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Ask HN: When did tech stop being cool?

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Re: Ask HN: When did tech stop being cool?

#31

Post by ramraj07 »

throwaway82652 wrote: post #16

If you ask me, technology was always boring and sucked and was a bland expression of utilitarianism. At worst it was even more terrifying, remember when we developed nuclear bombs? Or even just ordinary bombs and tanks and other murderous technology? The fascination with tech is just the bias of youth, when everything in the world seems new and uncharted and full of possibility. You only enjoyed it because you were o…

How in any world were nuclear bombs NOT INTERESTING? Sure they sucked, maybe, even that is arguable. But only a Luddite will say something like ”nuclear bombs are boring”. Tech has always been interesting, and cool, at least since the industrial revolution in modern eras. As Kubrick showed brilliantly in 2001, “technology” is what has always made us different and successful. Brutal, sure, but successful nonetheless.

Re: Ask HN: When did tech stop being cool?

#33

Post by ethbr0 »

anotherhue wrote: post #18

Smartphones. Purely consumption devices changed the balance to be more producer/consumer than collaborator. The world is on board now so rapid tech changes aren't possible to market. There's still crazy/genius if you look for it, but hobbyist only in most cases. NixOS, Urbit, any DHT or CRDT system, VR, Graal, WASM, mesh nets like ygssadril.

I'd extend that to smartphones, a tracking-based ad industry, and digital media sales.

Digital media sales provided serious, multiply-Apple's-stock-price levels of new revenue into the tech industry. Same with adtech for Google.

The smartphone enabled them to physically target an entirely new population of users.

Then both companies eventually evolved towards the bulk of their revenue, as all companies do.

(The more recent X-for-Y trends were a consequence of money being cheap and startups taking advantage. That will take care of itself)

Re: Ask HN: When did tech stop being cool?

#35

Post by throwaway82652 »

ramraj07 wrote: post #31
throwaway82652 wrote: post #16

If you ask me, technology was always boring and sucked and was a bland expression of utilitarianism. At worst it was even more terrifying, remember when we developed nuclear bombs? Or even just ordinary bombs and tanks and other murderous technology? The fascination with tech is just the bias of youth, when everything in the world seems new and uncharted and full of possibility. You only enjoyed it because you were o…

How in any world were nuclear bombs NOT INTERESTING? Sure they sucked, maybe, even that is arguable. But only a Luddite will say something like ”nuclear bombs are boring”. Tech has always been interesting, and cool, at least since the industrial revolution in modern eras. As Kubrick showed brilliantly in 2001, “technology” is what has always made us different and successful. Brutal, sure, but successful nonetheless.

Well, I personally don't consider the technology to murder millions of people to be very interesting. It's more terrifying than it is interesting. The physics behind it? Sure, definitely interesting.

Re: Ask HN: When did tech stop being cool?

#36

Post by davidn20 »

gilbetron wrote: post #13

It's an age thing - the dreams you had when you were younger didn't turn into reality - dreams usually don't. Or at least, not as you expect it. Tech is still really cool, compared to decades ago. But we have so much of it and it is everywhere, that we re-calibrate and think that all this amazing, cool tech is boring. You can get a 3D printer for a few hundred bucks, build it yourself, build a better 3d printer, get…

It's definitely an age thing. Don't get me wrong, I know OP feeling all too well. But, it's like complaining about how the music I grew with was the best music. It's more likely the curiosity in you die, rather than the world running out of stuff to be curious about.

Re: Ask HN: When did tech stop being cool?

#37

Post by holografix »

Technology is now in the hands of most people. Most people couldn’t give a fuck about it, they don’t find it fun or interesting. They just want a well paid cushy job, so they keep coming up with “start ups” and new frameworks to generate GitHub stars so they can secure cushier job.

Doesn’t stop you from doing something new. Something hard. Something interesting.

Re: Ask HN: When did tech stop being cool?

#38

Post by jleyank »

Tech is ubiquitous. Ubiquitous, by definition, isn’t cool. There is an edge and a thrill to cool. Cool inhabits the fringes with the young and its cyclic. Look at the return of albums and turntables, funky old phones, ….

Re: Ask HN: When did tech stop being cool?

#40

Post by davidn20 »

anotherhue wrote: post #18

Smartphones. Purely consumption devices changed the balance to be more producer/consumer than collaborator. The world is on board now so rapid tech changes aren't possible to market. There's still crazy/genius if you look for it, but hobbyist only in most cases. NixOS, Urbit, any DHT or CRDT system, VR, Graal, WASM, mesh nets like ygssadril.

I would argue smartphones are one of the best all-in-one devices for creating...most people just don't use it that way.
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