Ep. 218 - Donkey Milk, with Kris Graft

whatsarobot

goonbag Genuinely fascinating topics. Most of what you put behind the spoiler wall reminded me of this terrifying (in its implications) A**le Watch ad which my friend shared with me today.

goonbag

whatsarobot Those tech companies sure have a way of revealing cosmically horrifying new products/features as though the average perosn should feel nothing but a sense of blissful wonder 😬

Now I’m thinking about Elon Musk proudly showing off brain implants he stuck in a few pigs, pointing at the screen showing their brain waves like a proud dad at an ultrasound, apparently oblivious to the distinct outline of tentacles.

antillese

whatsarobot For context, I’ve spent my whole career in high tech and have pretty substantial privacy concerns about what the interconnectedness of all things means to us as individuals. I also biked over 2000 miles last year. I think automated emergency location reporting is an extremely valuable safety feature for when I go riding by myself.

esper

kept it simple this time, otherwise we’d end up with another 10+ minute super cut of every milk mention

yeso

antillese yes as a thru-hiker I’d like normal consumer watch/phone to have this feature: but the problem with the apple watch is the battery life which makes it useless in the actual wilderness. Would be nice not to deal with expensive/weird satellite devices and subscriptions

goonbag

yeso that’s the other problem besides battery, isn’t it - connectivity? i assume the watch can only do this in areas with regular phone coverage.

anyway, the revulsion some of us are feeling towards the ad isn’t related to the practical application, it’s the 2001: a space odyssey-esque presentation. times when my life depends on it is exactly when i DON’T want my disembodied robot assistant to have a faux-personality. what if the emergency call operator has an accent siri doesn’t understand, and instead of confirming your location for rescue uses the last hour of battery blasting your workout playlist on apple music?

antillese

goonbag My Garmin GPS headunit (aka Bike Computer) requires my phone. I tell it up to 5 contacts and when it detects a potential fall, it informs you “I am about to send a message to your contacts with your current location. Cancel this within 30 seconds if you don’t want to do this”. I’ve had it false positive once and I thought it was pretty great. Had plenty of time to come to a safe stop and tell my GPS that I’m OK and not to text my wife and brother.

Apple Watches are sold with and without cell radios. If you have a non-cellular watch, you’d need your phone. It’s my understanding it works in a similar fashion with text messages. I don’t have a watch like this so I can’t speak much more about the features that are marketed as location-sensitive safety features.

yeso

goonbag yeah cell service and battery life are dealbreakers with apple and the outdoors. The only way to have reliable communication in the wilderness is with a satellite communicator, but those are pricey both at purchase and through a subscription service so I’d like something that isn’t an added expense. But yes that particular commercial was offputting

whatsarobot

Good discussion about the pros and cons of the feature shown in the ad, but to be very clear about the reason I personally find this feature creepy: I don’t like the idea of my watch having the ability to automatically call the police whenever it decides I’m engaging in an activity or venturing into territory that it deems inappropriate. I realize that’s not the functionality it’s designed with, but this ad creates the possibility space for that kind of scenario.

yeso

You’re right I just immediately thought of my ultra-narrow use case lol

goonbag

It’s the personification that makes it so distateful though, isn’t it? I mean, unless you go to some pretty extreme lengths, the cops can see what you’re up to on your phone whenever they want, and a lot of it is logged in real time on servers somewhere, just in case. We all know that, right? And just don’t think about it moment to moment? But suddenly here’s Siri proactively calling the authorities without you asking her to. Eww.

whatsarobot

goonbag Yes, exactly. There’s a shamelessness that this introduces. It’s as if A**le is daring us: “Just how upfront will you allow us to be with regards to our ownership of your autonomy?”

pizzascrub

gonna “fall” near the water tower and have blurphus and brickulees “jump” any cops that i lure

pizzascrub

was just listening to an old episode and it’s actually a pretty good punchline that after months of “ONE DAY EARLY” you no longer can get the podcast one day early

hellomrkearns

yeso

hellomrkearns let’s be honest, that’s rat milk. Mouse milk just focus tested better

exodus

oh no

Gaagaagiins

yeso hellomrkearns let’s be honest, that’s rat milk. Mouse milk just focus tested better

** spits out milk in a torrential spray ** Waiter!! I say, waiter!! What is the meaning of this?? I specifically requested mouse milk, not rat milk! What, did you think I could not tell the difference in flavor/mouthfeel?

yeso

Gaagaagiins thnking about drinking milk from a rat like its a Capri sun… donkey milk sounds pretty good now. The Overton window in action

devilsblush

goblin eyes

edit: I’m walking around the house tidying up with the words ‘goblin eyes’ pulsing through my brain

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