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submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

Short disclosure, I work as a Software Developer in the US, and often have to keep my negative opinions about the tech industry to myself. I often post podcasts and articles critical of the tech industry here in order to vent and, in a way, commiserate over the current state of tech and its negative effects on our environment and the Global/American sociopolitical landscape.

I'm generally reluctant to express these opinions IRL as I'm afraid of burning certain bridges in the tech industry that could one day lead to further employment opportunities. I also don't want to get into these kinds of discussions except with my closest friends and family, as I could foresee them getting quite heated and lengthy with certain people in my social circles.

Some of these negative opinions include:

  • I think that the industries based around cryptocurrencies and other blockchain technologies have always been, and have repeatedly proven themselves to be, nothing more or less than scams run and perpetuated by scam artists.
  • I think that the AI industry is particularly harmful to writers, journalists, actors, artists, and others. This is not because AI produces better pieces of work, but rather due to misanthropic viewpoints of particularly toxic and powerful individuals at the top of the tech industry hierarchy pushing AI as the next big thing due to their general misunderstanding or outright dislike of the general public.
  • I think that capitalism will ultimately doom the tech industry as it reinforces poor system design that deemphasizes maintenance and maintainability in preference of a move fast and break things mentality that still pervades many parts of tech.
  • I think we've squeezed as much capital out of advertising as is possible without completely alienating the modern user, and we risk creating strong anti tech sentiments among the general population if we don't figure out a less intrusive way of monetizing software.

You can agree or disagree with me, but in this thread I'd prefer not to get into arguments over the particular details of why any one of our opinions are wrong or right. Rather, I'd hope you could list what opinions on the tech industry you hold that you feel comfortable expressing here, but are, for whatever reason, reluctant to express in public or at work. I'd also welcome an elaboration of said reason, should you feel comfortable to give it.

I doubt we can completely avoid disagreements, but I'll humbly ask that we all attempt to keep this as civil as possible. Thanks in advance for all thoughtful responses.

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[-] Jayjader@jlai.lu 3 points 5 days ago

We should stop making software for others.

A prerequisite for reasonable tech use is understanding the amount of energy and materials you need to "burn through" for any given piece of tech to 1) exist and 2) do its useful work. Call me naive, but I really doubt that we'd be accelerating climate change this much if every person contributing to the "X thousand hours of videos uploaded to YouTube each day" was required to write their own video hosting software first. I doubt our social networks would become so captured by propagandists of every user of one had to write their own. (Obviously as an absolute this is a bit too restrictive - it's more the tone and direction that I'm trying to convey).

Instead, we should be teaching and helping others reach our knowledge /skill level.

Maybe the execs would stop pushing shitty UI dark patterns if they had to code the service themselves (and then use it afterwards!).

One^can^^dream...

[-] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 5 points 5 days ago

We should stop making software for others.

Except that most of humanity doesn't have the expertise to do so. You can make your software, but not everyone can.

[-] Jayjader@jlai.lu 2 points 5 days ago

... That's why I ended my comment with "we should be teaching others and helping them make their own".

[-] pmk@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 5 days ago

In the same vein, everyone should sew their own clothes, plant and harvest their own food, learn how to medically treat their own injuries, etc?

[-] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 5 points 5 days ago

Having taught others, it is going to be a far harder task than you make it out to be.

[-] Jayjader@jlai.lu 2 points 5 days ago

I don't think I was making it out to be easy at all. I expect it to be nigh-impossible. I also expect it to be worth it.

But the question was what opinion on the industry do I have that I don't feel comfortable voicing at work, not what do I think is the most feasible way forwards.

this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2024
287 points (100.0% liked)

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