It took me a few thought cycles to put down that question.

In my understanding, we, as a civilization, are on a high wire number over a pit of knifes. The AI craze is full throtle as we speak, with conflicting indicators that it may/will cause the worst economical crash ever - becoming third in less than twenty years, where each was always reported as an unprecedented and irrepeatable event - while at the same time infiltrating companies in ways we are still to discover how ruinous may prove and spreading over the internet like a grotesque parasite, rendering services unsuable and leaking sensible data.

If the great AI companies tank (I can only hope) and the services they provide - whatever those may be - faill, how much is it going to affect companies? There is really no sense of consensus; some say it was the best thing ever, others are registering neglictable improvements, others failed miserably and had to return to the original state of affairs.

Then there is the constant attack from agents on the net, rendering websites, more or less important, more or less useable or stealing, destroying or corrupting valueable data.

I've reached a point where I am willing to forego internet and even computers. Even technology in a wide sense. At best, I may keep an air gapped machine, to use for writing and printing documents. But will others do it? And if so, will 8t happen in an organic fashion or will things devolve to a point where something cracks and things just get ugly? Because people are tired. Tired of datacenters popping up like poisonous mushrooms everywhere, destroying everything.

People are getting tired. Everywhere.

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[–] 2 points 5 hours ago (4 children)

I think the vast majority of people will revert to a more analog standard. If you check out self hosting, the digital space is alive and well. I'm doing my damnedest to keep people connected and away from toxic algorithm social media. I've had very few takers.

I set up a Friendica instance, I share my Jellyfin and Audiobookshelf libraries with as many people as possible. I am living my best digital life right now. But for most people, they can't seem to pull themselves away from the instant gratification that modern social spaces offer. If people reduced their dependence and would put up with the discomfort of change and maybe a little less convenience, they could continue on in a healthier digital space. But, humans being humans, they won't and they'll cast off digital stuff and dive deep into analog instead of adapting to open and non-commercial digital options.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 hours ago

    This where I'm at--no streaming, but no real problem with downloading stuff if I get to own it.

    I started a pretty decent DVD library visiting thriftstores. 50 cents to maybe four bucks max per DVD. Now that I've exhausted the stores and spending $20 on a movie seems outrageous, I'm turning to other methods and a jellyfin server.

    I think analog will stick around, but the ease and convenience of digital, outside of streaming, is too great to ignore.

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