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by Aardwolf 1806 days ago
I don't want an OS to understand anything... I want it to run the things I want, when I tell it to
2 comments

My OS connects to wifi automatically. It suspends when I close the lid. It warms the color temperature at night to reduce eyestrain. It keeps a short log of all the things I've copied to the clipboard, and it maintains a display of the time and date. I don't have to tell it to do any of these things - they're based on (usually correct) assumptions about how I use my computer. It would be a pain if I had to tell it to do all those things explicitly, every time I wanted them.

An OS must dovetail with our lives. If we reject the ambition of a computer as an intelligent agent that cooperates with us, and demand that it take no action without explicit command, we limit its potential and make a lot of inconvenience for ourselves.

"I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"