I run a business and have worked for large corporations, so let me run my mouth about this, too. TFA is not wrong -- there is literally no reason for no-reply emails.
you'll know that people hit reply and say "thanks" or some other pointless and useless response a lot.
True, but that's why the reply goes to a mail filtering system. Those "thanks" emails and such never need to take up a human's time.
The "no-reply" address will never go away as long as email exists.
This is probably correct. But the point is that companies that do this are sending the message "go away, you suck". If that's what they are intending to say, then no problem. But if they want to enhance customer retention, they may wish to take a different approach.
Dealers are very easy to avoid, though. Just buy your cars used from real people. I've been doing that my whole life, except once when I bought one from a dealer. That one was the only lemon I got stuck with.
The good news is that software recalls can often be corrected with over-the-air software updates.
Nope. No OTA updates for me. I don't trust companies to have access to my car (or computer, for that matter) any time they want. If I can't disable the communications channel, I'm not buying the car.
In many ways, though, things haven't changed at all. Those hobbyist websites still exist. The web (and other internet services) that we all remember and love is still there. It just doesn't look like it because Google won't help you find most of them.
I do think that the dominance of search engines has created a bit of an illusion here -- lots of people seem to think that if Google doesn't index it, then it must not exist, but that's not true. But some of my all-time favorite websites intentionally keep search engine crawlers away, or don't rank in the first couple of pages.
What is true is that the web has become much, much larger, and the moneymaking sites tend to scream louder than the hobbyist ones. But the hobbyist ones are still there.
On the other hand, not applying security updates automatically is arguably a worse problem.
That argument can be (and often is) made, but I remain unconvinced.
I think the true goal is to not only ensure updates are applied automatically, but automatically rollback if they fail for some reason. Which is exactly what Canonical are doing with Ubuntu Core and Snappy.
That addresses the issue of when updates cause a malfunction, but it doesn't address the issue of when updates cause a change of behavior that was intended, but is not desired by the user.
Nothing beats physical hardware for user controls.
I agree. There are many situations where physical controls are the best sort -- the prime example is in cars. Replacing physical controls with touch screens in cars is just downright evil.
But physical controls come with their own set of downsides: they wear out, they can't be easily reconfigured, etc.
I'm not amongst the new "skeuomorphic design is evil" school of thought at all, but anything can be overdone -- and some audio software is the perfect example of that.
I'll add this sort of thing to my lengthy list of reasons that you don't want to be locked into a walled garden: it subjects you further to the vagaries of international politics.
The way to protect against viruses is to not run any code that you have no reason to trust.
The problem with that is that it means that you can't use any software that you didn't write yourself, wasn't written by a person you know and trust, or that you didn't carefully examine the source to.
White House cybersecurity coordinator Rob Joyce this week advised against consumer use of Kaspersky software. This may be good politics, but CSOonline's Fahmida Rashid warns that it's bad infosec.
No need to worry. Most Americans don't take anything the White House has to say seriously, anyway.
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This is a really good point.
It's also a very difficult problem. How can you tell people how to get in touch with you if you can't say so in the email?
I run a business and have worked for large corporations, so let me run my mouth about this, too. TFA is not wrong -- there is literally no reason for no-reply emails.
you'll know that people hit reply and say "thanks" or some other pointless and useless response a lot.
True, but that's why the reply goes to a mail filtering system. Those "thanks" emails and such never need to take up a human's time.
The "no-reply" address will never go away as long as email exists.
This is probably correct. But the point is that companies that do this are sending the message "go away, you suck". If that's what they are intending to say, then no problem. But if they want to enhance customer retention, they may wish to take a different approach.
Man, which company's call center do you work for? I want to make sure I never do business with them.
Probably not. That's fine, though, because I really dislike buying new cars. My concern is when these things trickle down into the used car market.
they can clue you in a bit
I think you misspelled "they can take you for a ride".
Dealers are very easy to avoid, though. Just buy your cars used from real people. I've been doing that my whole life, except once when I bought one from a dealer. That one was the only lemon I got stuck with.
I wish! But that appears to be a pipe dream.
I'm just hoping that self-driving cars make owning a car unnecessary before I can't find (relatively) software-free ones anymore.
Nope. No OTA updates for me. I don't trust companies to have access to my car (or computer, for that matter) any time they want. If I can't disable the communications channel, I'm not buying the car.
Once a product gets enough features, it's just not practical to have everything be it's own physical control.
True, but it's entirely practical to dynamically remap physical controls so that you can pick what they're actually controlling at any given time.
You'll just love the Tesla Model 3.
That's hardly unique to the Tesla -- but you're right, that sort of thing makes it very unlikely that I'd buy one.
In many ways, though, things haven't changed at all. Those hobbyist websites still exist. The web (and other internet services) that we all remember and love is still there. It just doesn't look like it because Google won't help you find most of them.
I do think that the dominance of search engines has created a bit of an illusion here -- lots of people seem to think that if Google doesn't index it, then it must not exist, but that's not true. But some of my all-time favorite websites intentionally keep search engine crawlers away, or don't rank in the first couple of pages.
What is true is that the web has become much, much larger, and the moneymaking sites tend to scream louder than the hobbyist ones. But the hobbyist ones are still there.
I think that YaCy might make you very happy: http://yacy.net/
That something good came of it doesn't actually make their practices acceptable, though.
That's not the horrible part. What makes them horrible is that they do this with people who have not given consent.
On the other hand, not applying security updates automatically is arguably a worse problem.
That argument can be (and often is) made, but I remain unconvinced.
I think the true goal is to not only ensure updates are applied automatically, but automatically rollback if they fail for some reason. Which is exactly what Canonical are doing with Ubuntu Core and Snappy.
That addresses the issue of when updates cause a malfunction, but it doesn't address the issue of when updates cause a change of behavior that was intended, but is not desired by the user.
And people should get that Facebook app off their phones.
Facebook is just horrible.
The apps Apple is pulling are specifically ones that were produced by Iranian developers in the first place.
Central control is dangerous, even when the party with the control is a "good guy".
Who are these "good guys" I hear people talk about? I think they may be imaginary.
Nothing beats physical hardware for user controls.
I agree. There are many situations where physical controls are the best sort -- the prime example is in cars. Replacing physical controls with touch screens in cars is just downright evil.
But physical controls come with their own set of downsides: they wear out, they can't be easily reconfigured, etc.
I'm not amongst the new "skeuomorphic design is evil" school of thought at all, but anything can be overdone -- and some audio software is the perfect example of that.
Using reddit as supporting evidence doesn't make your assertion more persuasive.
I'll add this sort of thing to my lengthy list of reasons that you don't want to be locked into a walled garden: it subjects you further to the vagaries of international politics.
The way to protect against viruses is to not run any code that you have no reason to trust.
The problem with that is that it means that you can't use any software that you didn't write yourself, wasn't written by a person you know and trust, or that you didn't carefully examine the source to.
No need to worry. Most Americans don't take anything the White House has to say seriously, anyway.