We have a family friend who is blind and a programmer. It's interesting to hear his perspective. His hope and expectation are that it will greatly increase usability.
I've been thrown into the usability deep end due to my wife also losing her sight due to an autoimmune disorder, and my dad losing his sight due to Macular Degeneration. Honestly, it sucks, and I mean like rage quitting, phone throwing sucks. (Try it. Turn on voice assist and close your eyes.) If Apple can improve it through AI, where someone can just talk to the phone to do a series of tasks. It will honestly change everything. The number of aging people who are going to lose their vision in the U.S. is set to go up exponentially in the coming years. This could be an unprecedented win for them, if they solve this issue with AI.
I don't have experience with this kind of problem. But I don't think GenAI is the best tool for this, at least not until it's so rock-solid trustworthy that everyone uses such an interface. Even leaving aside AI questions, if I'm looking for a human personal assistant for someone who's blind, and that person will have unlimited access to their electronic life, I'm going to vet that person very, very carefully.
My point is that the user is adding another layer of abstraction, and that layer of abstraction needs itself to be trusted. When UI elements are really concrete and you can clearly see that you pressed a particular button and the thing you wanted happened, then the UI layer, at least, is a nonissue.
But in retrospect I don't know if my point was that good. The UI problem hasn't actually been solved, and an LLM-based chatbot may actually be more reliable for non-tech users since the user has to do less translation.
A few days ago, OpenAI released live video integration with Advanced Voice mode for ChatGPT—point your phone at something and ask what it sees, and it will tell you pretty accurately. I thought it was just a cool trick until I read the top comment on their YouTube video announcement: “I'm screaming. As a visually impaired person, this is what I was eagerly waiting for. Still screaming! Thank you, Sam, Kev and the entire team over at OpenAI.”
Google released a similar feature with Gemini 2.0 last week. While it doesn’t seem to be integrated with a smartphone app yet (at least on iOS), it can be used through the AI Studio browser interface.
Sorry to hear about what is happening in your family.
I think your perspective is spot on. VUI (voice user interfaces) will absolutely change the way we interact with computers. After all, talking comes naturally to humans.
The digit divide (old people, very young people, illiterate) still exists. And will likely get bigger if VUIs don't get wide spread adoption.
> Sorry to hear about what is happening in your family.
Non-sequitur, but I cannot be the only person to find this sort performative empathy odd/out of place in this the context of HID accessiblity discussion.
While I use LLMs I also consider myself an LLM skeptic in terms of its role in upending the world and delivering the value promised by the folks hyping it up most aggressively.
However, using ChatGPT voice mode and considering the impacts on accessibility, especially if that quality of interactive voice functionality is able to be integrated well into the operating systems of devices we use every day, is very exciting.
LLM-based AI is not needed, or even useful. We know how to make voice interfaces that work, and work well: have done since the 80s. It's just expensive; and it's an expense that nobody in the industry is willing to pay, therefore nobody needs to do it in order to differentiate their product.
What you're missing is that AI solves the expense problem. As the OS vendor you already have an overview and easy access to all interfaces that you expose and it's straightforward to feed that into an integrated AI agent. Add a bit of glue code here and there and a simple implementation is nearly free. Of course, the real value lies in ironing out all the edge cases, but compared to doing all of that manually, it should still be orders of magnitude cheaper.
It's not, because "ironing out all the edge-cases" is orders of magnitude more expensive than just designing a system without edge-cases in the first place. What's cheap is getting away with not bothering: but then you end up with a tech demo, rather than a usable product.
in order to cure Macular Degeneration we have to develop many different technologies that can be used for power control, it's inevitable as our history shows cyclical nature and behaviors of humans are predefined throughout the history because conceptually the same ideas and thoughts are being encoded and rehashed and decoded by newer generations.
Anybody who is going to be shocked at what happens as far as aggressive policies aimed at women, minorities, immigrants, the elderly, and the lower income brackets really has no excuse. They haven't been shy in stating their intentions. You can say you made a choice to support it, but don't hide and say you didn't know.
