No.
I prefer the "Calm Technology"[1] approach as espoused by Amber Case[2]. I think this is the saner path forward.
- Supernote by Ratta https://supernote.com
- Air Lab by Networked Artifacts https://networkedartifacts.com
- Xteink X4 (or equivalent) https://www.xteink.com
- Zeroink Writer - my kids use it to practice typing and write letters I can print out. Essentially digital typewriter. https://www.crowdsupply.com/zerowriter/zerowriter-ink
- Readwise - enables me to review highlighted passages and ideas from things I read
- Obsidian - I dump text files into it, it syncs it around for me to review or edit.
IMHO, calm technology is both a property of a product and a way of relating to a product. And I think it's quite personal. For example, digital note-taking tablets are anything but calm for me (but I recognize they may be for others!). OTOH, I practically live in Obsidian.
I ask myself:
- Can I have a calm relationship with this product?
- Does the product respect my agency? Can I decide when and how this technology enters my attention?
- Is it configurable? Can I turn off notifications, feeds, recommendations, badges, autoplay, algorithmic prompts, and so one, without crippling the useful parts?
- Is it intentional? Can I open it to get something done and then leave, rather than being pulled into continued use?
- Does it improve my well-being? Am I generally better off? Am I more informed, capable, connected, productive, or am I merely more stimulated (eg. dopamine)?
Some other perhaps non-sexy products: Amazon Echo Dot, my various air sensors, my more reliable home automation components that are already setup and just work, my Kindle and Xteink.
- Playdate (https://play.date) - fun little portable console with an rLCD screen
- Daylight (https://daylight.computer) rLCD paper-like tablet
- Envy (https://envynote.app) - Obsidian without the plugins, local only
- dumb phone (https://dumbphone.so) - make your iPhone dumber, on purpose
- xteink x4 pro (https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4-pro-pocket-ereader) - great, small reader
hope people enjoy!
Terrorism and murder are in vogue.
I increasingly hear insane not-in-passing phrases like "Someone should just [commit some violent act to further the speaker's political beliefs]." Lately, it's about sabotaging data centers and killing CEOs.
And it's not just talk, this stuff starts by motivating the loonier members of a group to commit acts like mass shootings, the Charlie Kirk assassination, violence against LGBTQ people and other targeted groups, and so on.
I feel like some weird outsider, sitting in center-left.
Of course, I do think technology ought to be adopted with prudence and wisdom. We must always remember the purpose of technology which is serving the objective human good, but to be able to do that requires more than narrow technical savvy. You need a wise and substantive grasp of the broader context within which technology is located.
It utterly depends on historical context. Intelligent people understand antonomasia and eponymy.
> Actual Luddites and Pharisees would have not agreed that they were against technology or legalistic hypocrites
That's neither here nor there.
Of course, for this to make any sense it would need to be a global process, which seems entirely unfeasible until we've already badly burnt our hand on the stove. That seems to be precisely where we are in the process.
The best path forward may be cataclysmic societal collapse that leaves just enough knowledge to rebuild carefully with newfound wisdom. But wisdom is a rare and unlikely commodity. More probable is a dark age where technology is akin to witchcraft.
We've had our chances to stop burning coal and save the Earth, and we don't seem to be capable of that right now as a species. Maybe the better path is if we acknowledge our lack and "vibe submit" to our AI overlords, since we can't overcome ourselves in any direct way.
Meme luddite: hate technology
Luddite according to the boss: somebody who is trying to prevent me from doing what I want to do when I want to do it just because there's 100 of them and one of me.
The boss owns the printing press.
Both are stupid misrepresentations of the movement.
Water main valve robot, Flume water usage sensor, and Eve water sensors near supply lines is super reassuring when traveling or out of the house. So is having a electrical panel that I can check if the oven really was off.
Though its kind of funny, with my frequent use of agents, my communication skills and ability to articulate ideas has improved quite a bit, so now I use voice dictation a lot more and it's beginning to be faster than keyboard.
How exactly do you propose going about that?
So they may be the last of us not to have to deal with the obnoxious plague of forced binding arbitration agreements...