Ian Betteridge @ianbetteridge@mastodon.social

One of the benefits of being a humanities student at a polytechnic was living with some computer scientists in my first year who thought it was FUN to give me root access to the Unix system.

One problem with the Tory view of education is it forgets the training you receive from a company after graduation is FAR more important for your future productivity and career. And the low quality of that training is one of the prime reasons UK productivity is in the toilet.

A list of degree subject areas where the average graduate salary falls below the average UK salary of £25,970, and so courses would be ended by Rishi Sunak.

In the latest episode of "Tories have shit ideas", Sunak wants to create "a world class group of technical colleges" - so recreate polytechnics – and make everyone do maths and English at A-level, thus guaranteeing at least one F and a complete waste of time for many students. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/aug/07/rishi-sunak-vows-to-end-low-earning-degrees-in-post-16-education-shake-up

Monopolies are to capitalism what event horizons are to physics. They are where the normal rules break down, and what was true previously now can't be relied on. So while capitalists believe free markets increase efficiency, if a monopoly is established that ceases to be true.

I come back to this quote from Truss, Raab, Patel et al a lot. It's the combination of ignorance – that really isn't why Britain has low productivity – and naked contempt for the British people. They hate Britain. It should, on its own, have ended their careers. Yet here we are.

The current crop makes me almost nostalgic for the days when Tories were vicious and greedy but competent. It's the combination of absolute loathing for ordinary British people, greed and sheer incompetence that makes these ones so dangerous.

It would be fun to sit down with the idiot Tories who laud the likes of Uber as "the future of work" and go through how these companies make no money and can never be profitable unless they become damaging monopolies and jack up prices.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/05/a-lousy-taxi/#a-giant-asterisk

Stuff I've been reading, 6th August. Web3 sucks, Microsoft sucks, and Apple sucks. Do you know what doesn't suck? A broken vacuum cleaner.

https://ianbetteridge.com/2022/08/06/miscellany-6th-august/

Apple: deeply committed to privacy and human rights. As long as it doesn’t threaten their relationship with the PRC
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/Apple-warns-suppliers-to-follow-China-rules-on-Taiwan-labeling

Work-shy thugs holding the country to ransom

Work-shy thugs holding the company to ransom