100%. In 2016 it was fair to be shocked that he meant what he said literally rather than figuratively in a crass manner of getting elected. I think everyone expected he would cut to the middle once elected, as he was a New York democrat for his whole life. But in 2024 we now know that when he says something he means it.
I will firmly admit, that in the 2015 primaries I thought he was the lesser of 2 evils between him and Ted Cruz. I will absolutely state that I was foolish and wrong. That's not happening again.
They won't be shocked, it's literally what they wanted and why people voted the way they did. You can't just blame corruption or something anymore. It's what people want.
I think lots of voters want "let's deport all illegal immigrants!"
I think they would be shocked if they understood what kind of operation it would take to deport 15 million and what the side effects would be. For comparison, the entire (huge) prison population is 1.9 million.
I think some terrible things will happen to immigrants (and people suspected of being immigrants), but this scale doesn't seem possible and will be fought against by powerful interests (businesses employing them, etc).
Maybe they should just do what Canada does and have really high civil/criminal penalties for employing illegal immigrants (so no job, they just go back because no work)? The problem is that a lot of farmers, hotel owners, and people who work construction projects vote Republican also, so it seems like that will never happen in the US.
I could image a gradual shift to something like that. But if 15 million workers can't work suddenly, there aren't people to do those jobs. Those people also buy groceries, pay rent, etc.
Ya, but being more honest about immigration is better in the long term. Well, I say that, but that's what Canada did and people (not just conservatives) are still angry. Instead of blaming illegal immigrants, however, they just blame legal ones.
I think Canada had a poorly determined policy which the country couldn't handle the incredible surge of immigrants - especially those who came from south asia through the diploma mill college route and added limited value to the country. Also in Canada the more people come the worse the socialized services if it isn't properly managed (which it hasn't been).
Yes, they definitely over extended on legal immigration, although it should turn into a net positive maybe a decade later assuming they cut back on it now.
Even if their faulty assumption was true, wouldn't that just be a Keynesian approach to solving a recession? I though Keynes approach was that the government should step in a spend more to prevent a recession, essentially equalling what is lost in the free market.
Fully admit could be totally wrong on this. Just curious.
Government spending is how a Keynesian combats a recession. For perspective, though, look at this chart of government spending as a % of GDP. It has never gotten even close to 85% of GDP (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=8fX). Chamath claimed it was 85% of GDP growth, which is a different calculation, but looking at [this data](https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-10/gdp3q24-adv....) from the past couple of years you can see that the claim is still incorrect.
Are we in a recession? I don't think so. There was (still is) a possibility of a recession, due to elevated interest rates, but the way fiscal policy works, through Congress's appropriations, it is hopelessly lagging behind monetary policy (the Fed).
I worked in CC loan and processing for a period of time. Issuing cards is really a form of hedging. They make money on some and lose on others. The point is to win more than you lose. That's all. There are secondary and tertiary ways of making money off of the cards too. They can sell the pool of underperforming cards for a smaller sum of money, and they can write off losses to help with other ventures. Just a couple of examples.
Truthfully, that's what we did. It's not that difficult to run a 220v. You can even cap off a gas line and run in it it's place. The biggest problem you might have is needing to rewire part of your electrical box to make room.
Having used a plethora of stoves over my life, I can absolutely say I am convinced gas stoves are on their way out. I have not seen anything that an induction stove cannot do as well as a gas one. Even commercial establishments are switching to it. Will there be changes in how to use if effectively? Of course. That's to be expected. I can't see how the liability of an open flame won't outweigh changing.
A trend I don’t see people noticing is how much better and cheaper electronics is getting in recent years and how much that will change the world. Cheaper induction cooktops being just one of many examples, going from a luxury item to an everyday item is enough to largely squeeze gas out. I don’t like to see it being done via legislation, better off leaving it up to individuals and insurance. Let it die a natural death without making it social signal.
