I think many of us have noticed the trend that modern tech just… Doesn’t make things better. There’s little to be excited about, because anything even remotely innovative is going to be filled with tracking, ads, etc.
Let’s say you had a bored software engineer or 2 at your disposal and the goal was to improve something you do often, by creating an application or website that isn’t owned and enshittified by a megacorp looking to extract maximum short term value - what would your project be? Is it something you’d be willing to pay for, maybe with a free tier available?
The reason I’m asking is that I’m a software engineer and in the current hard-ass market, while I’m lucky enough to have a stable job, I know that experience alone isn’t cutting it anymore in the recruitment process. You need to be able to show side projects too. Plus I have an unemployed software engineer friend who also has no interesting projects to show. So if we make any money out of it, that’s awesome. If we don’t, it’s just something for our github accounts. Probably the latter.
PS: Yes, I know this is not a tech community - I want ideas from regular, non-techy people too.
PPS: This doesn’t have to be something in your personal life, it could also be something that would help you at work if you had it.
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A lot of things that come with software that people despise would be fine if the software wasn’t designed to monetize the fuck out of you.
- Having a media center built into the TV and being able to control both with a single remote is nice. Having the media center push ads and tell me which applications it’s allowed to run sucks donkey balls.
- IoT devices that depend on someone else’s online service can go die in a fire. Programmable devices that work with my own home server are awfully convenient.
The common thread here is not that there’s a niche where software hasn’t been introduced yet, but that there’s a dearth of good software/firmware.
A better TV OS was my first thought too. My Samsung frame’s OS makes it incomprehensibly difficult to do what I want it to do because all the icons for unrelated shit (basically icon ads) get in the way. I can’t imagine how they think this is a good design either… “Ooooh, they accidentally clicked on ShnoozleTV! We got 'em now! Let the pennies roll in! …shit, they went back to the home screen.”
It’s one I’ve thought about myself too, but I think it’d be a hard sell to manufacturers. I wonder if there’s anyone who makes white label TVs you could flash your own OS on and sell
Or, better yet, no OS at all and turn it into a straight-up display panel.
I absolutely agree on this one! Your examples are good too! Unfortunately they require more resources to pull off than I could realistically amass, but I hope someone else will.
Really, I’d like to see more IoT products that can run completely locally myself.
I don’t mind if an IoT device has the capability to use a SaaS service. But it shouldn’t depend on it.
There’s a lot of things where there used to be good software, but it has been ruined by megacorps.
Mint, for example. It started as a fantastic website to track your different financial accounts. It was simple and intuitive. Ad-supported, but not egregiously so. Then it got bought by Intuit. “Updates” removed features and previously available chart options to review your transactions. The ads got worse. I can’t remember if the app released before or after the Intuit buyout, but it started off with less features than the website and slowly became the better option as the website got worse. Then the app started getting worse with updates too. Finally it was shutdown this year, with Intuit recommending people use their other, similar, subscription-based software. I still haven’t found a proper replacement.
Sonos is a great concept with a few fundamental flaws. I received a couple of units several years ago as a gift from the in-laws. The biggest issue is that if I want to have TV audio (from videogames or video streaming services), the only way to do that is to use a physical cable, but not all of the units have an auxiliary input. The system was always buggy, with delay and a not particularly responsive app. They famously rolled out a new version of their app earlier this year that… Had a ton of bugs and removed a lot of features, leading to the CEO apologizing (but not rolling anything back, lol).
I remember when Adobe products used to be one-time purchases. There are of course alternatives today, but none of them are ever quite as good to actually use. Same thing with the Microsoft Office suite- I use it for work all the time, but for personal use I use LibreOffice. It gets the job done, but it’s way clunkier that Microsoft’s offering.
Music Production is similar. Luckily I still have some Cakewalk software from before they went bankrupt that works, but the servers to verify the product activation code are down so that will only last as long as my current desktop does. I’ve tried using other software like Reaper, but it’s a big step down. I bought CakeWalk Sonar around 2013-2014-ish for ~$150 (which includes a large sample library). Pro-tools is a similarly featured program that does not seem to have an option to purchase, but instead has a $300/year annual subscription.
I used to have Duolingo, but uninstalled when they got caught harvesting data they said they weren’t a few years ago.
