Technology

I saw the writing on the wall when we started getting itunes updates that no one wanted.

Tech =/= megacorps

That's like saying food doesn't make the world better where you mean food industry megacorps producing hunger & poverty.

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.

Imagine VR so real that someone severely allergic to cats can know what it's like to give one scritches and feel it purr. Imagine someone who is paraplegic knowing what it's like to swim or climb a mountain. Now imagine how much money Mark Zuckerberg will make when it's $22.95/month with ads and requires you to put in your Social Security Number.

As someone who grew up before the negative effects of computer/internet technology became apparent, and who 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.

My phone struggled to load the site to order a single cold brew, pop-ups to install the custom App kept obscuring the options, and I had to register with my phone number, email address, and first and last name to buy a $5 cup of coffee.

Then walk out. Don't reward the bullshit with your money. The coffee shop ain't gonna give a shit if you keep buying coffee just to go home and complain on your blog.

I'm tired of pretending companies are making the world better.

See:

The corporation

The new corporation

I watched a documentary about the Unabomber and had the same thought

"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.

I don't agree. Technology in itself is not helpful nor harmful. It's a tool like a hammer or a knife or a pen and a block of paper.

I agree if one says that technology makes it easier to do harm.:) People and their motives and actions are the same as always, since the stone age and ago.

Tech is a tool. It can be benefitting the oligarchs and restrictive, or benefitting society and open source.

Yep, I also been growing older and I have nostalgia for old times. But I'm well aware that grass is only greener on my memory, as it has always been.

I'm tired of people seeing everything as binary good or bad. We have more than two brain cells, and life isn't a fucking meme.

For the past 20 years, tech has promised to make things more efficient while making almost everything more complicated and less meaningful. Innovation, for innovation's sake, has eroded our craftsmanship, relationships, and ability to think critically.

I feel this in my bones.

I like playing video games...

Tech definitely is. Gate-keeping, stupid pricing, etc. done by few corporations and individual isn't.