Post AV5f2PWMawkkUwECn2 by avocado_toast@mstdn.social
(DIR) More posts by avocado_toast@mstdn.social
(DIR) Post #AV55bifpmSdvgWCARk by tante@tldr.nettime.org
2023-04-27T15:14:02Z
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Dropbox is the next company firing a significant amount of people to pursue the magical dragon "AI". Dropbox. A service that people just want to store their files, sync properly and make them shareable. Sure they need some bullshit generators. The whole tech sector is just brain worms these days.
(DIR) Post #AV55pyMaFCVAOnzHAe by esther@strangeobject.space
2023-04-27T15:16:43Z
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@tante Storage has gotten so cheap, you have to generate content for it
(DIR) Post #AV55y2NxAqglBqTQiu by tante@tldr.nettime.org
2023-04-27T15:18:06Z
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@esther Seriously. Why? Like that's not what people use Dropbox for. They used to be this thing that made a folder sync over devices without issues. It was simple enough for my parents to use, it was great. I might lack "business brain" but what the hell are they even doing?
(DIR) Post #AV5625jEgZquiXMTFA by esther@strangeobject.space
2023-04-27T15:18:47Z
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@tante I was joking
(DIR) Post #AV566RnqYVyCL1axuq by tante@tldr.nettime.org
2023-04-27T15:19:33Z
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@esther I know I still hope someone can give me an explanation that's not complete nonsense.
(DIR) Post #AV56HLvKkrctI0IURE by stroppypanda@mastodon.online
2023-04-27T15:21:36Z
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@tante I just dont undertsand why companies are just burning their assets which are skilled people. its madness. i also dont understand why elderly people are cheering interest rate rises when they will stifle innovation and cause in uk at least
(DIR) Post #AV56LMzshqDPmDL8b2 by esther@strangeobject.space
2023-04-27T15:22:02Z
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@tante ok, let me try. Dropbox needs growth like any other tech company sp they can get the next investment. Their thing is storage so they have an incentive to have as much of it in active use as possible. it makes them appear bigger (which is better because number goes up). so they'll generate stuff that they the store so they can impress the next investor with too much money.
(DIR) Post #AV56Op72d767qOKsT2 by hllizi@hespere.de
2023-04-27T15:22:14Z
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@tante sorry you seem to have deleted that file a while ago. Here are some guesses I made regarding its contents based on its name and the places you appear to have frantically searched for i:...
(DIR) Post #AV56YQgOJXueyKS0fo by tante@tldr.nettime.org
2023-04-27T15:24:46Z
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@esther I should have added that I was looking for a less cynical explanation even though yours is obviously probably right.
(DIR) Post #AV56maf00yUXyGYIOu by esther@strangeobject.space
2023-04-27T15:27:17Z
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@tante the less cynical one is: the plateaued and now want to inject some growth by impinge on the latest hype, whether it makes sense or not. Sounds much more boring but nisg tech companies are very boring so it fits
(DIR) Post #AV56rw1S1C7pfkbOqm by tante@tldr.nettime.org
2023-04-27T15:28:16Z
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@esther Why is just having a profitable business that generates money such a bad thing?
(DIR) Post #AV56y7dzipWpSCa5bM by Sbectol@toot.wales
2023-04-27T15:28:27Z
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@tante what's the plan? To sell access to people's files to train the AI large language models, maybe?
(DIR) Post #AV572CZpK9WTuXZpjM by fedithom@social.saarland
2023-04-27T15:28:49Z
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@tante Brilliant. So we can fully expect to find the text we wrote in the file we stored that we synced to Dropbox to be:A) swallowed whole by 'AI' for training purpose (no opt-out possible) and B) ever so subtle re-written, because obviously 'AI' is better at it than us. God damn these tech bro arse wipes...(Luckily haven't been using DB for ages, but still)
(DIR) Post #AV576QqCEUIDJBFbcW by number137@mastodon.social
2023-04-27T15:29:07Z
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@tante
(DIR) Post #AV57GB3Xm5r7FU8nHU by gallegre@mas.to
2023-04-27T15:27:32Z
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@spiralmind @tante If Dropbox does nothing new, it will be worth nothing in 10 years...
(DIR) Post #AV57GBk5DvspNQ2laS by tante@tldr.nettime.org
2023-04-27T15:30:01Z
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@gallegre @spiralmind But why is that? Why can't digital services just develop a service to offer that's mostly "done"? Focus on maintenance and meaningful additions based on your users' feedback? Why is that so unthinkable?
