Comments on: The rest of us are end users https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/ From the ancient Greek for equality in freedom of speech; an eclectic mix of thoughts, large and small Fri, 24 Apr 2026 06:10:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: Grasspunk https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/comment-page-1/#comment-2535318 Grasspunk Thu, 12 Jan 2017 15:27:03 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=41316#comment-2535318 Or Nixie tubes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxL4ElboiuA

It’s not adding much beyond what Mike in Boston said but it’s way cool.

]]> By: Mike in Boston https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/comment-page-1/#comment-2535190 Mike in Boston Wed, 11 Jan 2017 21:11:01 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=41316#comment-2535190 To me, the focus on the exact specs of the familiar yellow No. 2 pencil is a worthwhile metaphor for how hard it would be to re-create from scratch the production of technological artifacts which depend on duplicating past specifications more exactly. Damascus steel or Polaroid film seem like good examples.

]]> By: Gaikokumaniakku https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/comment-page-1/#comment-2534916 Gaikokumaniakku Tue, 10 Jan 2017 12:36:06 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=41316#comment-2534916 Cassander:

Technically, there are no literal falsehoods in I, Pencil, but it is usually misinterpreted.

It is true that no one man can make a pencil that satisfies the specifications laid out in that essay — weird metal thing holding eraser, eraser, graphite “lead”, yellow paint, etc.

However, there are many men who can single-handedly make a functional writing utensil.

Those writing utensils don’t match the specs given in the essay, so they are not counterexamples.

However, the propaganda usage of I, Pencil conflates exact specs with essential functions.

It’s propaganda, and no engineer should believe it.

]]> By: Lucklucky https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/comment-page-1/#comment-2533780 Lucklucky Thu, 05 Jan 2017 00:08:40 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=41316#comment-2533780 Precisely, Cassander.

]]> By: Cassander https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/comment-page-1/#comment-2533764 Cassander Wed, 04 Jan 2017 22:44:07 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=41316#comment-2533764 See I, Pencil. No one can re-build the modern world. A jet-engine engineer in North America might know how to design and build an engine, but he knows nothing about how to mine for the ores he makes them out of, how to write the CAD software he designs it on, how to coordinate a global logistical system to refuel the jet once it’s built, and so on. The system depends on, at least, hundreds of millions, everyone of whom is an end user for someone.

]]> By: Lucklucky https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/comment-page-1/#comment-2533722 Lucklucky Wed, 04 Jan 2017 18:24:04 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=41316#comment-2533722 But are smart people smart in everything? Or are they smart in some ways and stupid in others?

]]> By: Isegoria https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/comment-page-1/#comment-2533717 Isegoria Wed, 04 Jan 2017 17:57:05 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=41316#comment-2533717 I was reminded of Joe Rogan’s point that we are not smart.

]]> By: Hulagu https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/comment-page-1/#comment-2533714 Hulagu Wed, 04 Jan 2017 17:53:13 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=41316#comment-2533714 Same as with us Mongols. We can destroy but we cannot create. We can use the inventions of others and the technology of others but cannot create technology of our own making. When we destroyed the library of Baghdad we threw the books into the river because the books did not talk to us. What good are they?

]]> By: Ross https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/comment-page-1/#comment-2533696 Ross Wed, 04 Jan 2017 16:49:20 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=41316#comment-2533696 -Take one (1) sprinkle of sufficiently advanced technology,
-Mix with dash of Atlas Shrugging,
-Agitate
-Chill

Serves none.

]]> By: Felix https://www.isegoria.net/2017/01/the-rest-of-us-are-end-users/comment-page-1/#comment-2533682 Felix Wed, 04 Jan 2017 15:13:22 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=41316#comment-2533682 “these few million … could re-create every object in the world again”

By magic, presumably, as the author apparently believes.

In the real world these few millions would struggle to survive as inept cave men.

That’s even if they were magically transported to the same Garden-of-Eden location on Earth when “all of civilization’s works” were destroyed.

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