I used to use LoseIt to track my meals and exercise, and it helped me lost weight. I got out of the habit and went a while without using it, only to find out it had been enshittified too. The name changed to “Calorie Counter by LoseIt”, and the app has moved from a straightforward resource to trying to be a personal trainer. It wants to ask me questions about my emotional relationships with food and exercise. It’s trying to gather as much data as possible from me and then tell me what to do, when all I want is to be able to scan some barcodes and keep track of my calories and macros for the day. The last time I logged in I think it wanted me to upgrade to premium to track macros.
Dark Skye was by far the best weather app. Until it got purchased by Apple so now I can’t use it.
The UrbanSpoon was a fantastic app for finding nearby restaurants. Perhaps over time it would have faced the same issues that any other business-finding service faces: businesses are willing to pay for promotion, users leaving reviews for free is sketchy, bots and paid reviews exist, etc. Still, it was pretty good up until Zomayo bought it and shut it down.
Maybe not software, but StumbleUpon was one of my favorite websites back when it existed. Once again, got bought by a corporation who shut it down when they couldn’t figure out how to monetize it properly. It feels like we just can’t have nice things- everything needs to be lining the pockets of a billionaire or it isn’t allowed to exist at all.
Coordinating RGB components from different manufacturers and across different devices sucks. Coordinating smart devices without some dedicated piece of hardware spying on your whole house like Alexa sucks. I think I’ve seen some open-source attempts at unification, but the last time I looked into it that was still janky and annoying to deal with.
Also why does every single business need its own app? I know the answer- it’s to harvest data, push notifications to encourage spending, and push loyalty rewards programs. But if everyone is harvesting my same data, isn’t that going to result in oversupply and devalue that in the market? Are these companies selling this data actually profitable? Apps, especially good ones, are expensive to make and maintain. Maybe that’s why the my seem to have gotten so much worse. I have wondered if maybe the answer is for businesses to join together with joint apps. Especially brands that are already owned by one company, like KFC and Taco Bell. Slice is an interesting app for local pizza places, and I could see that model taking off.
It’s really hard for me to think of new software I would want when there’s so much old software that used to exist but has gotten ruined. I don’t want to become an old man yelling at a cloud, but I feel like everything has just gone straight downhill for around a decade. I even remember back around 2013 being in college and talking with friends about how Google search results seemed to be getting worse, and that’s gone downhill. Even the ideas I have, I am guessing probably already exist and have probably already been ruined.
Most of those ideas are similar to a lot of the above apps: make it easy to do data entry on a regular basis, maybe pull in some additional information from publicly available datasets, and maybe send a reminder. Homeowner stuff like cleaning out the bathroom sink trap, keeping track of when/where appliances were purchased/serviced, keeping PDF’s of manuals together, looking out for recalls. Home inventory for tracking cleaning supplies,groceries, etc (although that might be too much data entry for me to ever want to do properly). I have a notebook where I keep track of the strings on our guitars that I would prefer to be digitized. A lot of stuff that could be handled with a generic calendar and/or spreadsheet, but could benefit from a dedicated application.
This is it exactly. There are a lot of great use cases for software, but I’m uncomfortable relying on them, because i know once i start using an app or program in X area of my life or to manage Y problem, it may change or become less useful or start to exploit users in some way. Not everyone doez this, but unfortunately the way the market usually works makes me less and less likely to want to rely on or use software for most things. I want analog, private ways to do things that I control. It sucks, because there are still creative people like op who want to make neat projects. But i’ve really been burned.
I like to use community-developed open-source software for this reason…
Even basic stuff like operating systems (especially Windows and Android), chatting software, music playback software etc has gotten so terrible. Microsoft constantly adds unnecessary and intrusive features to Windows, Teams needs a supercomputer to perform decently, and every app is now a poorly optimized electron app that tracks everything you do.
So I read your comment and did some research. Mint seemed like the best example that a small team could reasonably get started on.
Some of the original people behind Mint founded Monarch and the CEO put out a very reasonable article on why your best bet would be to replace it with a subscription based alternative. Essentially - since anything free is eventually going to become an ad company, the company will never have your best interests in mind.
I hate the subscription model, but I somewhat agree - unless we’re talking about offline software, there’s always maintenance involved, also further development. If your software is ad-supported, it’s on shakier ground.
I don’t think we’re likely to see another Mint. The more functionality you want, the more expensive it is to develop. BUT if what you’re looking for is just the core functionality then yes, that could reasonably be ad supported, or even free and open source.
It’s expensive but I like YNAB. All the functionality Mint had and more, no ads.
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They’re no bulwark against ads, but how is a free service supposed to be sustained? Free only works if it’s offline/self-hosted and open source IMO.
