dhall
Well-Known Member
I hesitate to respond to this because this gets us off topic yet again ... but I'd like to know just what kind of credential a so-called 'Disney insider' (something that I have been labeled, but I don't like to use myself) would have? Do you think we have cards signed by all the folks at Disney who slip us info? Do we have secret LE pins that were given to us by Roy Disney? Do we have Meg Crofton signed bobbleheads? @Lee even has the more valuable Erin Youngs bobblehead.
All you have to do with any of us 'insiders' is judge us on our track records and the perspective and history and knowledge we bring. I know I am not right all the time -- and I've been very upfront in my lack of tech knowledge (although not that of my sources). But I am right far more than I am not and I know that I put information, factual information, out before anyone else. If I didn't, then I'd likely have been run off from the Disney fan community years before I ever joined this site.
I'm somewhat hesitant, too, but here goes. We can take it offline if we need to go any farther.
On a message board that trades on inside information provided by persons with anonymous sources, any attempt to tie information to specific people should be immediately deemed out of bounds.
In a heated discussion, you attempted to tie the persona of your antagonist to a real world identity and attempted to impute motives based on that presumed identity. Saying that flynn's arguments should discounted because he's obviously got a technical backgrond is fine, but saying that his arguments should be discounted because he's a specific person with a specific role at a specific company is taking it too far in a forum where most of us maintain at least some modicum of anonymity.
Lee's message, to which I responded, implied that flynn should've disclosed his connections to the project, however remote they may be, as a precondition to his defending it. I don't believe that's appropriate, and it feels somewhat ironic that such an expectation comes from one of the more valued sources of inside information.
I have direct knowledge of some of the technologies under discussion that comes from having helped to develop similar technologies, and indirect knowledge of many of the other technologies that comes from working in related areas. I'm actually very happy to be able to share that knowledge on this board, having enjoyed reading the inside information shared by you and several others over nearly all of this forum's existence. It's really cool to have stuff to contribute for a change. I don't feel like I should have to get any more specific than I already have in order to satisfy anyone on one side of the argument or the other as a precondition for my participation.
But just because people have tech knowledge that I -- and many others who don't work in tech fields -- lack, doesn't make their OPINIONS regarding the value of NGE/MM+ anymore valuable.
While I think there's some value in knowing the difference between money well invested in technical projects and money wasted on stupid technical projects, you're perfectly free to discount his opinion or mine on the basis of our perceived bias. We're all entitled to opinions as to the relative value of technical investement vs. other types of investment. And yes, those of us with technical backgrounds will likely cut them more slack when they invest in technology, in general, but I think I'm in a better position than many to determine if what they're investing in makes any sense from a technical perspective.
As far as this whole project goes, I think the network infrastructure for the wifi access is a very necessary investment, and is being made at a fairly appropriate time. The money being spent on integrating all the back office systems is money they should've spent years ago -- this stuff basically is a Phase II project for IT. Better late than never, in this case.
The magic bands & reservations system are ludicrous nonsense that never should've seen the light of day. I've maintained throughout these past few weeks that the single biggest screw-up related to this project is that they made any part of it public to begin with. If we'd never heard the phrase 'NextGen', and they'd spent the money just as they have without the bands & reservations, spending the balance on just one attraction (because I really believe that's about all it would've paid for), I don't believe that anyone would be complaining. What we would've seen was 1) one potentially cool new ride (subject to heated online debate, no doubt), 2) free wi-fi access across the property, 3) what looks like an interest in improving the maintenance (seeing as all the buildings just got refurbished over a fairly short period) and 4) a couple of disney branded smart phone apps with information that we're currently getting less frequently from third parties.
It's pretty obvious that someone who has spent a lifetime working in tech is going to lean toward loving this or 'giving it the benefit of the doubt' than those of us who already find technology and tracking waaaaay too intrusive in the USA.
And, no, just because that train has left the station doesn't mean the government can't slow it down or put up safety checkpoints along its route.
That doesn't seem so obvious to me. For what its worth, I generally agree with you very strongly in most all of your remarks about the state of the nation and our culture as a whole, and the state of the Orlando parks specifically. I believe WalMart should become a verb, used to describe the process of degrading quality that can be done by the poorly informed in large groups. I've been going to those parks for as long as you have (longer, if 74 was when you first visited) and have very similar observations regarding the loss of quality and value over the years.
I've seen a fair number of examples of companies using these technologies in ways that really do improve their service to me, either through better identifying my needs or better controlling their costs and thus my price. However, knowing what I know about how companies can use this information makes me strongly hope that the government does step in and strengthen the privacy regulations -- I'd like to see the US move much closer to the European model. Heck, I'd like to see us lead the world in protecting the privacy rights of the individual. My employers will still be able to sell plenty of software.