I'm tired of pretending companies are making the world better.
See:
The corporation
The new corporation
Some parts of life have gotten massively easier. The other day I called my pharmacy to delay my next prescription refill because I still have pills. I was able to do this entirely through voice interaction with an automated system. Huzzah. I get texts when my scrips are about to be filled or ready, and reminders if I don’t pick them up for a while. I can also see this info on demand in an app if I want. What’s not to like?
My entire medical group runs on an app now. I can make appointments with my doctor, see the documentation from prior visits, pay bills, see test results…
Oh but boo hoo this author had to download an app to order a drink. First world problems…
"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.
Yet more benefits to cycling then. Just lock it to any reasonably sturdy object.
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.
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?
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 speeds things up. If you want to do good, it'll help you do it faster. If you want to do evil, it'll help you do it faster.
in my opinion, at this point of history, FAST is inherently detrimental. Only those with privilege and resources are able to adapt to rapid changes and reap their benefits, while the rest are left behind.
I think when most people say something like “technology is making the world worse” they mean the technology as it actually exists and as it is actually developing, not the abstract sense of possible futures that technology could feasibly deliver.
That is clearly what the author of the piece meant.
If the main focus of people who develop most technology is getting people more addicted to their devices so they are easier to exploit then technology sucks. If the main focus is to generate immoral levels of waste to scam venture capitalists and idiots on the internet then technology sucks. If the main focus is to use technology to monetize every aspect of someone’s existence, then I think it is fair to say that technology, at this point in history, sucks.
Saying “technology is neutral” is not super insightful if, in the present moment, the trend in technological development and its central applications are mostly evil.
Saying “technology is neutral” is worse than unhelpful if, in the present moment, the people who want to use technology to harm others are also using that cliche to justify their antisocial behavior.
I think the real problem is the drive to monetize so much of the technology. For instance, product owners continually try to increase engagement in their stupid apps and continually move things around and add new widgets that people don’t want, or use, all while continuing to degrade the experience of the features that they do use.
I watched a documentary about the Unabomber and had the same thought
Tech is a tool. It can be benefitting the oligarchs and restrictive, or benefitting society and open source.
First world problems: the article.
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.
Yes and no. It’s objectively true that things like streaming services, food delivery, and online communications got worse not better over time. It’s not true for all things but there are definitely things that simply got worse for profit
That's not tech. That's company policies.
Streaming services, as a tech has evolved and it's a better technology that it was before. New encoding formats allow for transfer of more data over less bandwidth for instance.
Online communications, as in forums as such, as also evolved with new and better ways of posting, and better security (I remember when websites just stored your password in plain text).
What people complain about are mostly company policies, not technology. Netflix charging more for less content, or Reddit banning third party apps are not tech. Those things are not developed. They are just a company decision.
And company decisions are as bad as always. People also got screw by companies in the 90s. People who just notice more now is because now they are older.
Tech definitely is. Gate-keeping, stupid pricing, etc. done by few corporations and individual isn't.
The internet peaked in utility around 2004. Most, if not all, developments since then have only made things worse
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
