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6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

joanwestenberg.com

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

#91

Post by tayo42 »

keiferski wrote: post #85
tayo42 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone in silicon valley is a transplant.

Sure but there is still a particular communication style that prevails, and people adopt it, or try to adopt, to fit in. It’s less about the accent or vocabulary and more about the tone. A lot of this was parodied pretty effectively by the Silicon Valley TV show.

I don't think that's location based. More likely industry.

Even in California once you leave SaaS /software /internet startups the corporate culture is different.

My wife doesn't have pronoun police at her California office job. Me working in web software, I had a guy from the Midwest scold me about pronouns.

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

#92

Post by keiferski »

tayo42 wrote: post #91
keiferski wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but there is still a particular communication style that prevails, and people adopt it, or try to adopt, to fit in. It’s less about the accent or vocabulary and more about the tone. A lot of this was parodied pretty effectively by the Silicon Valley TV show.

I don't think that's location based. More likely industry. Even in California once you leave SaaS /software /internet startups the corporate culture is different. My wife doesn't have pronoun police at her California office job. Me working in web software, I had a guy from the Midwest scold me about pronouns.

I guess what would be interesting (and what my original comment was about) is how / if the California communication style got started in SV and then traveled around everywhere else via the tech industry. I think it likely started as an aspect of a particular location and then became an industry thing later.

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

#93

Post by RachelF »

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.

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

#94

Post by AtlasBarfed »

bboygravity wrote: post #58
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?…

It's interesting to read this from a market research perspective. I have a very similar opinion and also consider(ed) myself an early adopter. This may just mean that early adopters are now signaliing that they are getting bored with software/tech and the rest of the market may soon follow that opinion.

Naw, they aged out of 18-40.

There's a reason that's the prime demographic. At some point you see the recycled shit dressed up as something new, and realize your "new" was also repackaged poop.

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

#95

Post by genewitch »

copperx wrote: post #71
bboygravity wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting to read this from a market research perspective. I have a very similar opinion and also consider(ed) myself an early adopter. This may just mean that early adopters are now signaliing that they are getting bored with software/tech and the rest of the market may soon follow that opinion.

Maybe it means they're not bored with what tech gives them right now. In the past we adopted new startups such as JustinTV, YouTube, and Instagram because they gave us something we didn't have front and center. Live streaming, video, and stylized photos. Now every social network offers all kinds of media and in different engagement foemats, and the algorithms keep us entertained enough. There's not a whole lot of rea…

Hosting video is expensive; a Twitch streamer (Thor) mentioned that an 8-hour stream at 1080p with 8,000 viewers costs Twitch nearly $5,000, while 720p still costs around $1,300.

Personally, I prefer 720p. It's easy to play on any device, the file sizes are much smaller, and the quality is fine. I don't need 4K for most content and save it for exceptional visuals like Godfrey Reggio's Trilogy or Yojimbo — one of the most visually stunning movies I've ever seen in high resolution. My preference also reduces hosting costs for platforms, at least from my account.

Social media constantly pushes high-res, addictive content, but alternatives like Fediverse exist. After adjusting to these communities, I deleted my X account and rarely use Facebook. On Fediverse, server operators encourage efficient file sizes (and types,) unlike Instagram or TikTok.

The network effect drives people to the few social networks, but I'm not convinced people actually want what they're being given. Repeating for emphasis: I'm not convinced this is what people want!

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

#96

Post by Yodel0914 »

> A nagging doubt. An odd moment of "Jesus, what the hell am I doing?"

> I would lie awake at 3 AM, staring at the ceiling. My life was slipping away, and I had nothing to show for it

Perhaps the bullshit industrial complex just accelerates this realization. I think I'm a bit older than the OP. I work on notionally quite pro-social software and still wake up thinking the same thing.

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

#97

Post by asdasdsddd »

monero-xmr wrote: post #18

If you are grounded in religious faith, your whole life won’t revolve around whatever your job is. The author seems very intertwined with his job and the output. I’m not saying you shouldn’t analyze the meaning of your work, but he seems fairly un-anchored

You're getting a lot of hate, but it's kind of true. For most people, pulling at the thread of what is meaningful will just lead you into the abyss lol.

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

#98

Post by renewiltord »

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 walked through Salesforce Park. There were families everywhere. Some twenty kids were playing Marco Polo. I went online: everyone was miserable. Miserable people drive away others so they create a Dead Sea Effect where their world seems universally miserable.

I’m enjoying the diffusion model art. My wife is a creative director and illustrator and it’s loads of fun for us to play with. Besides I have a washer/dryer and a dishwasher.

80% of Americans are happy with their personal lives so why is everyone so miserable online? One should never forget the 1/9/90 rule of interaction.

Technology is fantastic. Today it’s amazing. Without it my wife and I would struggle to have children. Nah, this is the Golden Age.

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

#99

Post by genewitch »

flohofwoe wrote: post #83
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…

> during the 90s because there was so much techno optimism then Was there? I remember the 90s as an intermittent software dark age we had to crawl out for the next decade until things started to improve around 2010. The unbearable OOP hype, turds like CORBA and Itanium, UML, "Enterprise scale" software development with Java, the first big VR hype cycle, the worst of the desktop operating systems won (Windows), and I…

IRC. NNTP. Email. dare i mention AOL (some of us are younger and didn't know OOP from OOM), the first 3d games that were immersive, Hotline, massively multiplayer voice chat like mpath (Mplayer.com, then gamespy), and for that matter, multiplayer gaming with people anywhere.

&c

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

#100

Post by spencerflem »

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #5

Great summation of how it looks (and smells) from the outside. The only thing that jarred me out of furious agreement was this line: > At least I have my integrity. And I may be throwing stones from a glass house but, in my opinion, they have 6 months of integrity on a backdrop of of years of quite specific non-integrity. Exiting the speeding-train-with-no-brakes saves you. Helping to stop the train has at least the…

That's what they're doing , but not anonymously. They're writing tech critical articles, which their friend advised them not to do
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