All depends on whether the company providing the service is public too I guess. As soon as it’s public, you have shareholders to please and then you HAVE to squeeze every cent out of your customers. Tale as old as time.
I’ll bring an example of a subscription service that still hasn’t enshittified: Mullvad VPN. It’s still a fiver a month and you can’t pay extra for extra functionality. It just always costs the same.
There have been many times I’ve passed on something because it had a subscription fee but would have bought as a one time purchase. I feel like everyone’s forgotten that it’s an option.
Eh, we’ve also started expecting continuous updates of our games and apps. That’s why SaaS is such a popular model.
You used to be able to buy Photoshop and own that version forever. Now it’s a SaaS. Personally I prefer the old model too, but a lot of people prefer to get updates apparently.
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For a Mint replacement (which I’m still angry about), might I suggest Simplifi by Quicken? For me it’s mostly been a one-to-one replacement, after getting over a few… eccentricities. I could never get into YNAB because it’s so manual. I want something automatic, and Simplifi scratches that itch.
The catch: it’s not free.
My brother is an audiologist and hates doing a certain hearing test, because it’s boring. The way he describes it, he hands the patient a button and a pair of headphones, then goes into the next room.
He has a row of dials. He turns the first one until the patient pushes the button. He writes down how high the dial got, then turns it off and moves on to the next dial. Repeat for like 20 dials.
Then at the end, he has to draw a graph BY HAND, highlighting certain features.
There is precisely 0% chance that this requires a trained audiologist to do. Maybe to interpret, but not to collect data.
So that’s how that test goes from their side, I’ve always wondered. No doubt that could be automated!
Job hunting.
Standardize the application process so you don’t have to reformat what’s on your resume for some shitty website for each job application.
Standardize the details like pay and remote work and make it mandatory in the listing - no guessing or negotiating, no bullshit.
Auto-match jobs and candidates - if your qualifications match, you can schedule your interview via click calendar. No “wait and see”.
Notifications for jobs you’re qualified for, with the pay and details listed in plain sight, so even if you are already employed you always know what other opportunities there are at a glance.
Mostly agreed. I’m on the hunt for the first time in a decade, yuck. At least many applications make a fair attempt (oftena good one!) at parsing your resume. Wasn’t a thing last time I was in this rodeo.
Remote work should absolutely be listed, right on top. The job is WFH, office or hybrid, nothing inbetween, so say it out loud. The pay, meh, not so much.
Suppose I’m hiring and interview an applicant I really like, but they don’t bring the experience called for, I have the option to take a chance and offer less. And remember, negotiations work both ways! This is Sales 101, you have to ask for the money. People don’t hand it out for free, because… it’s money. Hit 'em high! You never know, may exceed your wildest expectations. They’re not going to come to your home and kick your ass. They’ll simply make a counter offer. But FFS, give me a range here (most do) or I’m not applying.
While you can “auto match” a bit, employers need a moment to look at the whole picture you’re representing, and they can have 100+ pictures to look at. No sane company is letting candidates control their calendar.
Not sure what you mean by “notifications”, I’m overrun. Maybe give us options to dial our interests in a bit? Sick of bullshit emails for “installer” or, FFS, “sales rep”.
While you can “auto match” a bit, employers need a moment to look at the whole picture you’re representing, and they can have 100+ pictures to look at. No sane company is letting candidates control their calendar.
As the applicant, I think I should get the whole picture as well. Pay (range, at least), WFH, flexibility of hours - I should know what I’m applying for, not waste mine and the company’s time to find out in an interview. Regarding the calendar, if they’re interviewing qualified candidates anyway, what difference should it make to let those qualified get the interviews on a first come first serve basis? The ones who really want that job will be all over it. The company can still reserve timeslots to interview hand-picked candidates if they want. The whole runaround of waiting for a response to then set an appointment for the interview is a pain imo.
Not sure what you mean by “notifications”, I’m overrun. Maybe give us options to dial our interests in a bit? Sick of bullshit emails for “installer” or, FFS, “sales rep”.
Emails, or a little bell icon on the website, somewhere you can check and see “here are some jobs that fit your filter, and your qualifications are a match, click one to book an interview”. I agree, I am overrun with emails about job postings since I started looking. I would say less than half are of any interest to me at all, and many of them don’t have those important details that we should know about (the pay, WFH etc).
