You would think that Cursor's leadership would be aware of other cases where LLM customer support went awry - e.g. that Canadian airline whose chatbot promised a bereavement discount, ending with a judge ordering them to honor the chatbot's BS.
I suspect Cursor told themselves that they are super-smart AI experts who would never make an amateur mistake like the airline, they will use prompt engineering + RAG. With this, it will be unpossible that the LLM could make a mistake.
Computers can't have unique experiences. I think it's going to replace search, but becoming sentient? Not in my lifetime, granted I'm getting up there.
I think the courts were pretty clear, prove damages. I'm not saying I agree in any capacity, but the AI companies went to court, and it appears they've already won.
Edit: In many other threads on HN, people lament and protest the difficulty of getting paid well as a freelancer or small business in the technology industry. Let’s not trash someone for charging a handsome price for a product that’s had a lot of time, thought and design talent invested into it. Everybody knows that other clocks ant timers exist. Nobody is forced to buy this one. But we can still appreciate the effort and talent that someone has put into trying to create something beautiful, and respect them for charging a premium for it. And let’s keep Hacker News from being a place for grumpiness, especially about people trying to make nice new things.
But it's much more than just a digital clock. It's a very bright LED remote display. It's easily programmable. Also, take note of both the desktop and the mobile apps, plus both Mater and Home Assistan integrations.
Of course a device like this can be built for 10% of the price tag, or maybe for $0 if you already have the spare parts lying around, and just enjoy writing Arduino firmware sometimes. But for a less techy customer this thing makes total sense, and for a corporate customer it seems to have the full package for a hassle-free deployment somewhere in a sales department.
BOM is always a very minor part of such projects, say, 5%; the major cost is electronic / mechanical / software engineering, then marketing (including the very good web site) and sales, production and shipping, etc.
Nothing wrong with that. It's okay to indulge the things that tickle your fancy now and then, even if you're a super serious adult who's vibe coding the next OpenAI 36 hours per day, 15 days per week.
I don’t think the timer and status is for you, so much as for other people in your physical world. Examples would be someone who works at home who needs a way to signal to spouse/kids that they are busy and when they will be free, or an office worker who gets frequent walk up interruptions.
While there are certainly much cheaper ways to solve this problem, I think there is a market. Specifically podcasters and YouTubers who film at home, love gadgets that will look good in the background of a video, and love gear more than the work itself.
When I was in the office I solved this with a hoodie. If the hood was up, I was focusing and people generally didn’t bother me. I never even said anything or realized I was doing it, people just got it.
I bet the core audience is not software engineers, but sales, higher-level customer support, and other professionals with relatively expensive time who also need to work with people around.
But I think the makers hope to have some extra sales from the people buying it as a toy, too.
What makes these tactics the "right thing"? I as a prospective employee don't get to quiz the interviewer using the same tactics? I can ask questions, but how I do know they're knowledgeable and that I want to work for them? Or should I be thankful they're even talking to me? I think it's a terrible practice and that we can do better.
They have money / job to offer. You (presumably) do not. And generally, you are the one applying. So the power dynamic is mostly in the companies favor.
If you are so good and have options that you can turn down companies, just tell the company you refuse to do leetcode style, and see what happens.
For really good people, yes the tables can and do turn.
The company is not forcing you to interview for them. You can interview for a job that does not require you to solve a programming question, if that’s what you’d prefer. People who try to moralize their way out of lying are frankly despicable. Just own up that you’re a cheater and don’t care about honesty. It’s not a crusade; it’s self interest.
No, they're just contacting me daily on LinkedIn asking if I can be a founder, or interested in leading something I have zero interest in or experience. I'm telling people "not interested" several times a week, let alone taking a quiz. The irony is sales people make 2x-10x more than any engineer and they never get tested.
They can bake any Tom Clancy style excuse they want. They broke the law and they're incompetent. Even if you want to ignore one, they still need to go. Making mistakes like this anywhere else would cost you your job.
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