(DIR) Post #AV57M9F1R2svMEMBXc by esther@strangeobject.space
2023-04-27T15:31:15Z
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@tante Number. Must. Go. Up.
(DIR) Post #AV57RXifqx3oiuna88 by sandipb@mastodon.social
2023-04-27T15:31:53Z
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@tante i can see a lot of AI applications in dropbox specifically around search. But am not convinced that the investments needed here are connected to layoffs. This is more like a convenient timing to do some cost cutting to boost shareholder wealth
(DIR) Post #AV57W1mW1dJf7KjZiK by tinydoctor@mstdn.social
2023-04-27T15:34:04Z
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I like the equation: AI = brainworms.#AIbrainworms
(DIR) Post #AV58K3Rs6LxOlavtCa by 0xF21D@infosec.exchange
2023-04-27T15:44:33Z
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@tante @gallegre @spiralmind if a corporation doesn't show year-over-year increase in profits then they're worthless. The line must always be reaching for the moon for the shareholders to be happy. A healthy profit every year is worthless, dropbox must be making all of the money or they're a failure. This is a feature, not a bug, and it's nauseating.
(DIR) Post #AV58cjh9liFN0KzRnU by wordshaper@weatherishappening.network
2023-04-27T15:47:57Z
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@tante Yet another indication that the people best replaced by "AI" is upper management.
(DIR) Post #AV59RoL0GbIoAjyySO by kisdra@mastodon.social
2023-04-27T15:57:07Z
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@tante I was delaying the setup of my own sync home server, cuz lack of time, if that tendency spreads, I'm gonna plan it earlier than I thought.
(DIR) Post #AV5A0amAgI5kFLH78C by BootyLasher@ohai.social
2023-04-27T16:03:20Z
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@tante a huge part of the issue is that the people who are making the decisions regarding where the money goes are some of the most technologically illiterate motherfuckers to ever walk the planet yet have convinced themselves that they are actually the most forward thinking among us because otherwise why would they have all this money? Dropbox's actions are moronic but really they are just symptomatic of how stupid we've built our civilization.
(DIR) Post #AV5AO7joIO7D8WOKVk by fishidwardrobe@mastodon.me.uk
2023-04-27T16:07:36Z
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@tante Still mystified why they hired GOP politicians after the Iraq war. Never learned why they did that, either.
(DIR) Post #AV5AqnUidgV4kb0Npw by aka_quant_noir@cinematheque.social
2023-04-27T16:12:52Z
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@tante No interest in their dubious business. Their employees I hope will find a soft landing, and they I hope will be bought and/or shut down.
(DIR) Post #AV5BbU2oltLA2PDTm4 by Occidental@SSelf.co
2023-04-27T16:21:18Z
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@tante Juicero economics.
(DIR) Post #AV5BeztSoVODgWW5Sa by rynltylr@hachyderm.io
2023-04-27T16:21:56Z
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@tante Because the one thing you want a hallucinating AI to control is your file system 🤦🏼
(DIR) Post #AV5BwQPNUAdQqFkp96 by Npars01@mstdn.social
2023-04-27T16:25:00Z
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@tante The financial services industry has been ordered to orchestrate a recession for 2024.It's all the Republican billionaire donors funding sedition can talk about.Non-economists like real estate magnate Sam Zell adore it when their short sells come to fruition.https://www.costar.com/article/1152237605/real-estate-magnate-sam-zell-moonlights-as-economisthttps://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/recession-us-economy-nouriel-roubini-sam-zell-warn-fed-rates-2022-11
(DIR) Post #AV5C2tygSa8yHsMBLk by glassresistor@sfba.social
2023-04-27T16:26:15Z
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@tante @esther probably plan to use it like everything else- content summary- search- sorting / labeling- translationnot saying its a good thing but seems like the obvious things for an app that people shove stuff into without a plan
(DIR) Post #AV5Cspaw08Pjkg0gNc by fenneladon@todon.eu
2023-04-27T16:34:51Z
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@tante @esther Management cut my budget and made me fire a load of the needed people to do real necessary work. Management read all the media hype and listen to all the techno-futurist grifters.If I want to get any budget to do something, I have sprinkle some nonsense over my next roadmap presentation or they will make me fire even more people. 🤷🏻♂️
(DIR) Post #AV5DnZWIRJ2QP2teZU by ash@dice.camp
2023-04-27T16:45:51Z
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@tante @esther "Why is just having a profitable business that generates money such a bad thing?"It isn't, necessarily. But the first question that comes to my mind (especially with highly profitable business) is "What costs are they externalising, on the ecosystem, on to their workers, on to society or the state?"The answer is usually "Shed loads".
