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submitted 2 months ago by sundray@lemmus.org to c/comicstrips@lemmy.world
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[-] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 114 points 2 months ago

We're techy enough nerds to know there's another way to be free of billionaire influence while still keeping some resemblance of modern communication: self-hosting.

[-] qaz@lemmy.world 83 points 2 months ago

We don't need to go back to handwritten mail, FOSS is the way to go.

[-] qyron@sopuli.xyz 31 points 2 months ago

Writing someone a letter is a very personal thing and you're creating a memory. Something tangible, concrete, also weighs in on reality. Looking at a piece of paper with your handwrite makes you understand you're commiting to something.

I'm a FOSS loon but the craze of making everything digital is absurd. I've listened to people criticizing others for using paper and a pencil to take down a memo, note or even journaling, when they can do it on their phone.

Is existing so dreadful nowadays? Does the notion of leaving proof of existence scares?

[-] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 21 points 2 months ago

Its nothing to do with contempt for the media, or not wanting to leave evidence of my existence or anything like that, its just that I got shit to do.

[-] TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub 14 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yeah, handwriting sucks. I used to type my homework in a mechanical typewriter, holy cow even that sucked. Going from that to an electrical typewriter that could hold a line in memory was amazing, but still nothing compared to a proper word processor. Wordstar in MS-DOS anyone?

I still like to sketch my ideas from time to time, but all my permanent notes are stored in Joplin, encrypted, in local backup, and synced to the cloud. I can’t afford to lose them, and I can’t afford to lug around with me a heavy suitcase of papers.

I’ve seen young people wishing for simpler times, kids using Polaroid cameras, hunting retro consoles that were already ancient when they were born, longing for music that was way before their time, etc. I get they’re disillusioned with the current state of things, but romanticizing the past is not a healthy way to cope with the horrible today.

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[-] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 months ago

Yeah you said that, until a doctor hand you a handwritten letter.

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[-] Echo5@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

A guy I worked with, not even super closely, left me a handwritten card when he moved on saying it was a pleasure working with me. I did not expect it and almost certainly didn’t deserve it but I still have that card somewhere.

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[-] MudMan@fedia.io 63 points 2 months ago

That last panel hit me like a truck because... yeah, that's what people think happens when they do their little personal choice things to pretend they matter.

They really buy like a paper book once and go "ah, yes, Bezos is fuming right now" while he makes another billion.

We have lost all sense of how to influence society and all ability to gauge scale. For all the folksy traditionalism in this (which includes driving a gas guzzler from the 70s, apparently?) the Internet has created this entirely disproportionate sense of our footprint on the world and this strip is as much a result of the hyperconnected dystopia as everything it's complaining about.

In my experience this is extra bad for Americans who, frankly, didn't need that much of a push to go from their individualist, self-centered perception of society to this vision of sitting on a couch listening to a walkman as activism.

[-] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The comic is hyperbolic and not in a good way. "They wouldn't like it" - yeah, if millions of Americans did the same. And it isn't even necessary to go pre-digital or pre-internet to "cut out the middleman".

I agree with you on most, but this:

which includes driving a gas guzzler from the 70s, apparently?

is hyperbole on your part.

First of all, by-default internet connected cars haven't been a thing until relatively recently (10 years max I guess). And then, gas guzzling does not necessarily correlate with age. Cars consuming less than, say, 5l/100km have existed since at least the 80s (1st hand experience, and the car was already 20 years old at that point).

[-] TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub 8 points 2 months ago

Your comment made me remember how 25 years ago it was unthinkable, even illegal, for a company to spy on you without consent. Tech isn’t the problem, regulation has also become a joke, that’s what gave tech bros free reign, as long as they make loads of money fast so rich investors can concentrate even more wealth.

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[-] Zink@programming.dev 54 points 2 months ago

That’s exactly what is so nice about FOSS based systems. You can use technology but without the tech bros and the corporate enshittification.

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[-] serenissi@lemmy.world 43 points 2 months ago

or, you know, you can have best of both worlds with open technologies. tech that you own and control.

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[-] A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.world 35 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I am and probably always will be a tech enthusiast, but as time goes on I find myself more and more looking for old technology to avoid planned obsolescence, anti-repair bs, telemetry & tracking, lack of consideration for quality of life....

This is not how things were supposed to be. But this is how things will be if we don't do something about oligarchs and certain CEOs.

[-] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 months ago

Technology can develop in various directions. This is exactly what it looks like when technology is developed for consumerism. Buy more now, it doesn't need to last, stimulate the economy. Rent what you can, everything else as a service.

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[-] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 27 points 2 months ago

pre-computerised car

No one want to fiddle with carburetor anymore thank you very much.

And tbh, 2010-2015 is comfortable enough and less bullshit.

