CIRCLE WITH A DOT

@bobkonf amazingly stimulating and interesting talk and discussion. Thank you Stefan.

@momo love it!

Just goes to show how much of the “solar panels don’t last” narrative is just a talking point from oil company marketing departments.

@alice yup. I’m an immigrant in Germany, but an affluent, white, CIS, male and a native English speaker. I’ve never been subject to xenophobia. Hell, I’ve even been actively courted by AfD canvassers.

It would be easy for me to believe this evil doesn’t exist in Germany, but I speak to colleagues who hail from Africa or Asia. Their life looks quite different to mine. The same for women, trans folks, people with facial tattoos, …

Privilege is often invisible when you have it.

@astro_jcm there’s also a question of intent.

Artistic endeavours start as a form of play. For some that play evolves into an aesthetic exercise, a form of craft in support of design. That can take great skill, but it is also different from an explicit attempt to express something. The latter is what we tend to categorise as “Art”.

One could choose to make an artistic expression using AI, but it would be a bit like commissioning a painter to do it for you. Why? Would you be taken seriously?

@chrisamaphone they’re a very mainstream product, you can probably find one wherever you can buy a watch. Look at Citizen watches branded “eco drive”, for other brands you just search for “solar”. Timex, Seiko, Casio all have solar powered models at relatively affordable prices.

I do own a bit of tech that "just works" though. My solar watch.

In practice these things function for decades without servicing, without needing new batteries, without the need for continuous movement.

Current models don't even need natural light, they can charge happily from the glow off your monitor, they can sit in completed darkness for days at a time, and still keep better time than mechanical watches that people pay thousands for.

I love solar watches. That's a product that works.

People often talk about technology that "Just works". Usually they're talking about software. That's ironic, because almost all software doesn't fit that description, and most software designed that way ends up having failure cases and security flaws that are horrendous. The "just works" lifespan is a best a few year, but often it doesn't even make it to months.