-dot-com-i@vm46.home.jusme.com> 254f7e67   
   From: blockedofcourse@foo.invalid   
      
   On 1/9/2026 1:19 AM, Ian wrote:   
   > On 2026-01-08, Don Y  wrote:   
   >>    
   >>   
   >> The same sort of idea that *chocolate* makes everything better?   
   >> (chocolate covered pistachio nuts??)   
   >   
   > I like chocolate.   
   > I like Rich Tea biscuits (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_tea)   
   > I hate chocolate-coated Rich Tea buscuits   
      
   Exactly.  You can't just glom AI onto a product and expect it   
   to be "better".  You have to consider what you are providing,   
   at the end of the day.   
      
   Expect to see even more of this as vendors try to sort out how   
   to capitalize on AI -- poorly!   
      
   [A refrigerator can add value by telling you what you are running   
   low on -- based on observations of current quantities AND past   
   consumption rates.  Or, let you sort out what you might want to make   
   for supper, tonight, based on items on hand ("Pick up some tomatoes   
   on your way home!")   
      
   But, using that as an excuse to pitch products ("On sale, now, at...")   
   sends the wrong message to the consumer:  "You're not helping me but,   
   rather, trying to exploit me"  (How do I know that you haven't been   
   selling my consumption data to the very people who want to sell me products??)   
      
   Devices that talk to the outside world should always be suspect in regards   
   to what they may be leaking about you and how they might be influenced   
   by those folks -- who, likely, have THEIR interests at heart!]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)