“It should’ve been an app”. Yeah sure, but it’s a ton easier to sell a $200 cool looking gadget vs trying to get people to pay $100+ for an app. Also you don’t have to deal with the gate keepers that’ll do everything in their overwhelming power to Sherlock you into the ground in a few months.
@paul shipping beta freemium apps of way different than shipping beta hardware that people have paid hundreds or thousands for (and still don't really own because the platform isn't open/hackable).
@juancommander I will be reading that paper on OpenAlex with interest, so congrats on that. I've been doing some consulting and taking a little time off, myself. Definitely enjoying spring finally getting here. Things are blooming about a month later than last year!
#Mastodon forms new 501(c)(3) non-profit entity with new board of directors in the United States to facilitate tax-deductible donations and in-kind support:
@chema@Mastodon Why stop there? Maybe every employee should be put to a vote, as well? Literally no company in the world has a user-elected board of directors. Why do you think that is? Is it possible that using a platform and running a platform are different skillsets? I've worked for a platform where I was also a user & I now think so. 🤔
Don't get me wrong, representation is a great thing! Users should have representation in the roadmap and features and content moderation, for example.
@chema@Mastodon That's surprising and good to hear. I think I understand better where you're coming from now. So your experience is all advocacy-related? Would it be correct to say your concerns are, at a high-level, about the corrupting influence of money or is it more about capitalism as a structural factor?
@chema@Mastodon That's fair. I suppose I was biased by seeing so many arguments in the thread that basically boil down to "capitalism bad" that I mistook where you're coming from. My time on the inside of a content platform certainly exposed me to a lot of user input that was terrible because there's so much they don't know on the outside, but I can see the value of representation in some form.
@chema@Mastodon That all checks out, including the bit about capitalism (though I'd argue it's not as bad as various other things that have been tried), but I think a content platform presents unique challenges due to the heterogeneity of the user base. It would be interesting to see who would seek to be elected, what their platform would be, etc. It seems inevitable there would be pressure to have multiple seats and then you're basically creating the Fediverse Congress.
Me, feeding 2 people and 2 cats on a 60k EUR salary without benefits (because technically self-employed), reading those comments that claim a 501(c)(3) is some kind of nefarious scheme to hide money 😐
Myth: Universal Basic Income is a magnet for the idle. In reality, it's the catalyst for unleashed potential. Visualize a world where your next meal isn't your next worry. That world is one giant leap closer to solving the puzzles of poverty and unleashing collective brilliance.
@josh@kfury How about this: Ask it questions where learning is asymmetrical. Where it's hard to learn but easy to validate. Questions about tax regulations, for example, or historical facts, or about any complex subject where there's a lot written, it's hard to know where to look to find the answer, but you know it when you see it
@kevincollier maybe not, but in the thread you screenshotted, he's making a lot of sense. It's hard to make Musk a sympathetic figure, but that's the way to do it.