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   Charlie Owen (whalecoiner@indieweb.social)'s status on Monday, 20-Feb-2023 01:46:07 JST Charlie Owen

   The narrative of “normal users shouldn’t have to learn basic technology” is valid. But to make that happen you need to make everything a Product. Smooth, and shiny, and without responsibility. Which is exactly what we’ve been doing for decades and look at where that has got us.

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     Charlie Owen (whalecoiner@indieweb.social)'s status on Monday, 20-Feb-2023 01:46:08 JST Charlie Owen

     in reply to

     Cars are a Product. You get in and press a button and off you go. You take it into a magic cave once a year and it gets Made Better. You drive into a magic house once a week and it gets fed by elves.

     A bicycle is the opposite of a Product. You need to know how it works. You need to be able to fix it when the chain comes off. You repair it, and inflate tyres, and adjust it to you.

     Cars are killing the planet and no one wants to ride bicycles because they get wet.

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     Charlie Owen (whalecoiner@indieweb.social)'s status on Monday, 20-Feb-2023 01:46:10 JST Charlie Owen

     in reply to

     I say this as someone who has long worked in frontend and who cared about UX for the things that I built.

     Product Thinking robs people of responsibility for their choices. It assumes that money can smooth away the rough edges, and that Delight is a key metric.

     clacke repeated this.
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     Charlie Owen (whalecoiner@indieweb.social)'s status on Monday, 20-Feb-2023 01:48:09 JST Charlie Owen

     in reply to

     Perhaps I’m getting #SolarPunk in my old age, but we need to start building our own shit and maintaining what we’ve got. Product Thinking is anathema to that.

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     Charlie Owen (whalecoiner@indieweb.social)'s status on Monday, 20-Feb-2023 01:48:14 JST Charlie Owen

     in reply to

     BTW this is NOT an endorsement of every male tech nerd who delights in knowing more than others and being a special little boy.

     This is about people taking responsibility for the tech that they use and OWNING it, rather than being a passive consumer.