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by brotchie 86 days ago
OpenClaw is just like any other tool, you need to learn it before its power is available to you.

Just like anything in engineering really: you have to play around source control to understand source control, you have to play around with database indexes to learn how to optimize a database.

Once you've learned it and incorporated it into your tool set, you then have that to wield in solving problems "oh, damn, a database index is perfect for this."

To this end, folks doing flights and scheduling meetings using OpenClaw are really in that exploration / learning phase. They tackle the first (possibly uninventive thing) that comes to mind to just dive in and learn.

The real wins come down the line when you're tackling some business / personal life problem and go: "wait a second, an OpenClaw agent would be perfect for this!"
2 comments
phist_mcgee 86 days ago
>The real wins come down the line when you're tackling some business / personal life problem and go: "wait a second, an OpenClaw agent would be perfect for this!"

Such as?

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imiric 86 days ago
> OpenClaw is just like any other tool, you need to learn it before its power is available to you.

That's ridiculous. The utility of any tool is usually knowable before using it. That's how most tools work. I don't need to learn how to drive a car to know what I could use it for. I learn to drive it because I want to benefit from it, not the other way around.

It's the same with computers and any program. I use it to accomplish a specific task, not to discover the tasks it could be useful for.

OpenClaw is yet another tool in search of a problem, like most of the "AI" ecosystem. When the bubble bursts, nobody will remember these tools, and we'll be able to focus on technology that solves problems people actually have.

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wyre 86 days ago
Such a wrong take.

The utility of a program like Excel, Obsidian, Notion, Unity, Jupyter, or Emacs far beyond the knowledge of knowing how to use the product.

All of these products are hammers with nails as far as your creativity will take you.

Its wild to have be on a website called Hacker News, talking about a product that can make a computer do seemingly anything, and insisting its a tool in search of a problem.

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