I'm Tired of Pretending Tech is Making the World Better
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The sad part as I read it is that you actually have to work 8 hours at all. Productivity has increased more than thrice in the last few decades, yet, the early industrialization 8+ hours are still the norm while it has been proven to be unproductive for most jobs and defiantly unhealthy. Or at least that is what I interpret into it. There are different models of work breaks, I think the french have a somewhat long lunch break because they celebrate it more while other work cultures are more on the nutrition acquisition road
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We'd all be better off if we learned to question tech as a gift and see it for its grift.
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Tech isn’t the problem. It’s the people in charge of it. It’s the capitalism/neo-feudalism controlling the politics.
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focusing on the boils is meaningless; you take out one, another popus up.
the root problem needs to be addressed. i understand that people might have a difficult time understanding that, but capitalism is ultimately targeted towards making progress, and if there's no more healthy progress to be made, it starts making unhealthy progress instead. Similar to a toe nail that won't stop growing until you end up with an in-grown toe nail. And you know how painful that is.
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Open source analytics tools are still pushing for ad-driven business models that make the world (and the content) worse.
Open source LLMs still waste computational power and pollute.
And the list continues. Some open source technologies serve a good goal, some contribute to make the world as bad as some non-OSS. -
but it beats working 12h a day in the field to feed my familiy.
btw, people didn't work 12 h a day in the field
the long work days are a result of capitalism. yes, progress has increased average work hours, instead of decreasing them.
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Consumer technology I can see being very toxic and also toxic for the environment because people don’t know how to recycle or purchase correctly. Commercial tech like IoT is going to help save the planet and support the majority with them knowing.
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but how to get people to understand that it even is a problem? So many seem to be content to constantly go against even their own interests. Its like most have been brainwashed so they attack you if you dare even suggest there is something wrong with all this. Or if they dont they will just be apathetic and throw canned "it is what it is" at you.
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A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other invention with the possible exceptions of handguns and Tequila.
—Mitch Ratcliffe
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I don't have to, I could go half-day and have a decent living, maybe downsizing the house a bit, but I like the big house and the fast car, and the sushi for lunch.
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So many are...
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People back then didn't have Healthcare, cars or iPhones. I like all of those.
Communist countries work even longer hours, look for instance 996 in China.
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Maybe they did? You're kinda missing the point though, which is that this stuff is becoming more and more common and will be nigh-unavoidable in the future.
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Weird seeing an Australian using a picture from a place in Belgium
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If you use and consequently support scummy Amazon you fully deserve it.
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Exactly. I would extend that and the article's premise to say, tech isn't innately good or bad, it is just a tool that can be applied in good or bad ways.
For example at his cafe, a QR code ordering system could have been optional for those who prefer it, and could be easily implemented without collecting any personal data. And that could actually be a positive thing for those who want to reorder without getting up or who have social anxiety. But by forcing all customers into this confusing and privacy invading system, the tech becomes a bad thing.The villain of that story is not tech. The villains are the online ordering company that decided to make a data grab, and the cafe owner who decided to buy tech so he wouldn't have to pay servers.