(DIR) Post #AV5FMk1nSjah5Bxs0m by hardworkingamerican@union.place
2023-04-27T17:03:24Z
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@tante @gallegre @spiralmind Competition and barriers to entry. But I agree it's all a race to the bottom.
(DIR) Post #AV5I3yxk0mQPlIoXlg by ryanford@sfba.social
2023-04-27T17:33:38Z
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@tante When businesses pursue endless growth, convenience and utility are no longer enough. Especially when incumbents like Apple and Google build in their own native storage solutions, chipping away at your market. So you're forced to innovate and become "more than just file storage," for better or worse.I wonder what Dropbox AI will do.
(DIR) Post #AV5Kn4wUpCq3FQraN6 by alan@mindly.social
2023-04-27T18:04:12Z
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@tante Not surprising. The Dropbox feature creep fetish to be something more than what I need or want caused me to switch to sync.com years ago.
(DIR) Post #AV5QREuLh0p5VcpQ80 by datamaps@social.linux.pizza
2023-04-27T19:07:33Z
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@tante "these days"?!where have you been in the previous four decades? playing foorball?
(DIR) Post #AV5SEiHLNgc0kFjrxQ by radio@portside.social
2023-04-27T19:27:03Z
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@tante I would likely fire most of the people who made Dropbox what it is.
(DIR) Post #AV5TRgYPCm1J79T7r6 by billyjoebowers@mastodon.online
2023-04-27T19:41:15Z
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@tante But to be fair Dropbox's whole business plan has always been "How can we make online storage complicated?"
(DIR) Post #AV5UdV1hzORGnAN8q0 by kevinrns@mstdn.social
2023-04-27T19:54:35Z
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@tante "Its got bluetooth!" "Its a hat....""Everybody wants bluetooth. "
(DIR) Post #AV5UgqZuJjn4VAxsNk by canleaf@mastodon.social
2023-04-27T19:54:35Z
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@tante no AI will fix CVEs, fix bugs, implement features without complaining that they need a liveable wage.
(DIR) Post #AV5V4jVAHMytVL8V6W by sri@mastodon.social
2023-04-27T19:59:31Z
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@tante I'm more worried that Dropbox will allow AI to be trained on the contents of Dropbox folders
(DIR) Post #AV5Vf1S713RxbR0piy by bytebro@mastodonapp.uk
2023-04-27T20:05:57Z
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@tante Gave them up when they ceased supporting Linux, FFS (my guess was that they couldn't monetise it enough, but what do I know?).
(DIR) Post #AV5VprWcGYLM00Hv2e by sminnee@mastodon.nz
2023-04-27T20:07:52Z
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@tante @esther I think they’re trying to turn into the place where you create that content too, not just store the files. “Move up the value chain”. So it could be part of that.Getting knowledge out of all your Dropbox-hosted docs would be another area they might dig into. That’s probably more likely tbh.
(DIR) Post #AV5VswXc4Zd6QPDuc4 by reallyjim@universeodon.com
2023-04-27T20:08:00Z
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@tante this just angers and frustrates me. I use the service, it "just works". Definitely do not need this.
(DIR) Post #AV5W1eMz0Fz8foP30y by konomikitten@mastodon.online
2023-04-27T20:10:07Z
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@tante I'm so sick of companies going rouge and creating work for me when I have to move to a more ethical service.This is why I tell people to use open source platforms, cause the likelihood of having to deal with garbage like this is far lower.
(DIR) Post #AV5WAzN0IH28PXrjvs by sminnee@mastodon.nz
2023-04-27T20:11:49Z
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@tante @esther the valuations on which they took investment only make sense if they grow a lot. The investment is risky enough that the target must be a 10x return. A profitable plateaued business is worth maybe 5-10x annual profit. So if you’ve got VC at 15x revenue (not uncommon), and you hope to get to 20% profit, you would need to grow 45-90x before you plateau for the bet to make sense.
