6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex • Hacker News Board

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#201

Post by Animats » Fri, Jun 28, 2024, 7:39 AM UTC

RachelF wrote: post #93

Animats wrote: post #56

Advertising. That's the problem. Computing has become a branch of the ad industry. What we need is a big tax on advertising and marketing. In the US, it doesn't create more demand, because most people are spent out. It just moves demand around. So much of that effort is a net lose that pushes prices up. (This might be politically possible during an "anti-tech" Trump administration.)

Sadly, advertising is the best way to pay for your online product in most cases. Micro-payments have been tried a few times but most people did'nt like to pay for stuff that they used to get for "free". Since everyone is now locked into a few big tech platforms, they can now supplement their ad income by charging users, too.

That seemed to work for a while, but now everybody who actually has original content of any value seems to have a paywall.

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#202

Post by sydbarrett74 » Fri, Jun 28, 2024, 9:09 AM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #3

While this author is of a younger generation, this really resonated with me as a Gen Xer. I feel there is so much disillusionment among folks that came of age during the 90s because there was so much techno optimism then, and it didn't quite turn out like we envisioned. Two things made me think about this recently: 1. I saw a Reddit post that was titled something like "The 90s were peak humanity. Enough tech to make…

I'm with you. 1999 was the last year I remember being genuinely content with life. Since then, it's been nothing but accelerating entropy and ennui.

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#203

Post by sydbarrett74 » Fri, Jun 28, 2024, 9:11 AM UTC

Terr_ wrote: post #102

ryandrake wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to love computers and software. When the next great thing came out, I’d be an enthusiastic early adopter, and enjoyed the new powers the technology gave me. Now, whenever something new comes out, my first thought is: “how is this thing going to suck up my personal data and monetize me?” And my second thought is “how is this going to wreck some part of life and/or humanity and turn it into profits for the rich?…

In think it boils down to the difference between technology as capital that individuals could acquire and control for their own priorities, versus technology controlled by a large company to deliver--or deny--a limited service to individuals. While the past 30 years have absolutely put the "personal" into "personal computer", I'd rather have a personal assistant than a personal overseer .

THIS. Our devices are now like a Soviet-era neighbour spying on our every action so they can tattle to the state police.

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#204

Post by cloverich » Fri, Jun 28, 2024, 3:22 PM UTC

JohnFen wrote: post #192

throwaway7ahgb wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes." To read this and get upset is very bizarre to me. LLMs as most of the public know, is just a few years old. The things these services are doing are nothing short of sci-fi ideas 10 years ago. And were complaining it can't do our laundry? IMO this is peak first world com…

> And were complaining it can't do our laundry? As I read it, the complaint is that it looks like it will be automating the things we don't want automated rather than automating the things we do.

But even that is a little bit BS. ChatGPT automates yak shaving code for me every day. It saves me from code and doc diving on esoteric libraries that arent well written and i have no desire to learn. It lets me focus on more interesting higher level design and automates or speeds up the stuff that used to drag that down.