version

Well-known member
A lot of what's appearing in terms of technology feels increasingly negative - DeepFakes, social credit algorithms, facial recognition, drone warfare, social media, smart devices - but it's also increasingly difficult to avoid using or coming into contact with any of it due to how fully the majority and society are embracing these things. You can make a point of not using Facebook or Google and they're still gonna track you round the web, other people's devices are going to record you whether you like it or not and even if you hold out as long as you can, you're eventually going to have to upgrade devices, software and so on.

I guess my main question would be whether anyone feels positively toward any of these developments or the direction that technology is taking in general.
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
Total luddite checking in. Barely use Facebook now. Has been an improvement. But being online in general, carrying an always connected, always tracking device that shows you news stories and ads related to conversations you had last night really feeds into my paranoia.

There are plenty of positives. Many things are made easier, like finding places via maps, communicating with people all over the world. But the dark side is just way too dark and ultimately I think the Internet is what brought us the black lodge reality we now exist in.
 
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Leo

Well-known member
there's good and bad in everything, technology included.

my mother had a pacemaker, along with a small box of electronic gear at home. the pacemaker would sync wirelessly to the unit, which would monitor heartbeat activity and beam reports to a satellite, which it turn would transmit the readings to her clinic. it allowed them to do periodic readings any time of the day or night and monitor for abnormalities, and saved my elderly mom from making frequent trips to the clinic.

lots of other amazing technology in health care, such as smart artificial limbs that can be controlled by users, etc.

sure, tech gets used for evil, but it also offers lots of amazing benefits and value.
 

version

Well-known member
I think it's the lack of choice in some of this stuff which really bothers me. They're apparently cutting off Windows 7 updates in the next year or so, so anyone using it is going to have to keep moving up to increasingly newer and less private versions of Windows and you won't have much choice unless you can either afford a Mac or all the software you need can be run on Linux.
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
Gonna stick with Windows 7 for as long as possible. 10 fkn sucks. I try to avoid Windows update whenever possible. Running a base installation of win7 sp1 with no updates currently and haven't had any major problems. Really pissed me off to find out 7 won't run on the newest cpus. Also, I never run antivirus. Occasional scan with malwarebytes and maybe once or twice a year trend micro housecall. But I've been given a 2nd laptop and have my phone I'm gonna try and keep my DAW laptop offline from now on.
 
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version

Well-known member
The rate of change feels like a sticking point too. You take something like automation, there are apparently around three million truckers in the US and self-driving trucks aren't far off. How quickly and effectively are people going to be able to adjust to that reality?

The internet and social media in particular feel like things we really weren't ready for and which are forcing us to now cling on for dear life. Nobody knows how to regulate and legislate for this stuff or how to deal with the social and psychological consequences.
 

Leo

Well-known member
lack of choice hits home when you go into a cashless store, where the only way to buy is with credit/debit card or something like ApplePay. how is that fair to people who for whatever reason don't have bank accounts, credit cards? cash in hand but unable to buy.

the windows 7 thing was just in the news, it's the software that runs most of the voting machines in the US. now that it no longer going to be supported, there won't be any new security updates after a certain point, making the machine even more susceptible to hacking. and voting machines are the property of each state, and most states election commissions don't have the budget to upgrade to newer, more secure software. a disaster waiting to happen.
 

Leo

Well-known member
The rate of change feels like a sticking point too. You take something like automation, there are apparently around three million truckers in the US and self-driving trucks aren't far off. How quickly and effectively are people going to be able to adjust to that reality? .

there were also millions of people who drove horse-and-buggy carriages, worked at telegraph companies, travel agencies, newspaper printing plants, etc. the transformation is never easy but it works out.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Love it.

Bluetooth speakers, bluetooth headphones, smart lightbulbs, VR porn, Red Dead Redemption 2, IMAX, Avengers Assemble, Spotify, YouTube...

It's amazing.

Social media is satanic, the internet is a hellscape. That's a shame.

There's never been a time in history when people WEREN'T complaining about technology ruining everything. Or complaining about something else. How fucking boring it is sitting in a hut warming your hands over a fire while your granddad recites Beowulf. Wish we had a fucking PS4.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Good riddance wires.

Remember how cassette tapes would always get chewed up? And you had to fast forward and rewind. Horrible.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Come on C3PO take my fucking job

Give me my universal basic income and let me lie in the park all day sipping elderflower juice
 

john eden

male pale and stale
Technology isn't the issue.

And technology wasn't actually the issue for the luddites either.

It's about your quality of life. And technology can definitely improve the quality of your life, even when it's produced under capitalism.

But improving your life isn't the priority, it's profit.

Which means that other factors come into play, like super addictive interfaces that make you feel good in the short term and shit in the long term.

And shiny things with a catastrophic environmental impact.
 

yyaldrin

in je ogen waait de wind
since a few weeks several companies have dumped thousands of these electric scooters on the streets. they have already put thousands of regular scooters, biycles and electronic bicycles out there. i can't stand them anymore and i'm sure people will kill them self using them. they serve nobody but the easyjet/airbnb tourist. i want it to stop. all of these companies, to withdraw from the city, to take with them their ugly trash. give me space to walk on the sidewalk again.

imago92254403h.jpg
 

Leo

Well-known member
a test program for those scooter has been started in my neighborhood, surprisingly (to me, anyway) they get huge usage from the average folk. lots of people use them to get to and from the train station in their daily work commute, so definitely not a tourist thing here. the only issues have been riders who sometimes didn't follow the rules (rode on sidewalks, went through red lights, or underage riders [need to be 18+]) but those have been largely cleared up with local enforcement.

haven't tried them myself, and I'm sure accidents will happen but none so far. seems nuts to ride them without a helmet but most riders don't.

the only people who complain about the scooters tend to be older folks who are never going to use them anyway. kind of like bike lanes, lots of the oldies freaked out at first but now accept them.
 
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yyaldrin

in je ogen waait de wind
where do you live then? because for such things there is already a solution proven to work: the subway and the bicycle. imo, all of these companies are a direct attack on public transport. why make yourself dependent on a private company? plus, they are only available to those who have a smartphone and some sort of online bank account.
 
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