[-] Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago

I think that's more aimed at Internet connected vehicles than those with an ECU.

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[-] merdaverse@lemmy.zip 26 points 2 months ago

Is this supposed to be satire? How is print media owned by massive conglomerates, flip phones with no OSS firmware, handwritten letters delivered by a literal middleman, avoiding the middlemen??

[-] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 19 points 2 months ago

I get the idea, but I am kinda stuck on the letter writing bit. They do know that the post getting delivered is kinda built on middlemen right?

[-] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago

Usually those middlemen don't open up your mail, read what you wrote, then serve you ads based on that.

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[-] Katana314@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

Everything you do relies on some middlemen, it’s just about cutting out layers.

You won’t grow your own food, but you can buy it from a farmer, instead of a store who bought it from a franchise center who bought it from a supply network who bought it from a risk management futures buyer who bought it from a farming company who bought it from a farm.

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[-] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 18 points 2 months ago

Pre-computer cars sucked. Anyone that’s worked on mechanical fuel injection will tell you so.

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[-] Dorkyd68@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I've been wanting to convert my life to "off grid tech". I have a nest camera i bought in 2016. So it's pre Google. Starting about 6 months ago, Google told me unless I allow them full 24/7 access to the cam then I can't use it. A product i bought almost a decade ago is useless unless I let them spy on me. Fuck you Google.

So anyways, off grid tech. Home surveillance on my own local server protected with physical data and VPN. No more streaming, pirate everything with local server. No more Google or Amazon anything. Music? Mp3. Email? No Gmail, maybe Proton or something. I'll do all banking through home desktop through VPN. Etc, etc.

I hope to have all these things achieved by 2030

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[-] nroth@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

I think the issue people have with "tech" is that much of the software and devices sold take up too much space and do things people don't want them to do, without offering choice, configurability, and options for full control

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[-] cronenthal@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 2 months ago

This is what using Linux feels like.

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[-] Nico_198X@europe.pub 13 points 2 months ago

I'm going back in a lot of areas, yeah.

When you make a wrong turn, sometimes you need to go backwards to correct and go forward again

[-] Caffeinated_Sloth@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I’d like to add to the third panel: go see live entertainment. Local, not Live Nation. Support local bands, artists, thespians, and comics.

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 13 points 2 months ago

help desk -> sysadmin -> CISO -> goat farmer

[-] HailSeitan@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago
[-] sundray@lemmus.org 10 points 2 months ago

What a fantastic post, thank you for linking it!

Seriously though, I do think that it's interesting that this comic and that essay seem to take up opposite positions*, but in each case they attract more contrary comments than ones that agree. I suppose no matter what you post, any given person is more likely to comment on it if it pisses them off than if it confirms their beliefs. It's a good thing Lemmy doesn't reward engagement, or else we'd be up to our eyeballs in ragebait, eh?

*Unless you read the whole thing instead of bouncing off the first paragraph.

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[-] AusatKeyboardPremi@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago

I see a few comments about self hosting stuff to escape the clutches of big tech, and while all that is effective to a high degree, it is beyond the abilities of the general populace.

Besides, I am also of the opinion that not everything has to be digital or smart.

I relish writing and receiving letters, it is tangible and indicates commitment. Fortunately, postal system isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

I like reading newspapers and it was sad to see all shops in my neighbourhood stop selling them during or after COVID. It was equally sad to see a lot of magazines not survive that period.

I miss my old TV that was simpler to use and started quicker than my newer smart TV. It does not matter if I disconnect the latter from the internet, it takes its time to load up. Besides, I don’t see any perceivable difference in picture quality from the distance I watch from.

Older laptops, though heavier, were more repairable. In certain aspects, they are better than modern ones: more tactile keyboard, nicer screen ratio (4:3). Of course, the newer laptops decimate the old ones when it comes to performance and screen quality but that is just technology progressing.

I could keep going on with a plethora of product categories. But across all my points, I wish some companies could continue offering such products, at least to a customer base that is willing to pay more just to support the existence of those products.

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[-] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

No. The capitalists are the problem. Not the tech grunts.

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[-] redwattlebird@lemmings.world 10 points 2 months ago

This is why I never gave up on DVDs, even though people would laugh. As soon as Prime shoehorned ads in the middle of a show or movie, that's when I cancelled. I'll have to do the same with music and get my iPod battery fixed up if I can.

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[-] cley_faye@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

When ceiling fans and AC units requires an account, yeah, something's wrong.

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[-] TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub 8 points 2 months ago

Yes, add to the third panel ordering food by phone call, going to the store when you want every small thing, buying your groceries in person, stopping taxis on the street, no file sharing, etc., etc.

[-] Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago

I can't tell if you think those are terrible things or not.

Because that's how most people live their lives even today.

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this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2025
952 points (100.0% liked)

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