I'm Tired of Pretending Tech is Making the World Better
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For many things I completely agree.
That said, we just had our second kid, and neither set of grandparents live locally. That we can video chat with our family --- for free, essentially! --- is astonishing. And it's not a big deal, not something we plan, just, "hey let's say hi to Gramma and Gramps!"
When I was a kid videoconferencing was exclusive to seriously high end offices. And when we wanted to make a long distance call, we'd sometimes plan it in advance and buy prepaid minutes (this is on a landline, mid 90s maybe). Now my mom can just chat with her friend "across the pond" whenever she wants, from the comfort of her couch, and for zero incremental cost.
I think technology that "feels like tech" is oftentimes a time sink and a waste. But the tech we take for granted? There's some pretty amazing stuff there.
There's magic and then there's complexity in tech (at least this is how I think about it).
Video calling, pure magic, simple to use with major benefits.
Complex business management software that requires a degree to use? Complexity almost for complexity's sake to lock an organisation into a support contract.
Web stores? Usually magic, especially with refined payment processing and smooth ordering. Can verge into over complex coughAmazoncough.
Internal network administration (Active Directory) and cloud tech, often complexity for complexity's sake again.
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I work in a coffee shop; I already feel sufficiently dehumanized by the amount of people who answer my "how are you today?" with "cappuccino to-go". I would hate to work in a café where you order via your phone.
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For many things I completely agree.
That said, we just had our second kid, and neither set of grandparents live locally. That we can video chat with our family --- for free, essentially! --- is astonishing. And it's not a big deal, not something we plan, just, "hey let's say hi to Gramma and Gramps!"
When I was a kid videoconferencing was exclusive to seriously high end offices. And when we wanted to make a long distance call, we'd sometimes plan it in advance and buy prepaid minutes (this is on a landline, mid 90s maybe). Now my mom can just chat with her friend "across the pond" whenever she wants, from the comfort of her couch, and for zero incremental cost.
I think technology that "feels like tech" is oftentimes a time sink and a waste. But the tech we take for granted? There's some pretty amazing stuff there.
Tech tends to goes through stages:
A need or idea is created. Usually by a small independent entity.
A proof of concept is developed and starts to gain ground.
Investors poor money into the concept to an extreme degree. Tech grows in functionality, matures and develops into a useful tool.
The the investors demand a return on the investment and the money dries up.
Company either goes bankrupt or their product goes to shit.
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"In some parts of the city, you can't even park your car anymore without downloading an app."
Omg, this. I left my phone at home by accident and quickly found out that I could not pay a meter on the area I went to .... You had to download an app to pay or use you phone to register a phone number and manually enter a plate and credit card.
No phone.....meant no parking.
Good luck too if your phone happens to run out of battery.
Yeah but parking has always been bad.
You had to carry change. Meters were always out of order or would just eat your change without issuing a ticket, and the people checking never gave a shit and would give you a fine anyway.
My only complaint is the app, everyone should offer a website or an app, but if you're going to park there a few times an app does make sense.
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"In some parts of the city, you can't even park your car anymore without downloading an app."
Omg, this. I left my phone at home by accident and quickly found out that I could not pay a meter on the area I went to .... You had to download an app to pay or use you phone to register a phone number and manually enter a plate and credit card.
No phone.....meant no parking.
Good luck too if your phone happens to run out of battery.
Yep, technofeudalism is here.
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Scenario1:
"Um, hi. Can I just order here inside? Thanks. I'm really hating the apps now. For sure: one medium cold-brew, please. Yes, thanks, to go. Okay; tap here? Excellent. Oh. Put 'guppy' on the cup. Thanks! [pause] Oh, perfect. Hey, thanks again for letting me skip the app. Those are so frustrating! I'm really starting to avoid any place that uses them, and I'm so grateful I can still come in. Have a great day!"
Scenario2:
"Um, hi. Can I just order here? No? Just the app? That's too bad: I'm really getting frustrated with the app and I'm starting to avoid places that need them. Nope, that's all I needed, sorry. Thanks anyway, and have a great day!"
I like this idea because
- you're affirming the target behaviour
- you're getting a coffee and going
- you're being chipper so they don't feed off your grumpy face
- you're providing feedback without being too much 'that guy', I hope, to the serving staff.
