Interweb

Our phones are not your computers

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It is common to find software developers who imagine that everyone shares their understanding of, and enthusiasm for, computers. This is not the case. Most people merely tolerate computers:

This leads them to assume that we would like to have our phones transformed into something akin to a computer from the 1990s. This also is not the case. For example Brent Simmons argues that iPhones and iPads should be able to download software from anywhere just like computers because “those devices are computers“. No. They are not computers.

Certainly a phone has all the internal gubbins just like a computer. But my TV comes with a screen, a processor, an operating system, a web browser and is connected to the Internet. It is not a computer. Refrigerators come with processors and screens and an Internet connection. They are not computers. Motor cars come with processors, screens, web browsers and an Internet connection. They are not computers.

Apple sells far more phones than they do computers because phones are not computers. People who want a computer buy a computer. People who do not want a computer buy a phone. Nobody calls their phone their pocket computer… because they are not computers.

I use the splendid NetNewsWire (as mentioned here in 2008) which is available from the App Store for devices that are not computers but, alas, only from the website for Mac computers.

What could possibly go wrong?

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From the UK government’s response to the petition objecting to the introduction of a digital ID system:

Privacy and security will also be central to the digital ID programme. We will follow data protection law and best practice in creating a system which people can rightly put their trust in. People in the UK already know and trust digital credentials held in their phone wallets to use in their everyday lives, from paying for things to storing boarding passes.

From reports that the government continues to press for access to the private data of UK citizens:

The UK Home Office demanded in early September that Apple create a means to allow officials access to encrypted cloud backups, but stipulated that the order applied only to British citizens’ data, according to people briefed on the matter.

The past governments catalogue of failures in implementing large scale systems and the damage done by the ridiculous Online Safety Act does not inspire confidence but I am sure AI will save us.

Or…

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App Store update listing explaining it now handled large advertisements that blocked the game's board.

…get rid of the advertisements. Make something good enough to buy rather than sullying your apps with cheap and tacky ads.

NHS/Accurx – privatisation and missed appointments

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Back in June I happened to read through some unimportant looking mail before it was dropped in the recycling. It informed me that an NHS appointment had been made for me on Saturday July 12th. Why and by whom was a mystery. It certainly was not me. There has been much made lately of the cost to the NHS of missed appointments – some (make up a number) millions/billions of pounds. Perhaps they are missed because people are unaware that they exist.

Fortunately today we can rely on technology to save us. It was a simple matter to cancel my appointment via the services of Accurx and their “easy-to-use platform where patients and healthcare professionals communicate“.

Alas communicating the cancellation did not progress any further than the Accurx box ticking exercise. Two text messages arrived, on the Wednesday and Friday, reminding me of the pending appointment. On the evening of the 12th a lady called to ask why I had not attended. I explained I had cancelled the appointment and she apologised in a manner that suggested this was a frequent occurrence.

This failure came as no surprise to me. In the past I have been advised about the results of a blood test – for someone else. I have been invited to partake in some research – for which I did not qualify.

My experience seems to be a common one given all the one star reviews for Accurx. Although medical professionals seem to love it.

The Accurx Principles are hosted on a Notion site (Notion being some ‘AI’ nonsense) and is full of the vacuous drivel one would expect: “If we disagree, we commit and champion”.

Looking into who these people are we sink into the dark and depressing waters that is the gradual privatisation of the health service. Early investors seem to be Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat and Atomico making Irina Haivas – “My passions remain rooted in deeply disruptive technologies, the people who drive them and the opportunity to create meaningful impact at scale — especially in Europe.” a director until she left Atomico in 2025. Laurence Bargery, a co-founder of Accurx, has moved on to Healthtech 1; a UK division of the American corporation Healthtech X.

Accurx, despite having millions invested, have yet to make any money. Of course making money is not the objective. With the whole world (and beyond) becoming little more than a playground for billionaires just getting a foot in the door is enough for now. Keep Our NHS Public maintains a database that catalogues the millions of pounds we pour into these private companies.

While they are busy innovating and disrupting we are left paying for an increasingly inefficient and ineffective health service.