Comment Re:Playing your alignment? (Score 1) 192
Kind of like Fight Club
Police Officer: You said that if anyone ever interferes with Project Mayhem, even you, we gotta get his balls.
Kind of like Fight Club
Police Officer: You said that if anyone ever interferes with Project Mayhem, even you, we gotta get his balls.
Do you have any idea how much it costs to pave a road?
Slightly more seriously, there is a lot of benefit you can derive from those around you (that do use government services) not being pushed to the brink of poverty and desperation.
Just because phone tech specs aren't a person's field of expertise, doesn't mean they shouldn't be helped to understand why they should care about something. There are plenty of things you don't understand the technical details about, but that doesn't mean someone shouldn't try to put it in terms you understand before expecting you to make an informed decision.
When you hear "over 300ppi" you understand the benefit without having it put into more simple terms. Why not give someone, who might enjoy the product as much (or more) than you, the same chance to understand what they're buying without doing hours of research?
Right. The point is these groups can often server themselves by writing their own apps that use government data, freeing government to focus on the other areas of the problem.
I understand that government needs to concern itself with building things that help the most people, but opening up interaction with government so that user groups can define how they want to interact is a good thing. It's sort of like the long tail.
If you create conditions where someone makes an app for smartphones (open government data), and it only gets used by people with smartphones, this is a net gain for the society. It didn't cost government what it would cost to develop from scratch, including the cost of coming up with the idea. The smartphone people interact with government in a way they couldn't before: the way they want to. This potentially lessens visits to brick and mortar offices and calls to support centres. It might cost something to maintain the app, but in the end it might be saving you money and serving more people.
Let every small interest groups create their own way to interact with government, and you end up serving more people than you would have if you had just focused on a solution that helped the majority.
He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion