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A comment on Someone has to say it: Voice assistants are not doing it for big tech. Parent comment

Re:Someone has to say it: Voice assistants are not doing it ... by ClumsyPilot on Wednesday November 23, 2022 @06:11AM (#33717756)
> we shouldn't regard formal language as a burden, but rather as a privilege

What the hell? Is riding public transport or riding a bike either a burdain or a privilidge? Is Driving a car?

I am trying to control shit in my home, it should be neither.

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Re:Someone has to say it: Voice assistants are not doing it ... by duggan on Wednesday November 23, 2022 @06:38AM (#33717946)
Dijkstra's full essay[1] is a bit more illuminating, but essentially it's about how, for example, developing a system of symbols and formal language around mathematics has allowed "school children [to] learn to do what in earlier days only genius could achieve".

1: https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD06xx/E...

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Re:Someone has to say it: Voice assistants are not doing it ... by em500 on Wednesday November 23, 2022 @09:28AM (#33719497)
I think his argument even generalizes to literacy in general. Remember that reading and writing skills don't develop naturally (as opposed to spoken language). They require a large educational investment, and used to be reserved for the wealthy and the privileged.
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