviour when your target market hates all forms of digital enshittification.