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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 4th, 2023

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  • kae@lemmy.catoCanada@lemmy.caIs this true, Canada?
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    10 months ago

    It was… Once upon a time. Now those who drink coffee largely regard it as brown, burnt water.

    Tim Hortons was once a magical place that lives up to the nostalgia fuel marketing that drives the franchise to this day. Every single store has actual bakers on staff who made the pastries, the coffee was genuinely fresh, and it seemed like staff were valued.

    Then it got sold to the investment bankers and franchise conglomerates. It’s been min/maxed to death, whittling down every cost to the bare minimum. Things taste like cardboard, and people go because it’s there.

    Interestingly enough, when McDonald’s moved into the coffee game, they picked up the bean contract that Tim Hortons held for eons. Tim’s dropped it for cost, and not an insignificant amount of people swapped over to McDonald’s for their coffee.


  • It’s articles like this that make me glad there are numerous horses in the race.

    Autonomous driving is an incredibly complex problem. We have people like Musk who thought they could throw money at the problem and have it solved in a few years, with disastrous results.

    We’ve lost Uber, and Cruise is flagging. Both had been touted as examples to follow. Both have had some serious safety problems from moving too quickly and lacking caution.

    Behind all of this is Waymo. Plodding along, gathering vast amounts of data and experience and iterating slowly.

    I think they, out of all these players, understand the stakes at hand, and the potential profit on the other end. But you have to get it right. It has to be nearly perfect, because people need to trust it, and our emotions are fickle.




  • The headline is the least interesting part of the interview. Basically, everything is so curated and pre-planned, it’s hardly a debate. The politicians are playing to TV.

    His thoughts on decision making, national unity, and the state of the country were more interesting to me. Especially when he broke out of a partisan mindset. Particularly when he hints how media has become lazy in searching social media and blowing things up from a relatively minor part of the population, rather than doing journalistic work. When he was PM, those discussions happened in the community bar. If you weren’t present, you missed the discussion entirely.




  • Hook, line, and sinker? No. But Pixel Pass was a money thing, this promise is a brand thing.

    Most people didn’t know Pixel Pass exists. They drop this promise, and I guarantee you your grandparents will know about it. It’s a brand killer kind of moment.

    All I’m saying is the scales tip in favour of them holding this up. We’re on the 8th generation of Pixel phones now. Generations 4&5 we’re rough, but they stuck it through when it would have been easier to walk away.


  • This is a great move for Google, and goes beyond the minimum of what they needed to do. That’s a huge step forward for them, Pixels, and Android as a whole.

    Right from the first Pixel, Google was seeking (for better or worse) to take a bite out of Apple’s pie. They’ve largely been successful in that. Without Google entering the fray, it would only be Samsung left.

    They’ve elevated the hardware expectations of Android devices. Pushed the envelope of software integration. Shown that a bloat free experience is preferable and possible for the consumer (even though many here on Lemmy want a Google free device, that is a different discussion).

    Now they didn’t merely match other OEMs, but exceeded their updated promises by years.

    Android isn’t going anywhere. This is a pillar of their company now, and Pixels are a key part of that strategy. If Google dumped making Pixels, the whole Android ecosystem would be in doubt, because who would make phones if the maker itself doesn’t believe in them? Google, by jumping into the fray, has moved from a platform provider to a pillar of the hardware ecosystem.

    So despite all the cynicism, which is justified for all but their core software, this promise has teeth. If they don’t follow through on this, we’re likely seeing the demise of Google as a company, not just the Pixel line.




  • The idea of the product is really great. The cost is prohibitive for all but major corporate customers.

    Add in Google’s track record of killing products… just like this… and why would you invest?

    Jamboard needs to be a tablet companion app first, and the hardware can follow. If they’re going to keep coming up with these halo products, then they need to support them for the long term. They also need to be willing to bite the bullet and give these away to lock people into Workspace because it’s unique and no one else does it.

    Now it’s another reason to not buy in.


  • I’m shocked.

    We’re in for an interesting few years with Alberta. Anecdotally, some of my friends who live in rural Alberta voted for the UCP because the Alberta NDP allegedly cost them billions in oilfield investment.

    When I pointed out that all cars were going to be electric by 2030/35, this was news to them. They had no idea that now was the time to pivot the economy to solar/wind and prepare for the not so distant future.

    This is very much a get my friends rich scheme, while the people suffer. There is a precipitous cliff coming for Albertans, and ignorance won’t be an option.