🔗 Business Thinking … resurfacing this post from 2020 - because sometimes we need to remind ourselves.
Where we have got to is not normal.
To change it is fully in our power.
I am back on this topic again.
In my world, Venkatesh Rao’s thinking on tis topic is front and center. Posting this now - because In other circles I found myself once more referencing his post from 2022 …
🔗 The Dawn of Mediocre Computing - Venkatesh Rao
A selection of quotes
Mediocre computing is computing that aims for parity with mediocre human performance in a realish domains where notions of excellence are ill-posed.
And ..
Excellent computing is computing that aims to surpass the best-performing humans in stylized, closed-world domains where notions of excellence are well-posed.
And ..
In the weird but realish world we live in, mediocre is actually harder than excellent, and way more useful.
And ..
In stylized domains like chess and Go, humans have to deliver exceptional performance (ie good enough to make money at them by winning championships) to ensure mediocre survival in the real world (enough prize money to live on).
There is a lot more besides, but I just realised that this journal had no connections back to this post - despite it being in my top 5 of VR posts (if number of references I have made is the measurement).
There’s also these ..
- His index to the 🔗 Mediocre Computing series.
- His index to a sister series; 🔗 Mediocratopia
Oh - and this ..
This morning’s song on rotate … 🎵🍎🔗 Thankyou Jarvis
🔗📼 Hamish on The Future of Media @ Ted
I remain a fan of what they are trying to do. There. I said it.
I published 🔗 Why Design Matters a few days ago tying the Ives/Collinson interview to some of the stuff I rattle on about.
I also referenced hesitations I have about Altman.
Today I watched the Ives/Altman video after that multi-billion …
- acquisition (as Altman calls it)
- merger (as Ives calls it)
As I added to that piece just this morning:
I remain mixed about Sam - it’s the odd inconsistencies that aggravate me - but - the fact that he and Elon are on opposite sides is a good signal and that he and Jony are on the same side gives me hope.
From an article by Noah Smith that I need to come back to and write more. I find those three groupings quite fascinating.
Added Later … sorry not helpful - right?
🔗 Is the U.S. in a ‘high-level equilibrium trap’? | Noah Smith
🚧 Still more to come.
Been following this show for a while, finally nailing the last episode of Series 3 over the weekend. Good enough to keep me coming back .. not good enough to have me binge watch, but a solid show …
There must be close to a couple of thousand hand curated links in 🔗Indieseek -
‘a human edited, Indieweb directory’
… painstakingly put together by @bradenslen
Well worth a visit and a click around - no slop allowed. I mean I’m not sure it actually says that - but knowing what I know of Brad, I think it would be safe to put money on it.
But there’s more - you can also submit your own indie site.
There are other places around that does this but they do seem to move in fits and starts. Indieweb seems to be steady, been around a while and gently growing.
Enjoy.
I am on a bit of a rant at the moment …
Over time, my initial reaction sharpened and what started as a critique became a little more spiky … then decidedly more tongue-in-cheek. Because while everyone else was raising a glass of shareholder Kool-Aid, I couldn’t ignore the inconvenient truth: efficiency with fewer people and more profit in a single corporation is ‘competitive edge’. BUT implementing that efficiency at scale is a problem for society without a counter balance. And ‘we’ are doing this - at massive scale - across the planet.
🎵 The inaugural Premiata Forneria Marconi album from 1972 just added to one of my 🔗 albumwhale lists