In all things, you don't wanna be That Guy, because you know servers don't need that shit. But, while the odds are slim of feedback getting up the chain of command, you're being clear (and probably more concise) as to how to get more of your business in case the feedback DOES go up.
because you know servers don't need that shit.
No. Dead wrong. It's precisely the frontline staff who need customer feedback, and if makes them uncomfortable then so much the better.
It's the rank and file's job to pass criticism of the service offering on in team meetings, culture surveys, etc. My job sucks this week because I have to do x and yet the customers all hate it. Staff will drive change to policy when it's their ears copping the response day-to-day.
'I couldn't possibly bother the floor person' is code for 'I am going to tolerate in silence any corporate policy no matter how obnoxious', and line management and the executive know it.
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Yeah but parking has always been bad.
You had to carry change. Meters were always out of order or would just eat your change without issuing a ticket, and the people checking never gave a shit and would give you a fine anyway.
My only complaint is the app, everyone should offer a website or an app, but if you're going to park there a few times an app does make sense.
Neither a phone nor website would work if your phone battery is flat. The meter should at least have a way for someone to park their car if they don't have a functioning phone, or internet access, even before the hellscape of needing a separate app for everything.
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Oh for sure…and I’m here after slashdot stopped listening to users, then digg, then Reddit …
Right, so the buck stops here with FOSS, finally!
...
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Neither a phone nor website would work if your phone battery is flat. The meter should at least have a way for someone to park their car if they don't have a functioning phone, or internet access, even before the hellscape of needing a separate app for everything.
You're in a car. There's probably a charging port there. Sucks if you don't have a phone, but it sucked before when you didn't have change.
Parking has always been a privilege not a right, and if you're not prepared you're going to get a ticket.
I get that it's annoying but if my phone broke and I suddenly had to pay for parking with coins, I don't know what I'd do either. Everything is cashless now, where would I get coins from?
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As someone who grew up before the negative effects of computer/internet technology, and was excited and impatient for it to develop, I agree with the points made in the article. It didn't have to be this way- in a different kind of society it could have been a boon to everyone. But in our society all the benefits of good things are appropriated by the powerful so they can more readily exploit the less powerful for profit.
So many wonderful possible benefits that might have come from these technological advancements, to help people lead better lives, to address many of society's issues (hunger, climate change, disabilities, education, etc) simply never happened, because in our society money must be invested to develop them, so only things that would make more profits for the greedy were able to be developed. Yes, some things did get funded by governments or foundations, but they're only a drop in the bucket to what could be done.
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You're in a car. There's probably a charging port there. Sucks if you don't have a phone, but it sucked before when you didn't have change.
Parking has always been a privilege not a right, and if you're not prepared you're going to get a ticket.
I get that it's annoying but if my phone broke and I suddenly had to pay for parking with coins, I don't know what I'd do either. Everything is cashless now, where would I get coins from?
Woo! Let's make this artificial biome that much more inhospitable for the very creatures that build and live in it!
We must imagine Sisyphus fucking miserable! Ants in an anthill made of broken glass and depleted lion batteries!
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Woo! Let's make this artificial biome that much more inhospitable for the very creatures that build and live in it!
We must imagine Sisyphus fucking miserable! Ants in an anthill made of broken glass and depleted lion batteries!
also you can walk into basically any bank and ask for a roll of quaters
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because you know servers don't need that shit.
No. Dead wrong. It's precisely the frontline staff who need customer feedback, and if makes them uncomfortable then so much the better.
It's the rank and file's job to pass criticism of the service offering on in team meetings, culture surveys, etc. My job sucks this week because I have to do x and yet the customers all hate it. Staff will drive change to policy when it's their ears copping the response day-to-day.
'I couldn't possibly bother the floor person' is code for 'I am going to tolerate in silence any corporate policy no matter how obnoxious', and line management and the executive know it.
LOL, as a rank and file, corporate doesn't care. I pass along feedback, but even if they lose 1% of their business, corporate won't stop their bullshit.
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"In some parts of the city, you can't even park your car anymore without downloading an app."
Omg, this. I left my phone at home by accident and quickly found out that I could not pay a meter on the area I went to .... You had to download an app to pay or use you phone to register a phone number and manually enter a plate and credit card.
