I agree. I’d like to see some separation between the car manufacturer and the software. Any computers in the car should support whatever operating system you want to put on it. Things like controlling the car’s functions would just be device drivers. If the car company also wants to get into the SaaS business, fine, but you shouldn’t be required to pay for that software to operate the vehicle.

I’m on board with it if people want to change the terminology around these things, but it seems like the core of what the author is discussing is the valuation of these companies and potential bubbles.

I think it makes sense that Disney and Amazon and Netflix who are able to make money through more of a SaaS-like model would have a higher valuation than a car company that has to produce a new car for every unit sold. Maybe there’s a recent example of an over-valued car company we can think of?

Consider that an auto mechanic and a software engineer can have a similar problem-solving skill set, and could both be very intelligent. Why then does an auto mechanic make so much less money? It’s partly because of the economies of scale involved with software. The owner of the software company can sell the software to thousands of clients without having to pay the software engineer to build the software thousands of times. The owner of the auto shop still has to pay the mechanic to perform every job every time and get paid for it.

So while I agree that Disney and Netflix maybe aren’t “Tech” companies, it seems to me the real problem the author is grappling with is whether they should be valued similar to tech companies. So I guess the question becomes, are “tech” companies highly valued because they are expected to make some huge technological leap that shakes up industries, or is it because of the economies of scale inherent in the SaaS-like business model?

This doesn’t change the fact that SaaS is lucrative because unlike producing hardware, you can add users/subscribers without paying to produce additional units.

I prefer to use the term fiscally responsible.

It’s fiscally irresponsible to cut taxes for the billionaires and corporations when we have record deficits.

It’s fiscally irresponsible to cut the IRS budget when that results in less revenue.

Republican voters have been brainwashed into thinking that Republicans are somehow more responsible with the economy and budget, when history shows that Republicans drive up the deficit with irresponsible tax cuts.

Yeah, similar to Tesla “full self driving”.

To me it’s clear that these tools are primarily useful as bullshit generators, and I expect them to hallucinate and be inaccurate. But the companies trying to capitalize on the “AI” bubble are saying that these tools can be useful and accurate. I imagine OpenAI is going to have to invoke the Fox News defense in this case, and claim that “no reasonable person would take this seriously”.

Even Bank of America doesn’t support MFA apps.

Sounds like their leadership team could use a few adjustments.

The left couldn’t be bothered to vote but you think they’re going to riot?

It would have maybe been mobilizing if the election was closer, or if the Dems at least won the popular vote by 5 million again… but this defeat was thorough enough to absolutely crush the morale of anyone who leans even a little bit left. Why should I waste my time and money supporting progressive policies when some people won’t even do the bare minimum to prevent Republicans from establishing a stranglehold on our government and institutions?

If the accelerationists thought that sitting out and handing the election to Trump was going to mobilize the left I’m afraid they’re going to be disappointed. You say there’s still time, but is there? I used to think the “Trump is a fascist” rhetoric was hyperbole until J6 happened, now the proof is on video. Just engaging with these posts on a leftist site could be getting me onto a McCarthy-style blacklist that would prevent me from getting a job.

There’s also a chance that the DNC still won’t get the message and we will do it all again in 2026, 2028, and so on. I guess beatings will continue until morale improves.

People handed the election on a silver platter to a guy who refused to concede in 2020, and shills are on here saying that Harris is incapable of leading because she took a while to concede?

And I bet those same people complain that Gore conceeded too soon in 2000.

What’s this about the Dems having control of the house? Another person that needs a civics lesson? It’s like the cultists saying that “Kamala had 4 years to fix these problems” because they don’t know how our government works.

The Dems have had control of the government for exactly 2 years since 1980. I don’t understand how anyone can blame the Dems for the state our country is in.

The silver lining in all this is that now that Republicans have complete control, it will be impossible for shills and cultists to blame the Dems.

My Subaru needed head gasket twice, transmission failed, and needed a catalytic converter, among other things that don’t even exist on an electric car. Maybe if ICE companies and dealerships didn’t screw people over so hard, I’d consider buying one again. I’m going to try something different this time.

Dealer lied to me to get the sale in multiple ways, saying that the head gasket issue was fixed (it was, but not for the car they were selling me) and told me that the transmission fluid was not supposed to ever be changed (it was, and not changing it is probably why the transmission failed). Bunch of scammer scumbags, my next car will NOT be purchased from a dealer. If their business model requires a state law forcing them into the middle of a transaction, they’re parasites.

I’d donate to Trump by buying a Tesla before I’d purchase a car from a dealership again.

Crazy that people paint around switches and smoke detectors instead of unscrewing them.

All of this is great except the shoes, get some new/better shoes it’s worth it, your body will thank you later.

I find that they have a lot of mistaken assumptions that are just lies repeated by Fox News. Sometimes they don’t even watch Fox, they’re just surrounded by people that do.

I like to focus on the economic issues, since there is hard math for the economy and I find it’s not productive to argue with someone who is terrified that a trans person might be in the same bathroom as their child. I find these people literally start foaming at the mouth over that stuff and I just don’t have the right math or words to cut through the rabies.

For example. I’ve heard Republican voters say that Republicans are better for the economy and reducing the national debt. Ask them which Republican presidents have left office with a reduced deficit?

Ask them if they know how much it added to the national debt when Reagan, Bush, and Trump passed tax cuts primarily for the rich and corporations.

Let them know that you’re also concerned about the economy and the deficits, and show them a chart of federal spending and ask them whether they want to cut Social Security, Medicare, or defense spending to pay for more tax cuts for the rich and corporations.

Then ask them why DON’T the Republicans cut ANY of those things to pay for their tax cuts? Why do those deficits just get passed on to the next Democrat and blamed on them? How are Republicans going to reduce the deficit when it’s not politically feasible with their base to cut ANY of those three things?

When it comes to immigration, ask them why they think immigrants are trying to get here in the first place. Show them Smedley Butler and talk about the war on drugs and ask them if they think the US is partially to blame for the violence in other countries that people are trying to escape from.

Also, show them the Maddox comic where he depicts immigrants “stealing our jobs”. Ask them who is hiring these illegal immigrants and why? Ask them who the managers and owners of those companies vote for and why those people might have an incentive to preserve the “illegal” status of those employees.

Maybe Amazon will develop a system where Ring/Alexa will let the drivers into your house to use your bathroom, in exchange for showing fewer ads on Prime Video.

That’s not even true, they interrupted episode 2 of Rings of Power for me.

I paid for the ad free add-on while Rings of Power is on but after that I’ll just cancel Prime completely until there’s another show I want to watch, so they’re overall losing money from me with this decision.

When I first used the Adobe suite it was on a Mac, I assumed it ran best on non-Windows machines. This was in 2005… Why would they have to make it so hard to use on Linux?

I think it was 5 to 6 that was a really tough one for me because we had an in-house state management library that broke with the major breaking changes to RxJS. After that was pretty much no issue all the way from 6 to 17.

I’ll never look at my phone the same way again