Shell recorded a record profit in 2022 of $40,000,000,000.That’s 40 billion. That’s double their $20,000,000,000 in 2021. Aren’t you happy for them? Because your life is great too. — Phil Hendrie (@realphilhendrie) February 2, 2023 How much should they make? Apple made $120 billion selling gadgets. Shell sells a product people need. Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Gadgets
Is A.I. a Threat to Humankind?
Not with a bang but a whimper, as T.S. Eliot used to say. In some countries, the people are kept in a state of submission by violence and/or threats of violence, but here in America, the same effect is achieved via mindless entertainments and gadgetry. Read more →
Why is Alexa an Improvement?
A neighbor is giving me a tour of his home improvement gadgets . . . We walk into the living room and he says, speaking slowly and distinctly, “Alexa, turn off all the living room lights.” After a couple of seconds, the living room lights dim and go out. “Why is that an improvement?” I ask. “I could have turned the lights off and on 15 times by hand in the same amount of time.” Later, I told my wife about this . . . “Maybe you’re sitting down and you don’t want to get up to turn out the lights,” she suggested. “You want to sit in the living room in the dark?” Read more →
The 30 Most Anticipated TV Shows
My fellow Americans — I just saw a link to The 30 Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2016. How many TV shows do you people have if thirty of them are the most anticipated?! Some despotic regimes around the world rely on starvation and threats of violence to keep the people in a state of submissive compliance. Here in America, the same collective stupor is effected via mindless entertainments and gadgetry. I’d like to see my countrymen raise themselves out of depression, paralysis and failure and resist this massive government/corporate dystopia — But I might miss my TV programs, said the serfs and lackeys. Read more →
Raising Our Kids
Let's just hope these tablets are better at raising our kids than cable. — Paul Danke (@pauldanke) June 24, 2014 Read more →
Do You Want to Take the Human Race to the Next Plateau?
In 1986, Steve Jobs famously challenged John Sculley, asking him if he wanted to keep on making sugar water or help Apple change the world. While that did not quite work out the way either of them intended, the challenge itself still holds. Do you want to spend your next decade developing more digital distractions to amuse people while they stand in line at Starbuck’s, or do you want to take the human race to the next plateau? — Geoffrey Moore Read more →
You Say Anarchy, Sir, Like It’s a Bad Thing
Frankly, one of our political parties is insane, and we all know which one it is. They have descended from the realm of reasonableness that was the mark of conservatism. They dream of anarchy, of ending government. — Bruce Bartlett My fellow Americans — I’ll tell you who’s insane: anyone who’s not dreaming of anarchy at this moment in history is insane. People forget that this great nation was founded by anarchists, born out of an armed revolution against a corrupt government. As I said at the time, “Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.” I assure you, though, that regrettably neither current political party dreams of anarchy. They both dream of exactly the same things: self-aggrandizement and rewarding their most powerful supporters with political spoils. The well-known liberal cartoonist Ted Rall wrote a book a couple… Read more →
Cool Gadgets You Can’t Get
His mom and I are trying to get the boy to log off the computer and go to bed. “Hang on,” he says, “I’m looking at a PC World thing.” “What is it?” I ask. “’10 Cool Gadgets You Can’t Get in the U.S.’” “If you can’t get them in the U.S., what do you care?” “They’re cool. Don’t forget about that part.” His mom is running out of patience. “Oh, am I steaming,” she says. The boy’s still looking at the computer. “Mmmm . . . cool,” he says. Read more →