No phone.....meant no parking.
Good luck too if your phone happens to run out of battery.
Yet more benefits to cycling then. Just lock it to any reasonably sturdy object.
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Scenario1:
"Um, hi. Can I just order here inside? Thanks. I'm really hating the apps now. For sure: one medium cold-brew, please. Yes, thanks, to go. Okay; tap here? Excellent. Oh. Put 'guppy' on the cup. Thanks! [pause] Oh, perfect. Hey, thanks again for letting me skip the app. Those are so frustrating! I'm really starting to avoid any place that uses them, and I'm so grateful I can still come in. Have a great day!"
Scenario2:
"Um, hi. Can I just order here? No? Just the app? That's too bad: I'm really getting frustrated with the app and I'm starting to avoid places that need them. Nope, that's all I needed, sorry. Thanks anyway, and have a great day!"
I like this idea because
- you're affirming the target behaviour
- you're getting a coffee and going
- you're being chipper so they don't feed off your grumpy face
- you're providing feedback without being too much 'that guy', I hope, to the serving staff.
In all things, you don't wanna be That Guy, because you know servers don't need that shit. But, while the odds are slim of feedback getting up the chain of command, you're being clear (and probably more concise) as to how to get more of your business in case the feedback DOES go up.
I just take my brick phone out and say that I can't use their app on this. Although once went to the pub after work and it meant I didn't need to pay for any of my drinks which was nice.
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The overwhelming majority of software ever written is fucking terrible and causes more problems than it solves.
Since software is easily copiable and mutable, that small sliver of good software gets replicated all over the place and serves as a foundation for other software, both good -- and at the risk of repeating myself -- and mostly bad.
People would be better off considering new tech as the tool it is rather than seeing every piece of software as inherently better than the thing it replaces.
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As someone who grew up before the negative effects of computer/internet technology, and was excited and impatient for it to develop, I agree with the points made in the article. It didn't have to be this way- in a different kind of society it could have been a boon to everyone. But in our society all the benefits of good things are appropriated by the powerful so they can more readily exploit the less powerful for profit.
So many wonderful possible benefits that might have come from these technological advancements, to help people lead better lives, to address many of society's issues (hunger, climate change, disabilities, education, etc) simply never happened, because in our society money must be invested to develop them, so only things that would make more profits for the greedy were able to be developed. Yes, some things did get funded by governments or foundations, but they're only a drop in the bucket to what could be done.
Thanks Adam Smith...
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As someone who grew up before the negative effects of computer/internet technology, and was excited and impatient for it to develop, I agree with the points made in the article. It didn't have to be this way- in a different kind of society it could have been a boon to everyone. But in our society all the benefits of good things are appropriated by the powerful so they can more readily exploit the less powerful for profit.
So many wonderful possible benefits that might have come from these technological advancements, to help people lead better lives, to address many of society's issues (hunger, climate change, disabilities, education, etc) simply never happened, because in our society money must be invested to develop them, so only things that would make more profits for the greedy were able to be developed. Yes, some things did get funded by governments or foundations, but they're only a drop in the bucket to what could be done.
It didn’t have to be this way; in a different kind of society it could have been a boon to everyone.
Please hold onto this viewpoint even under serious argument from those opposing it. Technology isn't inevitably shit. There are other types of software we can write, and other types of technology we can develop that isn't the result of some sweaty CTO hovering over our shoulders demanding that we make the software shittier for the sake of the shareholders.
We have to imagine better choices. We have to imagine that we can change the course of things.
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I work in a coffee shop; I already feel sufficiently dehumanized by the amount of people who answer my "how are you today?" with "cappuccino to-go". I would hate to work in a café where you order via your phone.
Honestly? Cool that you are asking, but I just want a coffee, not a conversation.
Yes, I'm German, how could you tell?
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It didn’t have to be this way; in a different kind of society it could have been a boon to everyone.
Please hold onto this viewpoint even under serious argument from those opposing it. Technology isn't inevitably shit. There are other types of software we can write, and other types of technology we can develop that isn't the result of some sweaty CTO hovering over our shoulders demanding that we make the software shittier for the sake of the shareholders.
We have to imagine better choices. We have to imagine that we can change the course of things.
Well said.
