Fustercluck has taken up permanent residence in my brain, I love it.
I used to have the triggering blue dot webcam, but then, in our quest for a cheap and easy room system we made these PC puck prototypes with Teams embedded and I got one to beta test (it sucked - we never shipped it). BUT in the box were great peripherals and I still use that Logitech webcam. It has a pair of white ‘action’ bars that somehow don’t freak me out like that blue dot is going to blow my head off.
The cognitive load angle is spot on. People forget that your brain is constantly doing extra work during video calls just to process all those unnatural inputs. The parallel to AI is interesting because AI actually reduces cognitive load in a lot of cases instead of adding to it, which might be why adoption feels different. The risk you're pointing out about replacing human connection is real though, especially if companies start pushing digital twins instead of letting AI stay in the assistant role where it works best.
Oh man did I love Kinect, what a cool device. We played Fruit Ninja until our arms fell off. Kinect was DOA thanks to marketing. Nothing like a video game player scorned by forcing to fork out another $100 for a peripheral they didn’t want.
Did you ever hear of Mixer? Neither did I, until I interviewed a guy trying to escape it - but that was MSFTs counter to Twitch. Big fail, there was talk we shoulda bought them instead of trying to grow our own …
You’re holding out a note of optimism for working with AI, but I think I’m finding Evan Ratliff’s new podcast, Shell Game season 2, to best represent what working with AI sounds like to me. But what do I know, I’m on the sidelines now. They’re all reports from a foreign country to me.
You know it - the tech is amazing. I loved the first season of Shell Game; laughed my ass off especially like when he had the two AIs talking in circles. I’ll have to check out season 2 - I only know it’s vaguely about starting an AI only company. If you want a comprehensive take from the optimist side, check out @Noahpinion’s take (the big Econ blogger here). It’s called I love AI. Why doesn’t everyone?
Exactly, we humans are just not wired to interact with little postage stamp versions of us on a screen. But AI … there is an entire industry now loosely called ‘data labeling’ where an army of gig humans iterate AI training data to make them more human. AI companies get that this is the secret sauce.
I still get that micro-panic when the camera light turns blue.
Like my brain is bracing for another marathon day of staring at tiny boxes.
I was so over it that in 2024, I opted to make my schedule hybrid.
I work three half days onsite to avoid video fatigue.
And you are most welcome, Andrew. Thank you for the mention.
Happy Friday!
Fustercluck has taken up permanent residence in my brain, I love it.
I used to have the triggering blue dot webcam, but then, in our quest for a cheap and easy room system we made these PC puck prototypes with Teams embedded and I got one to beta test (it sucked - we never shipped it). BUT in the box were great peripherals and I still use that Logitech webcam. It has a pair of white ‘action’ bars that somehow don’t freak me out like that blue dot is going to blow my head off.
Fustercluck is my favorite word. I am happy you like it.
Every time that blue dot lit up, I expected a Terminator soundtrack lol
Thank you so much again Andrew.
The cognitive load angle is spot on. People forget that your brain is constantly doing extra work during video calls just to process all those unnatural inputs. The parallel to AI is interesting because AI actually reduces cognitive load in a lot of cases instead of adding to it, which might be why adoption feels different. The risk you're pointing out about replacing human connection is real though, especially if companies start pushing digital twins instead of letting AI stay in the assistant role where it works best.
If only Kinect had been used as a webcam - perhaps MS would have invented Twitch
Oh man did I love Kinect, what a cool device. We played Fruit Ninja until our arms fell off. Kinect was DOA thanks to marketing. Nothing like a video game player scorned by forcing to fork out another $100 for a peripheral they didn’t want.
Did you ever hear of Mixer? Neither did I, until I interviewed a guy trying to escape it - but that was MSFTs counter to Twitch. Big fail, there was talk we shoulda bought them instead of trying to grow our own …
I forgot about mixer - but I’ll never forget my 360 - what a great machine that was
You’re holding out a note of optimism for working with AI, but I think I’m finding Evan Ratliff’s new podcast, Shell Game season 2, to best represent what working with AI sounds like to me. But what do I know, I’m on the sidelines now. They’re all reports from a foreign country to me.
You know it - the tech is amazing. I loved the first season of Shell Game; laughed my ass off especially like when he had the two AIs talking in circles. I’ll have to check out season 2 - I only know it’s vaguely about starting an AI only company. If you want a comprehensive take from the optimist side, check out @Noahpinion’s take (the big Econ blogger here). It’s called I love AI. Why doesn’t everyone?
It’s introduced the phrase “This is Kyle” into my family vocabulary. You’ll see once you get there.
So true. Such a heady time to be there and be working on this stuff with folks like you.
So fun right! Well, mostly. Great to hear from you Aaron, thanks for taking the time - hope you are doing well.
Exactly, we humans are just not wired to interact with little postage stamp versions of us on a screen. But AI … there is an entire industry now loosely called ‘data labeling’ where an army of gig humans iterate AI training data to make them more human. AI companies get that this is the secret sauce.