The reliability of mid grade appliances is trash. You can expect a new range to maybe last 10 years on average. An electric/induction stove will be so costly to repair you might as well buy a new one. A gas stove has much less complexity, and in a pinch you could just light it with a lighter.
Gas stoves continue to work when the electricity has failed (as it does sometimes, especially during storms). It can be days before electricity is restored after a bad storm.
Like, during the Texas IcePocalypse? If we didn’t have a gas stove and a gas fireplace, my wife and I would have died. There’s no way out of this neighborhood if the roads are all frozen, because we live on one of the steepest hills in Austin.
Sure, freezing doesn’t happen all that often, but we’ve had two big freezes in the past twenty or so years that we’ve lived here, and ERCOT has had multiple long power outages in that time.
So, don’t just worry about freezes. You also have to worry about your power supply/distribution company being made up of incompetent fools who are just out to line their own pockets and those of the other billionaires in the state.
I’m the gas fireplace is legit, but the stove can be replaced with butane cans.
I’ve been without heat in the Midwest in the winter (furnace died in a rental). It’s actually not that hard to keep a single room or two warm enough with simple painters plastic. Staple/tape them up and hang out in that room. By limiting airflow (don’t entirely cut off outside oxygen), you keep an amazing amount of heat in the space. Not warm, but certain manageable with a few layers of.
Propane heaters can also be used relatively safely.
But if you can’t safely get out of the house to go buy the nonexistent butane or propane heaters at the store because all the roads are frozen over and all the stores are closed, then that idea isn’t going to help you very much.
You can stir-fry on an induction cooker just like you can pull a caravan with a Fiat 500 (a small car for those who don't know the type), you just need a smaller caravan and travel at a slower pace. You might want to avoid those steep passes. Don't try to overtake, keep off the road when the wind is above 5 Bf. and avoid motorways.
I have a lot of experience in this what with me being Dutch - where Nasi Goreng (Indonesian-Chinese stir-fried rice) is somewhat of a national fare - and having cooked on:
- gas: one of the best options for stir-frying, you can use any type of wok/wadjang you want. Use the largest burner you can find so you can fry larger batches at the same time while keeping the heat up.
- resistance-electric (whether cast-iron or coil or ceramic or halogen): not what I'd choose for this, you need a flat-bottom pan which does not warp under high heat -> cast iron or heavy aluminium -> slow to respond. Generally not enough power for keeping up the heat while stir-frying larger batches.
- induction-electric: also needs a flat-bottom pan which needs to be ferromagnetic, many if not most domestic induction cookers lack the required power (4 kW or above) for a good result. Avoid 2 kW indiction cookers without 'boost' function as those are simply too weak for even small batches
- wood-burning stove with removable rings: together with gas the best option since you can sink the wok/wadjang down into the fire by removing enough rings and stoke up the fire to whatever heat you require. I can easily stir-fry 8 portions in a single batch in a large wok on the wood burner (nominal power 4.5 kW but it can go higher if needed).
So, gas or wood, take your pick. If you have to choose electric and you really want to be able to stir-fry you'll want to get an induction wok cooker.
I remember that in Canadian history. They did not go to war because England did, but I think it was they went to war because the monarchy declared it (?) (Please don't knock me too hard Canadian history was over 25 years ago for me.)
My heart goes out to those people. I am sure they are dedicated and talented individuals, but I don't understand why this is news. It's a company, and a project got canceled. It's what happens.
It's noteworthy because it's Apple, and it's self driving cars. If this has been 600 employees let go from something else it may not have gotten so much attention. But this is Apple, the world's largest company and it's about its mythical car project.
They’re the second biggest company in the world now, and by not that much. They’re doing fine.
It would be a different story if they suddenly dropped a magnitude or more, but going from first to second has basically no relevance on the content of the comment. It would have read the exact same if it said “second biggest company”.
