[zkmon]

While personalization is definitely the trend, I don't think people are going to build code just to personalize. A tiny few of all who bought the device could do that. A few more could flash the device with some open firmware that gives more features and personalization and most will stick with the range of the personalization provided by the vendor.

For the most people, the risks outweigh the desire for tinkering. Personalization will grow right at the vendor offering, not in the hands of customer. People don't even have the time to cook their own recipes. People have their own chores to worry about. I'm talking about bulk of the customer base, not the geeks.

[Arainach]

I'd include the geeks in that.

I've been programming computers and tinkering with all sorts of hardware for more than 30 years. I first used FreeBSD in.....2001? and Linux not long after that. I've programmed OS code, I've grudgingly written VHDL, I've assembled a sound card for the Apple II I still have running - all this to say that I believe I'm in your tiny few.

And I'm so tired. Tired of having to debug all the things. Tired of having to pay attention to them. Tired of setting them up "just once" and then months later having to reverse engineer my own work because something failed.

So I don't. I leave nearly all my devices stock. I run Windows because I'm sick of debugging device driver issues. And I don't want personalized hardware with any electronics in it (bespoke wooden objects, those I love and make).

[duttish]

I get where you're coming from, though I'm not quite at 30 years yet. I like building stuff, I don't like configuring, debugging or troubleshooting my OS or computer. I just want it to work and get out of the way.

For me this has translated into a slightly different outcome: stock ubuntu with basically just zsh/powerlevel10k, I add component assembly when I buy a new desktop, I'm about to probably replace my home server with a NAS etc.

[fragmede]

Yeah I don't care how exactly my Linux laptop gets two finger scrolling going the right direction, all I know is that I can tell AI what I want and it'll go and change the setting for me.

[graemep]

> I run Windows because I'm sick of debugging device driver issues.

Lost me there. The rest is reasonable but other OSes (MacOS, Linux) also rarely have driver issues. Its not like Windows never needs fixing (these days more than Linux). These days you can buy computers with Linux pre-installed and compatible hardware.

My biggest problem with technology is with very stock stuff. Mobile apps that everyone pushes you to use that clutter up your phone and are often crap. Every time an app I use updates I wonder "what have they broken this time?".

[Arainach]

I'm tired of having this debate over and over. I still use Linux devices regularly at work and have a T420S and various RPi-like devices that run it, so it's not like I'm going off memories of 2010. I owned a Framework Laptop (designed to run Linux) and got rid of it in no small part because the battery life was so much worse on Linux than it was in Windows. I've worked at Google who (circa 2019) had an incredible team of IT specialists and specifically selected hardware and still struggled to get Bluetooth on Linux to work reliably for everyone.

I don't want to have to carefully pick hardware for compatibility. I want first class support for pen and touch. I value thin, light, and long battery over the ability to run a custom bootloader.

Here's a thread where I ranted with specific examples 3 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47463982

[graemep]

I am tired of arguing about this as I do not not have these problems and have not in many years over multiple machines.

Looking at your specific examples they are not a like for like comparison. Two are Ubuntu on Raspberry Pi issues (so on a device designed for experimentation, and not even running the usual distro). One is a bug in the GUI for True NAS. One is unhappiness with the default installed command line packages for Debian on WSL.

When I used Windows I had just as many irritants. It was very noticeable when I was using Linux at home and Windows at work (and is one reason I switched to Linux). it is definitely not true that Windows always works flawlessly for everyone in all circumstances. If you count every irritation you find with every Linux distro on a wide range of hardware it will add up to more than Windows on typical hardware. Have your tried Windows on your Pi? Have you replaced your TrueNas server with a Windows equivalent?

[willtemperley]

> Personalization will grow right at the vendor offering

I think so. There will be a short period, like now, where many will attempt to build their own products and the five good ideas out of five thousand will be incorporated into products built by those who know what they’re doing.

An absolutely technophobic friend asked me what agentic AI was today. I think Charlie Munger said “When even your barber is talking about it, sell and run”

[fragmede]

I'd bet Charlie Munger and his barber talk about cars and don't run. When we're talking random stock tips that's one thing but if it's possibly a foundational society changing technology like plastic, maybe your barber talking about it isn't the "get out now" signal that neat little story purports to be.

[willtemperley]

Nobody is questioning the longevity of AI. The internet itself wasn’t affected by pets.com but a lot of retail investors got burned. It’s going to happen again, I think perhaps in a different way.

For example many are treating vibe coding like slot machines and the app monetisation gamble is unlikely to pay off.