For the points I made, I noticed Indeed has some of these capabilities, but it’s still half-baked and full of junk listings. Their “Apply Easily” autofill thing is great, when the poster has set up the application that way, but many don’t. I also notice a lot of postings seem to be scams and it can be hard to tell if I’m applying for an actual job or giving away personal info to a scammer. There’s no accountability on Indeed to vet the postings afaik. Anyway, I’m not sure what I’m asking for is realistic for OP, but figured I would brainstorm with a real-life example to their question. Good luck in your search, it’s ridiculous out there!
Dating.
it’s unfortunate that all the current solutions are absolute garbage.Actually helping people turns out to not be so great for shareholder value
Yeah that sucks. No business wants to help its own customers never need it again.
“Cosmo” syndrome
Realign monetary incentives by making users pay for the quality of the match. If you want more of the good, pay for what you rate as good in the previous matches. Pay more the longer you stay together with a match.
The matching system was already almost perfect at OkCupid around ten years ago - copy that, and the well-aligned incentive should keep it developing instead of degrading, which is what Match Group did to it with their monthly subscription that incentivizes preventing long-term relationships.
An app that lets you set filters for diet and food types and then scrapes recipes from the internet that match your preferences.
…with AR making inedible foods invisible in the store.
That would be a stretch goal!
I had this idea for a browser extension when I’m doing research.
Basically, its like a panel on the side for writing notes but also has a button to screenshot the current open page, then maybe a button to copy the contents so I can paste it elsewhere to a document.
It sounds super basic, but I just want something so that when I’m researching I don’t have to keep jumping between windows when researching.
A database for all my media data for movies, TV, social media, creators, etc. A central place for all my media data from every online source. I’d like to be able to import my subscriptions and playlists from youtube, yt music, Spotify, Netflix, etc.
Then I could organize, tag and export to services, mark things to watch or as watched.
I know online services exist for individual media types but I’d really love something local and all encompassing.
Closest thing I’ve seen is Plex, not sure if that’ll do it for you
Eh, I’m thinking less media player and more a “contacts” app to organize all the media I like on the internet.
A good selfhosting solution that does all the cloud / communication / storage for the average person. With collaboration features, easy install, foolproof and will run for 10 years without maintenance.
Essentially something like NextCloud without all the jank?
I think Owncloud Infinite Scale might be a solution. But if you want easy install and maintenance-free, I don’t think any self-hosted solution is viable.
Open source net worth tracker
You mean to track all your assets and their worth?
Yep. Something that can pull info from your bank/brokerage.
An app for my android phone that can log in to various social media and allow me to mix and match feeds.
I’d love to have a curated omni-feed of my Lemmy or fedia.io combined with mastodon and bluesky, tumblr and threads, etc.
No idea of feasibility, privacy, implementation, etc.
Just a man with a dream.
It isn’t all social media, but you can use grayjay to combine youtube, twitch, patreon, nebula, etc other video streaming sites!
This is a good one.
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“Perfection is only achieved when there is nothing left to take away.”
I have done okay at keeping unnecessary crapware from creeping into my life, but there is the occasional second hand smoke from the masses who will bend over for literally anything.
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That’s an absolutely valid stance in this day and age, but maybe your problem with software is not the abundance, but rather the intrusiveness?
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Socialization. I suck at socialization as I never know what to say in a conversation. So anything in that field is appreciated.
For anything new that enters my life, I want 100% for it to not be anything at all to do with digital technology.
And if it absolutely must be digital technology it non-negotiably must be:
- Libre/open source
- Decentralized, self-hostable
- Open schematic (if hardware)
Anything mobile is a total lost cause. I have ZERO interest in “smart” phones. Fuck that noise.
Apart from health related things, anything else are just gadgets that don’t really improve life IMHO.
Hmm, I’m not sure I agree. There’s plenty of tech that improves our lives, but anything that does is usually subtle stuff we don’t think about. It’s the “loud” tech that sucks. Things you notice using.
Example, if ever a friend needs money quickly (or I need to borrow money from a friend), it takes like a minute to log into the bank app and post a SEPA instant transfer. Maybe less. It’s amazingly convenient and available for every bank in my country.
Search engines aren’t as good as Google used to be, but I still find information very fast compared to when I didn’t have Internet access.
GPS is great. Remember when you had to use a paper map book and buy an update every year to stay up to date? I do. GPS wasn’t that common in my country in my childhood because it was expensive to buy a device.
All of these examples are good only if you think that we need to have access to everything as soon as possible. It can definitely be convenient at times, but it also feels like most of the time it actually ends up being forced on you, when in truth, life shouldn’t require that we get money straight away, nor that we have to follow the best possible itineary. Being able to take our time to do things is to me the thing that we are actually missing nowadays.
