I'm Tired of Pretending Tech is Making the World Better
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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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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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also you can walk into basically any bank and ask for a roll of quaters
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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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Yet more benefits to cycling then. Just lock it to any reasonably sturdy object.
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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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Thanks Adam Smith...
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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.
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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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Well said.
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I like playing video games...
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Literally just one billionaire could end world hunger. It's such an easy way to go to history forever as a good guy. But they all become corrupt in the soul as soon as they have more than they can use. It's a systematic problem and the problem is the demonic capitalist entities known as the megacorps
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Which changes rules, but not the resulting balance or lack thereof.
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Tech =/= megacorps
That's like saying food doesn't make the world better where you mean food industry megacorps producing hunger & poverty.
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Tech definitely is. Gate-keeping, stupid pricing, etc. done by few corporations and individual isn't.
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Worst thing to happen to tech is ads.
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People weren't willing to pay with money. Usually every tech product with ads has an "insert coin to remove" option. If you don't insert coin, advertisers will.
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And if you wear a mask it even free!
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I dont know... This Linux thing is pretty great, IMO.
I get their point, but it feels like it's more about tech being abused by large corporations, trying to squeeze another cent out of you.