In context finding new jobs for ~1400 out of ~2000 people working on a car protect seems reasonable simply because it’s very different from their usual project.
I doubt they have much need for mechanical engineers, drivers, mechanics, etc. Still unpleasant for those laid off, but I like seeing companies take these kinds of risks.
Huh, I didn't realize that Apple had mostly avoided it, but you're definitely right. In their defense, the other large tech companies just started trimming fat from everywhere it seems, where as this seems like a direct business decision to abandon an entire project. Still rough for those involved, but it feels less bad than the other mass layoffs to me.
I really wish you and others would not equate layoffs with "trimming fat".
It's kind of disgusting, and especially when these huge corps are still full of others doing plenty of non-meaningful work. Plenty of layoffs are illogical and due to internal politics.
Apologies for the language. I didn't intend it to come off that way. I was using the term in a generic way to mean "getting rid of stuff _they_ don't want". I didn't intend to refer to the actual staff as lesser.
All good - I'm reacting to people who remain at a place after layoffs then scoff at the people let go, like it couldn't happen to them. Usually sounds like drinking too much of HR's Kool-aid.
> 600 is a lot of human beings, and it follows a recent trend of tech companies' mass layoffs
It’s absurd to describe this as a mass layoff even relative to the 5,000 people Apple employed for this project alone. If a company can’t lay off a few hundred people after cancelling a major project, we’ve effectively banned it from taking risks.
> I'm not sure what you're getting at with the bit about companies taking risks
It’s clearly being criticised. If a culture rejects a company hiring five thousand and taking a bet with them for a decade, only for the bet to fail and six hundred be let go, that’s problematic.
Coming from defense, projects or contracts end all of the time but usually everyone is able to find other projects to work on. Why are they hiring for a bazillion positions while laying off these people?
You don’t know what kind of jobs got layed off. They could be very car specific and not useful for other product lines. I doubt they layed off 600 software engineers.
The project was rumored to have 5000 employees. It’s too much of a leap to assume that nobody working on it was moved to other work. And while any layoffs suck, 12% or so not finding a new place in the company seems remarkably good for a defunct project in a vertical like automotive.
I have heard that some jobs were able to find a new home. The work that was needed for Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) in the car, was adapted within the Vision Pro. But not all expertise translates easily.
It is still important news, however it seems to me this shouldn't be grouped into the same discussion as all of the other tech layoffs since this was tied to a canceled project.
Especially given that the car project was apparently 2000 people from the project, not being able to find other positions for about a quarter of those people is I think valid.
I mean yeah it is unfortunate for the people affected, but projects are canceled. It is entirely possible, especially given some of the unique skills needed specifically for a car, there are people who just won't have a place anywhere else.
I'm always surprised they didn't find somewhere else to put the people when this happens, though. Surely Apple has other projects that aren't cancelled?
Not necessarily disagreeing, but I believe when it was originally announced they said that the team on this project would be mostly migrated to their AI division.
What really disappoints me is the lack of creativity in generating revenue by providing the customer value. It's a sad state when a technology company can only do "Look what this other industry did; we should do it too!" It's obviously a pathetic sad ploy by someone who isn't good enough at reading their market demographic to come up with something better.
I put this in the same category as Wendy's attempting "surge" pricing to make more money during busy times. I really can't imagine wanting to pay extra for a basic hamburger that the drugged out employees can't seem to get right even on the best of days. Make something better, and I'll pay more.
I've been thrown into the usability deep end due to my wife also losing her sight due to an autoimmune disorder, and my dad losing his sight due to Macular Degeneration. Honestly, it sucks, and I mean like rage quitting, phone throwing sucks. (Try it. Turn on voice assist and close your eyes.) If Apple can improve it through AI, where someone can just talk to the phone to do a series of tasks. It will honestly change everything. The number of aging people who are going to lose their vision in the U.S. is set to go up exponentially in the coming years. This could be an unprecedented win for them, if they solve this issue with AI.
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