JasSmith

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge

Could you recommend a good rental company? Maybe I’ve been picking the wrong ones.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in ‘Enshittification’ is coming for absolutely everything

I really think this is overblown. Almost all the services encompassed by the term are luxury. We don’t need Netflix. Just stop paying for it. Businesses all follow a similar trajectory: concept -> growth -> monetisation -> decline. If you’re over 30 you’ve seen many companies rise and fall. They all fail eventually, and from their ashes rise new companies. If you’re ambitious, you’ll capitalise on the opportunity and your company will fill that gap.

Embrace change.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge

That’s not a good solution. Renting is a terrible experience too. This is what I would have to do:

• Book a rental in advance or pay horrendous rates.

• Take an overpriced taxi to the rental place on the day. Uber is banned in my country.

• Wait in line, then stand through the strong arm sales tactics to get me to buy the overpriced insurance. I politely decline.

• Take a hundred pictures of the exterior to prove I’m delivering it in the same conditions I picked it up because I’ve been scammed too many times.

• Drive back to my house, then do all the usual packing.

• Gingerly drive this strange car for 12 hours there and back and pray I don’t scratch it because that’s thousands of dollars in extortionate fees.

• On return, unpack the car, then give it a clean (or more fees).

• Drive it back to the rental agency and argue about the level of gas in the tank and the scratches I didn’t make and the level of general cleanliness inside and out.

• Take another overprice taxi back home.

I’ve rented a lot of cars in my life and they’re all bloodsucking leeches. This is not only a much worse experience than simply owning a car which suits our needs, but it’s more expensive.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge

As I explained, the rated time is in perfect conditions. I have never experienced perfect conditions and I don’t know anyone who has. I have a colleague who has a 2023 Ioniq 5 who claims to average 30 mins for 10-80. This will only get longer as the battery ages.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge

Sorry, but if your argument is “here’s a shit product. It’s also more expensive, but you should still buy it because it’s marginally better for the planet,” it’s going to fail to achieve mass adoption. I care very much about environmental sustainability, but I’ve been around the sun enough times to know that the way to achieve that is with better and cheaper products. We should use technology to reduce environmental impact and improve our lives. It’s not one or the other.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in The White House wants to 'cryptographically verify' videos of Joe Biden so viewers don't mistake them for AI deepfakes

Then this exercise is a waste of time. All the hard hitting journalism which presses the President and elicits a negative response will be unsigned, and will be distributed across social media as it is today: without authentication. All the videos for which the White House is concerned about authenticity will continue to circulate without any cause for contention.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in The White House wants to 'cryptographically verify' videos of Joe Biden so viewers don't mistake them for AI deepfakes

Great points and I agree. I also think the signature needs to be built into the stream in a continuous fashion so that snippets can still be authenticated.

JasSmith , 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to Technology in Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge

It’s not 1000km. You lose 30-40% range in the cold. And charging cadence is typically 10-80%, not 0-100%, so you lose another 30% on road trips. Now your 1000km EV does 420-490km between chargers. That’s around three hours on the Autobahn at a rather leisurely 150kph, with a 25-40 min stop. I agree with the user above. Affordable 1000km range is minimum before I’ll be buying another EV.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge

You’re not the only one. Most people try to make as much distance as possible between stops.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge

I own a 2022 Model Y and I’ve never had a 15m charging stop. It’s always longer. 15m is theoretical. In the real world everything from temperature to the type of charger to how many people are charging at the station to the age of the battery impact speed. You’re looking at 25-40 mins on average to 80%. Double that to charge to 100%. I’m not sure why people feel the need to gaslight non-EV owners. The technology is what it is.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge

Lots of surveys show one of the primary barriers to EV adoption is range anxiety. I’ve seen people trying to “educate” potential customers out of this anxiety, but it’s pissing into the wind. You’re not going to convince most people to downgrade their current ICE experience while paying the same or usually even more. I think the inflection point is above real world range for ICE. For example my 2016 Honda Civic can get about 7-800km of range on a single tank, and stops are as quick as a few minutes. This provides a lot of flexibility about where and when one stops. The range needs to account for:

• The 20-40 minute charge vs five minutes for gas.

• The lack of chargers relative to gas stations.

• The 30% drop in range in the cold.

Our annual Austria ski trip takes about 30% longer in our Model Y than the Civic. That’s hours extra on an already very long drive, and the Y costs a lot more. That’s a big downgrade in experience. An appalling experience with a family. We won’t be buying another EV until affordable range is above 1,000km (620 miles). I know many current, former, and non-EV owners who feel the same.

There is a market for commuter cars with poor range, but primarily in rich places where owning 2-3 cars is common. These rich places have already bought EVs as they are. Most of the world relies on just one car, if they own one at all. That one car needs to perform well in all conditions.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in Tucker Carlson interview with Putin to test EU law regulating tech companies

The fact you have 30 downvotes is horrifying. This community is nothing but a bunch of authoritarians who openly reject liberal ideals like free speech and democracy. They hate Putin so much because he reflects so many of their values.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in The White House wants to 'cryptographically verify' videos of Joe Biden so viewers don't mistake them for AI deepfakes

This doesn’t solve anything. The White House will only authenticate videos which make the President look good. Curated and carefully edited PR. Maybe the occasional press conference. The vast majority of content will not be authenticated. If anything this makes the problem worse, as it will give the President remit to claim videos which make them look bad are not authenticated and should therefore be distrusted.

JasSmith , 4 months ago to Technology in Boffins find AI models tend to escalate conflicts to all-out nuclear war

There is a real crisis in academia. This author clearly set out to find something sensational about AI, then worked backwards from that.

JasSmith , 5 months ago to Technology in Vision Pro Teardown—Why Those Fake Eyes Look So Weird

I agree. I thought they were going to do that to create a lighter, less intrusive headset. This just seems like the worst of both worlds. Maybe processing in the pocket became too hot without ventilation. I thought they were going to plug the thing into an iPhone in the pocket and offload power and processing there, but the Vision is very power hungry so I guess they eliminated that early on.