"The point of buying the server wasn’t to save money, it was to build something cool." In the end, this is always the real answer - one that I'm sure we can all agree is the 'correct' one too.
Reality check. Car gets stolen. You tell the cops the exact location of car. They tell you to fill out paperwork. You pick up said paper work two weeks later. Insurance does ( or doesn't ) do it's thing.
I would have a totally different feeling - if I believed that the cops would 'do' anything. They have impressed me, and my five decades on this planet, at the lengths they will go to not do their job ( or flat out do the opposite if it fits their wants. )
Really?... Isn't the 'underlying' skill ( and it was hard for me to write that last word )... being able to communicate? Are we really going to call this anything but the ability to write one's thoughts intelligently?
I just hope it isn't another ( there's been more than one ) NASA level "announcement" on astrobiology that's going to rewrite the "book". These sorts of headline grabs do nothing to help in the end. This is feeling like another one of these, and I'm hoping to be proven wrong - as who wouldn't love a mr. fusion in their future.
My 'fav' class as an undergrad was also the hardest. I was 'lucky' to have received a 'C'. There was one 'A', one 'B', my grade ... in a class of perhaps 30. When a grad student asked about the curve on the first exam - the prof calmly explained that he wasn't going to be that prof...
That prof being one that curved everyone up to make their life easier by keeping everyone happy. Rather, we needed to learn the material and figure it out asap.
I learned from that class, I didn't know how to learn - and was totally confused, as I was a great student with great grades, etc. But that talk hit me hard, I realized that he was correct - and I needed to change.
That wake up call, nearly three decades ago, has since allowed me to learn novel tools, technologies, etc - where others struggle. I have benefited personally incredibly from knowing how to learn - many won't understand what I'm saying nor will they realize why it is important. Too often, my peers - other prof's will make an easy class/test/etc to make everyone happy and pass that buck forward (after all, admin is happiest when the customers are happiest). Are we really helping these students though?
I've been lucky to work with teams from Brazil, India, China, etc - these folks have been pushed in ways that would seem inhumane by the standards I'm reading in the comments. These folks are the ones that industry (and the individual for that matter) wants and will want, as they know what they are doing and are able to learn novel technologies as they emerge.
I tell my students the importance of learning how to learn, that their competition isn't in the room with them - it's thousands of miles away...They just want an 'A' for that six figure job that they have been promised. Indeed, whenever I hear that "six figure paycheck" my heart aches and I'm saddened that someone in advising/online/etc keeps pumping this idea out. In my opinion, a bit of discomfort in a synthetic environment like academia - for the possibility of a lifetime of ease now being taboo is beyond saddening.
Reading through all the responses...My personal take on what I've been reading.
The amount of cheating that I ( and my fellow professors ) have seen during these past few years has absolutely exploded (in a way that is beyond belief, and I've been doing this for a while).
The techniques others have outlined/alluded to ( camera off, a big life event just happened, looking off camera, noise, etc ) are all things that I've been seeing. And whilst this is nothing to be lauded, after all how many vectors are there, I do think that perhaps a solution is looking towards academics. (just saying...)
As I see it, the hurt is going to come from more hoops expected, as any burdens are always passed down to the individual. In in an ideal world, companies would actually read/think/analyze all the data/metadata they already have; however, we don't live in this world. And the individual's going to have to spell everything out in gross detail.
Totally confused why folks are not understanding/believing what you've stated. I can attest, this is happening and at 'top' tier places. I can't tell you how spot on you are regarding the camera off strategy.
Happened with my partner, and have heard of this from a lot of friends. This is a real issue. It hurts 'real' candidates and everyone that takes time to be apart of the hiring process.
HR dept's are simply unable/ill-equipped to handle this new reality. Honestly, at larger org's this is really an upper management issue first and foremost, as HR dept's are sort of benefiting from these frauds. ( Before you go off on that last sentence, I did say 'sort of' - and I personally believe in 'you get what you incentivize'...so)
From my understanding though, these 'prices' are outdated nearly as quickly as they are published. I.e. sure you have a set, but everything is dynamic and changing. Seems like it would require a ML approach to 'understand' such a dataset going forward.
This surprises...nobody? Except maybe bean counters/management types that need to show off perhaps.
With that said, I do have concerns. These issues center around a shift in benefits offered as a result of this new paradigm ( hate using that word but ) around the nature of work. I.e. the gig everything economy coming to your job...soon
Many folks in the US work a 9to5 not just for the pay, rather for healthcare and stability. However, it's only a matter of time that employees will become even more API'ified / made into independent contracts / etc. I know that many will welcome the flexibility - some though will not understand what this means.
I do wonder how the US will be able to handle this continued move away from 'trad' employment, given our rather odd situation of one's medical being tied at the hip to one's employer? Those that work in other jurisdictions need not fear the loss of a job as much as a US citizen. Literally, you could die ( just look at how many of those that were made unemployed during the pandemic lost access to medical. )
I honestly see this as the 'things to come' - and sort of impressed that these technologies/ideas haven't been used sooner.
With that said, I too think that it would be a HUGE gain for all if ownership / control could be transferred. However, most people cannot properly control stuff they dearly care for, and could see this becoming a HUGE headache for the stores to manage after the sale.
Perhaps an after purchase website that you register your info and products ( maybe connecting said devices to your phone(s) or other BLE devices .) The big issue is, you're on the job - forgot your phone/etc...and can't drill a hole. Although, most people would be more likely to forget their shoes than their phone.