To Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation
1–10 of 86 posts
Re: To Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation
#2Are online user revolutions a thing? I can see this happening if the future continues on a dystopian path. Maybe users would organize and threatened to leave or have a change of power structure. Our online accounts are increasingly becoming our identities to the rest of the world, which consequently gives us agency in it, and social media has evolved to literally own this part of ourselves.
Re: To Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation
#3Are online user revolutions a thing? I can see this happening if the future continues on a dystopian path. Maybe users would organize and threatened to leave or have a change of power structure. Our online accounts are increasingly becoming our identities to the rest of the world, which consequently gives us agency in it, and social media has evolved to literally own this part of ourselves.
A subset of users and mods attempted a bit of a revolution on Reddit recently, you'll recall.
Re: To Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation
#4Are online user revolutions a thing? I can see this happening if the future continues on a dystopian path. Maybe users would organize and threatened to leave or have a change of power structure. Our online accounts are increasingly becoming our identities to the rest of the world, which consequently gives us agency in it, and social media has evolved to literally own this part of ourselves.
A subset of users and mods attempted a bit of a revolution on Reddit recently, you'll recall.
I switched from Reddit to Lemmy and haven't been back more than a handful of times (and will never comment again). Turns out only a fraction of users did the same, so not sure it was an efficient protest.
I'm happy about the quality of discussion in Lemmy, although it would be nice to have more niche communities. On the other hand, the enshittification of Reddit is for sure not over, so I'm happy to have left that timesink earlier rather than later.
Re: To Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation
#5Are online user revolutions a thing? I can see this happening if the future continues on a dystopian path. Maybe users would organize and threatened to leave or have a change of power structure. Our online accounts are increasingly becoming our identities to the rest of the world, which consequently gives us agency in it, and social media has evolved to literally own this part of ourselves.
A subset of users and mods attempted a bit of a revolution on Reddit recently, you'll recall.
Yes... and to be honest, it appears to have failed miserably.
And that was with Reddit. Try inciting a full scale revolution against Google and Amazon, for what they are right now. It's not happening.
I've honestly come to the conclusion that 98%+ of people... don't give a darn about "computational freedom." And, to be honest, why should they? They have so many other demands on their lives than an argument about what software they can run on their phone. As long as it runs what they are used to, they don't care. The market also shows this as well. If "computational freedom" was something that most people actually cared about, Linux would not be sitting with ~2% market share.
I also have found that most people like appliances. We argue against appliances - like, why would you want your phone to be a dumb appliance considering everything it could possibly do? I've even seen Right-to-Repair and other people (I believe Cory included) screeching about how Apple has turned smartphones into appliances. For most people though... that's a feature, not a bug. Appliances mostly just work. "Computers" in their mind, don't. They don't want their phone to be like their "computer". In which case, I think Microsoft bears the greater blame for permanently sullying what a "computer" feels like.
Edit: And while I keep adding my thoughts, I think it is interesting how the App Store, despite literally restricting what customers can install, actually gives customers a very strong sense of "freedom." How many people install apps on Windows? Almost none - in part, because the openness of the platform made most people terrified to install, or even just download, anything. Customers aren't afraid of installing, or trying, anything from the App Store - so to them, the iPhone probably feels more free than their PC. While I generally support sideloading, I do get the sense that most people will, ironically, feel less free overall once it rolls out.
Re: To Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation
#6I really recommend Cory's talk at DEF CON and he was a guest on the Srsly Wrong podcast.
DEF CON: https://youtu.be/rimtaSgGz_4?si=EBlHqv2tmKICIYhT
Srsly Wrong: https://srslywrong.com/podcast/297-platform-decay-and-how-am...
It's a great podcast. I recommend the episodes on degrowth and half earth socialism in particular.
Re: To Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation
#7Are online user revolutions a thing? I can see this happening if the future continues on a dystopian path. Maybe users would organize and threatened to leave or have a change of power structure. Our online accounts are increasingly becoming our identities to the rest of the world, which consequently gives us agency in it, and social media has evolved to literally own this part of ourselves.
A subset of users and mods attempted a bit of a revolution on Reddit recently, you'll recall.
Once a big enough Eternal September hits a platform I don't think that kind of revolution is possible anymore. The tyranny of the docile will ensure that a big enough majority will always stick around regardless of how the platform degrades.
Re: To Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation
#8I dislike that every single one of our displays utilizes an encrypted connection. And it doesn't protect me, I don't have the keys. And though it is fixed function hardware I've often wondered about the waste we have introduced in this world so I can't copy a Disney video that I might watch hundreds of times.
Re: To Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation
#9We have plenty of computation. A decent laptop today is a supercomputer. Terabytes of storage can be had for under $200.
Locked hardware isn’t much of an issue either. Most of that either can be unlocked or there are equivalently powerful unlocked alternatives to be had.
What people must seize is the network, and the network effect. Most of today’s tech empires are built on owning the hub around which everyone communicates. The fact that they own a lot of hardware is just about irrelevant to their market power or dominance.
The only area where compute power determines relevance at all today is AI base model training and large scale AI deployment and that is likely not going to last that long. In the next few years the market for accelerators for AI is going to heat up a lot and prices will come down. There is no way the nVidia monopoly will last more than another two years tops.
Re: To Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation
#10If you want to fight big tech stop feeding it data.