To a layperson, at least, it seems that consumer technology has long since entered an era of solutions in search of problems – particularly troubling at a time when the world is facing so many genuinely intractable crises. As entertaining as it is to watch our tech overlords flounder on stage, it raises bigger questions, such as: who exactly asked for this, beyond the billionaires cashing in? And: can we just not?
It’s bleak because of how hard this stuff is being pushed.
I got to laugh off the Metaverse because it flopped long before it could be forced down my throat. I looked askance at Crypto, but broadly avoided it without consequence. Now I’ve vendors injecting AI into their tech support service, and it isn’t something I can wave away anymore.
I’ve seen several “creators” pointing to AI overviews as “evidence” of things without ever fact-checking them (because if you were interested in facts you wouldn’t bother with them anyway). I have family and friends send me AI-generated bullshit day in and day out.
It’s especially infuriating when they send me “but ChatGPT says…” about something I’m literally an expert in. Like I do this all day every day and you’re taking the word of a chatbot over me.
Same, yeah. On top of that, my company even turned on Cursor BugBot to review our PRs and it calls out nonsense non-problems all the time due to lacking context
The difference is that crypto is better than ever. I tried to send an overseas wire (to a friend from real life) and my bank just told me security blocked it and I can’t push it through
No problem sending USDC, after some minutes it confirmed and he was able to withdraw
I think of it as the Juicero era. Everything needs to be a subscription, with an app, selling your data and is barely functional. And in a society where the basics are getting more difficult. It’s like selling more convenience to people in the upper floors of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, while many people struggle to just get housing, heating, food and health.
Very good and entertaining article
I feel this deep in my soul. Every day. Multiple times a day.
It’s bleak because of how hard this stuff is being pushed.
I got to laugh off the Metaverse because it flopped long before it could be forced down my throat. I looked askance at Crypto, but broadly avoided it without consequence. Now I’ve vendors injecting AI into their tech support service, and it isn’t something I can wave away anymore.
I’ve seen several “creators” pointing to AI overviews as “evidence” of things without ever fact-checking them (because if you were interested in facts you wouldn’t bother with them anyway). I have family and friends send me AI-generated bullshit day in and day out.
It’s especially infuriating when they send me “but ChatGPT says…” about something I’m literally an expert in. Like I do this all day every day and you’re taking the word of a chatbot over me.
I hate when people do that. The robot is wrong! All the freaking time.
Oh man, when people at work do it… ‘i asked claude and it said…’. never once has this been right, or even a fruitful avenue of enquiry.
Same, yeah. On top of that, my company even turned on Cursor BugBot to review our PRs and it calls out nonsense non-problems all the time due to lacking context
The difference is that crypto is better than ever. I tried to send an overseas wire (to a friend from real life) and my bank just told me security blocked it and I can’t push it through
No problem sending USDC, after some minutes it confirmed and he was able to withdraw
Crypto’s only use for me is making it universally easy to pay every tech/vpn company I deal with.
beyond that, people launder money, buy drugs and do darkweb shit with a minority of privacy folks harping privacytokens like Monero.
I’d love if Steam took BTC and people selling used items online embraced it. The grocery store? Ehhhhhhhhh. Nah.
If my banks services were seamlessly replaced by a cheaper, faster crypto service then I would not complain.
Crypto is much faster than an international wire and cheaper for sending less than $5000
And the nightmare just keeps getting worse and worse.
Especially because apparently we can’t not.
I think of it as the Juicero era. Everything needs to be a subscription, with an app, selling your data and is barely functional. And in a society where the basics are getting more difficult. It’s like selling more convenience to people in the upper floors of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, while many people struggle to just get housing, heating, food and health.