41–50 of 498 posts
I reach for my smartphone the microsecond I have idle time. I can't read things longer than 280 characters.
You read it as a texbook notion in school, but it's the internet which makes you internalize it.
All the stuff you care about and are enthusiast about you'll find people who put your skills and level in that particular field to shame.
And you don't even have to be looking for such info because it's shoved right in your face.
The most talented person (or perceived as talented) in a field monopolizes all the discussion in that particular field. So as you try to learn about the field you are met with all sorts of devote followers and bootlickers.
Novelty Watching places and people on instagram/youtube for the first time takes away the awe factor of what could have been possible in real life. Imagine seeing the Pyramids for the first time in person vs watching them through a travel vlogger. Or visiting Japan in pre-internet era vs now when you have already read hundreds of blogs on what cultural differences to expect even before landing in the country. I know…
Imagine all the people who can now see these things who would never have been able to travel and see them in the past. I don't even think I could travel to half the places I want to see due to time constraints and my personal life choices (kids, etc.). I love being able to watch some videos of people walking in different cities or whatever, since I know I have maybe 2 overseas trips left in me.
Having been to plenty of places in my youth, though, I can say that seeing the Eiffel Tower on video and climbing to the top (twice in two consecutive days; man my legs hurt) is way way different, but for someone who couldn't go there, it's probably great to see the videos. Also, maybe if people saw the wonders in their own backyard, that would be a good idea, versus watching other wonders on video.
Pandemic response: tech has continued to distract society from simply learning its needs and creating covid bubbles large enough to meet everyone's needs within the bubble so people don't have a reason to leave the bubble. Instead, we have mass isolation, instead of population-density diminishing tactics that respect human needs, and mandates for behaviors. So much for freedom. Anyway, where's the app for building a…
What do you mean by "covid bubbles"?
Be it a housing block where everything is within walking distance or people choosing to only interact with a small and static group of friends. But within such a block, there are few restrictions.
I used to use smart phone before I lie on bed before bedtime. I know that I shouldn't use them. But the dopamine generated by digital devices and internet is too cheap. When I am unhappy or under pressure, I tend to use my smart phone. And I am always unhappy or under pressure recently. Then I use smart phone before sleep. Then I fall asleep very late. This creates some vicious circle. The worse my sleep is, the more unhappy I am.
I can no more live with a digital device in the same room before bedtime.
Before I go to bed, I have to leave all my digital devices, except for kindle, at first floor. Then I return to my bedroom at second floor. Without them, I can finnaly sleep well.
I really miss not having a smart phone. I'd totally buy a locked down android that only had maps, sms, and calling.
All you need is to enable developer options, enable adb debugging, install adb or Android developer tools on the computer, connect phone with USB and do a bunch of "adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 some.package.name" for a bunch of packages.
Ok, now that I wrote it, it's not that simple, especially knowing what to uninstall, but it's not rocket science either.
There is one thing I feel I cannot stop reaching to and makes my life worse: endless supply of any kind of porn imaginable.
Everything requires a telephone number now, and many (due to spam/abuse/whatever) don't accept VoIP/disposable numbers, so it's basically like a universal tracking cookie. I have like six phones to keep my various identity facets separate. It's gross and annoying, and I worry about everyone else who just has one number and uses it for everything and links their accounts everywhere together; most people in the world a…
Advertising. I know this is an extreme view, but I think any advertising other than a spec sheet style ad (just facts) should be banned. I feel like it steals your attention and mindshare day after day. The ads I see on TV now (rarely, as I don't watch live TV much) are just so horrible. Dripping with emotions and trying to tug on your heartstrings to sell some toilet bowl cleaner or some other garbage. Social media.…
On the social media thing, I find they are always better when they just show you the things you've asked to see, in chronological order. It's all this algorithmic "hey, your aunt's brother-in-law's gardener just commented on a post by someone you don't know" bullshit that causes the problem. If I just look at Twitter posts from the people I follow it's fine, it's just my friends talking about stuff, the moment I make the mistake of following a trending topic link it's a cesspit.
And yeah, a lot of things seem to be cost engineered to the point where they are designed to look ok, but not last or take much punishment. But that's less about tech, and more about us as consumers, we seek to minimise cost and so that's what manufacturers go for.