nlanier

I've found that this engineered optimization has a more pernicious side effect: killing curiosity.

Lack of complexity stunts the desire to become curious - to give reasons to look closer, ask questions, compare experiences - and ultimately develop 'taste'.

When everything is optimized into its most obvious, frictionless, immediately-rewarding form, the sum of all experience becomes more 'pleasant' but harder to care about.

The author touches on something that's been grating at me (and is professionally relevant) for some time now, and I appreciate his effort to articulate it.

I'm fond of New Zealand, where you either pay as you walk out or the waiter brings you a mobile POS. There's no awkward 'take my credit card, walk away with it, and bring it back' moment. It's a much better system, and I would love to see it more common in the US.

Absolutely love the sense of discovery this has. Kudos to the creator… I will be watching for updates!

Cool… now do a Turbo S.

Interesting discussion here, I enjoyed reading it. I was sad to learn of Anchor’s demise today. It’s rare a thread appears on HN that’s relevant to my work! If anyone is curious about the current state of the beer market from someone who earns a living at it I may be able to provide some insight.

Damn. This bums me out.

I understand this and I agree with you. I don't even deny that the 4s has a great camera. It does! But to compare it to an S95 and a 5D Mark II isn't a story that's ready to be told. I wouldn't have said a peep if they just showed the iPhone 1-4s comparisons. That's the story - Small sensor technology is rapidly advancing and it's great! BUT it's not a replacement for the niche the s95 fills. The image presented here of the city is the most striking example of that.

I think it's unfortunate but I can understand it's appeal and why people like it. Anyone can turn a crap photo into an appealing image with the application of a filter. Who wouldn't love that? It's like MSG for photography.

It doesn't bother me nearly as much as poorly done High Dynamic Range images. . .

As a professional photographer, comparisons like this drive me absolutely insane, especially when they are called "incredible".

Look, the iPhone 4s processes images with in-camera software and does it aggressively so images look pretty to the average user. They are over-saturated and over-sharpened. And the lack of detail captured by the small sensor all but negates the possibility of any REAL post processing.

I get it. The consumer doesn't care. They just know the pictures look pretty. The practicing photographer knows better.

The video comparisons are even more futile. The depth of field, flexibility, and low light performance of the 5D Mark II is so far beyond the iPhone 4s it makes my head spin.

We are headed into exciting times when a device smaller than a deck of cards will replace a device the size of a toaster. I know. But we aren't there yet. Really, we aren't even close.

There are people consistently on my list whom I never interact with.

The other trump card: Chrome. Bake the Google bar in and Facebook is in a world of hurt.

I have nothing insightful to say but I am in awe.

Wow, I came in here to say the same thing. I don't get enough traffic through Disqus to have issues at the moment, but when I did a while back I remember Daniel bending over backwards to answer all of my questions and it left an absolutely incredible impression. I thought that in a world of meticulously curated "FAQS" and auto-repsonse e-mails that Daniel was remarkably refreshing.

Kudos.

I signed up when it they first appeared on HN and have been using it ever since. It's a simple idea that's been well executed. Kudos to them, I hope the service sticks around!

This stings. I love this service.

In all honestly I would think they might be an occupational hazard for someone working as a mover, no?

I'm going to check them out, thanks!

Might I ask which books you've read about him? Thanks.

+1 This more or less mirrors what I just said. The Nexus One is a tragedy not because the phone itself is bad; in fact it is quite the opposite - The Nexus One is a tragedy because it is the best smartphone on the market and Google/HTC/T-Mob didn't bother to tell anyone about it.

I have an iMac, two macbooks, and an iPod touch. My phone of choice, however, is a Nexus One.

After eating the cost of an unsubsidized unit, I pay sixty dollars a month for 900 minutes and unlimited everything else. SIXTY DOLLARS!

If the iPhone experience is anything like the iPod touch experience - and I imagine it is - then I am more than happy with the N1. It does everything the iPhone does and it does most things better as far as I can tell.

I have said it before in this space and I'll say it again: I love the hell out of my Nexus One, circumstances be damned.

I read the whole thing as "Here, you've forced us to give you a case but it's ridiculous and you really don't even need it."

Remember THIS? http://www.pixelotto.com/

I didn't think so.

I have nothing to suggest as I am in a similar situation and have been pondering making a similar type of request to the community for a long time. I have been repeatedly frustrated with my attempts to get to the bottom of it (ie rejected by the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, 8 million doctors, 8 million lab tests). I have reached wits end more times then I care to think about. The most debilitating thing of all is that I lost the support of just about everyone I know because no one believes me when I say that I have short term memory problems and my stomach aches 100% of the time. It truly is a nightmare and something that I fear sharing with anyone at this point.

In short, if you do figure something out, please let me know. Thank you and good luck.

I just want to take this opportunity to say that I love my Nexus One. I don't care if Google "failed" as a marketer/distributor of the device. When I put it side by side with an iPhone I can't even fathom wanting an iPhone. In fact, you couldn't pay me to switch.

Kudos, Google. Kudos.

I quite enjoyed that and I'm not afraid to admit it.

Perhaps I am in the large minority but so far I have found Buzz to be engaging and quite useful. I wanted to try out a local restaurant and put the question to Buzz and received eight insightful responses in less than an hour. I enjoy it and I think it has plenty of "stickiness" as a lot of my non-technophobe friends are already using it quite heavily.

nlanier @ gmail.com Thank you in advance!! :)

You enjoyed it so much because you knew you didn't have to do it for the rest of your life.

Obviously quite a few people, especially on Hacker News. Mr. Arrington is clearly a polarizing figure and if you wish to see him marginalized I would advise you to refrain from posting comments such as this one - It only fuels the fire.