Silicon Valley sells snake oil 'solutions'. The Democratic party fell for them

The Guardian ^ | Thu 6 Feb 2020 | Siva Vaidhyanathan

[nickcarraway]

If the Democrats take one lesson from Iowa, it should be that simple, dependable technology is better than flimsy, new technology

As I write this sentence I have no idea which candidates prevailed in the Democratic caucuses held in Iowa on Monday. That’s fine with me.

We don’t know the results because the Iowa Democratic party fell into the same mania that has twisted the American economy, culture and political world for almost 40 years: the thoughtless pursuit of immediate gratification through the expensive installation of complex, fragile technological systems.

We call it “smart” technology to mask how stupid we have become.

The Iowa party spent thousands of dollars contracting with an inexperienced mobile application developer called – in all seriousness – Shadow to develop a mobile phone app to gather and report the vote and delegate tallies from the 1,681 precincts in the state.

The failure of the app has embarrassed the Iowa party and convinced the Nevada Democratic party, which will host similar caucuses on 22 February, to abandon its plans to use the same service.

This might seem at first glance to be a serious blow to the image of the national Democratic party and its candidates’ efforts to defeat Donald Trump. But I’d argue that it could be the best thing that could have happened.

The Democrats needed a bracing embarrassment early, so they could learn from it. Had things worked smoothly in Iowa, the systematic flaws and errors of thought that have dominated Democratic strategy for years might have revealed themselves months later when it really mattered.

So what’s good for the Democrats in this series of events? The Iowa glitch shows party leaders that their challenges cannot be addressed by fancy sales pitches from Silicon Valley snake oil salespeople.

[Grampa Dave]

Congre$$it Lee feels that it could be the evil Russians again.

OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, RUSSIA!!!OMG, R

[Spktyr]

Ah, a nice Luddite article. /s

Seriously, the technology as a technology wasn’t the problem. It was who they paid to implement the technology and how they implemented it, just like the Obamacare website.

Looking at the name of the author - perhaps they really want us to return to the 14th Century?

[nickcarraway]

[nickcarraway]

Yes, it was incompetence, or possible worse.

[Spktyr]

Even if you assume it wasn’t rigged, it was gross incompetence all the way around, yes. If there was malice involved, it was even more incompetent because they drew attention to themselves.

[MuttTheHoople]

My new theory- the app worked perfectly. It’s just that Bernie won big, and Biden finished last.

[headstamp 2]

[[[[Had things worked smoothly in Iowa, the systematic flaws and errors of thought that have dominated Democratic strategy for years might have revealed themselves months later when it really mattered.]]]]

So after a screw up with a phone ap, this will make the left think differently about the communism they are peddling 24/7.

OK, got it.

[Long Jon No Silver]

Siva would prefer wimmin get back to the river bank to do the washing. Maybe get some tin cans and string to communicate with too

[VTenigma]

So Amason and Ebay can compile millions of sales listings and ship them to your door in 2 days, but these jerks can’t compile 1700 voting lists in 3 days. We’re being gaslighted. These frauds are lying to cover their asses.

[minnesota_bound]

A simple spreadsheet to add the numbers to a column then highlight all then click on the formula button then add sum.
Save then phone the total over to whoever wants all the info.

[monkeyshine]

I know there is a lot of speculation that the Dem insiders who are behind this new app were trying to use it to rig the outcome. We’ve seen a lot of shenanigans over the last few years so you really can’t rule it out.

But my opinion is that these insiders were just trying to leverage their connections for profit. They charged the party and the campaigns a lot of money. What is comical is that it shouldn’t be a very complicated piece of software. Any spreadsheet could do it.

[Grimmy]

I suspect this was an attempt to set up a parallel vote counting system that the dems owned outright for the primary.

Then, when they lost, they could trot out “Shadow” to say that they really won but Trump cheated.

[ridesthemiles]

I will bet an ice cream bar that I am one of the few bookkeepers still around who can do company books on ledger sheets with pen & pencil . Can even add & subtract without a calculator if I need to.

Every one today thinks those services can only be done by Quick Books. NOT !!!

[wastoute]

“Never attribute to deviousness what can be explained by incompetence.” But sometimes the incompetence is just too massive to ignore.