(DIR) Post #AV5WOtN9ODKtrcZ1pw by dalias@hachyderm.io
2023-04-27T20:14:22Z
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@tante @esther Because the gullible VCs who poured billions into it need a next round of gullible VCs so they can cash out.
(DIR) Post #AV5YZJ70kELKUx6ojI by konomikitten@mastodon.online
2023-04-27T20:38:35Z
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@tante I think this is the best explanation for why companies turn into complete garbage: https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2023/02/01/enshittification/
(DIR) Post #AV5b8RnKeeOtTEmvRI by codebyjeff@hachyderm.io
2023-04-27T21:07:19Z
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@tante discussing this on a different thread, butI don't think they are doing any "AI"I think they are just failing, firing people to cut costs, and using "AI" to cover it all upI wouldn't take every announcement that a company is "pursuing AI" at face value
(DIR) Post #AV5bfE8ATgRieIAG1o by Npars01@mstdn.social
2023-04-27T21:13:19Z
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@tante @esther Many of the companies announcing layoffs are profitable. The layoffs might be about:1. Stock buybacks 2. CEO bonuses & compensation 3. Stock price manipulation 4. Price gouging & tax evasion 5. Republican billionaire donors orchestrating a timely recession for 20246. Punishing companies for union drives, pay equity, and remote work initiatives etc.7. Acting in obedience to adrenaline junkie venture capitalists who want crisis so their short sells ...1/2
(DIR) Post #AV5bhvBTNTJmktzkrg by Peternimmo@mastodon.scot
2023-04-27T21:13:23Z
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@tante @ianbetteridge that's objectively nuts
(DIR) Post #AV5bk7nnR0mYT8yHTs by shyduroff@mastodon.mit.edu
2023-04-27T21:13:34Z
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@tante … sigh is not a big enough word …
(DIR) Post #AV5bmHRmXunExfhals by Occidental@SSelf.co
2023-04-27T21:14:22Z
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@tante like Dropbox but it scans every file on machine of whoever is uploading and uses data to predict when they will want a pizza and orders it for them by AI generated text to gig worker. Side bonus, after ordering pizza it sells all the scraped data to advertisers and/or dark web, gives user 1/2 off coupon on next pizza for not opting out.
(DIR) Post #AV5f2PWMawkkUwECn2 by avocado_toast@mstdn.social
2023-04-27T21:51:10Z
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@tante I don't think most of the players in the text sector can deal without the free money orgies that come with being in pursuit of the next big thing™️. They got used to it raining VC and government money on them, and they'll do whatever it takes to chase the next hype dragon.
(DIR) Post #AV5fA4Mt7mPVD6RqT2 by avocado_toast@mstdn.social
2023-04-27T21:52:33Z
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@tante I don't think most of the players in the tech sector can deal without the free money orgies that come with being in pursuit of the next big thing™️. They got used to it raining VC and government money on them to the point where their primary motivation is to chase the next hype dragon.
(DIR) Post #AV5j0Y6U76s6M0UWi8 by john_brown_jovi@mastodon.social
2023-04-27T22:35:33Z
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@tante does anyone use Dropbox anymore? What advantages does it have over Google drive?
(DIR) Post #AV5ji6L2hmoEz24HFw by marypcbuk@hachyderm.io
2023-04-27T22:43:30Z
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@tante @esther you have OneDrive and Box and Google; is Dropbox really profitable long term in that environment? but we are talking a company that had a giant gold panda and ran the only press event I know of with free valet parking
(DIR) Post #AV5m0zDDclPiIBXcUy by basil@tech.lgbt
2023-04-27T23:09:17Z
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@tante @esther My guess would be that (among other things) they want to make interfacing with files easier. i.e. typing "move all image files that contain the word 'catgirl' into a new folder called 'nya'" instead of doing it by hand.
(DIR) Post #AV5nLEnLUv34MoeyEC by jbwharris@mstdn.ca
2023-04-27T23:24:06Z
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@tante Dropbox, the company that has always had the shittiest pricing tiers. I’m honestly so annoyed we use them at work when their plans are all so overkill. 3TB of storage per user when we have 20gb of files 😂
(DIR) Post #AV5pMm4TSkGvllX2ye by APBBlue@zirk.us
2023-04-27T23:46:46Z
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@tante They should focus on making their product less shitty and confusing.