To understand how unhinged our society is one only needs to understand how we constantly improve our technology, but don't use it to improve us as a society.
Primitive metallurgy was used to create weapons for millennia before it became commonly used for cookware. Technology has always been primarily used as vector for human beings to control and dominate one another, rather than to assist/improve society.
Didn't say we used to be better. We've always been a shitshow.
Agreed. It just seems more absurd now because of the contrast between our advanced technology and our primitive sociopolitical structures.
Oh man, this is a thing I wish more people understood. The day of the first real human flight and the day a human being walked on ground that wasn't earth only have about a 66 year gap. A lot of old folks who watched the moon landing saw the invention and proliferation of the airplane in their lifetime.
However, the engrams and algorithms that make up the human mind have been in constant development for tens of thousands of years. Far, far longer if you want to count previous versions that led up to what we're packing. A popular trope in some older fiction was to displace prehistoric critters into the modern world and detail the chaos. But that's us. We're it. We're the cavemen in a world of microscopic circuit boards.
Our achievements have far outpaced our ability to constrain them. Like, when we discovered radiation, we started putting that shit in everything. Fucking toothpaste. And sure, we learn, we improve, we adapt. Humans are exceptionally good at that. But it just seems to me as it has seemed to far bigger minds than my own that we're still banging rocks together and fighting over resources, it's just now the rocks have a faint glow and the resources are measured in GDP
To be fair, that was back when wildlife was much more of a threat. And probably also a lot more risk of criminals or other bandits. Making a weapon to protect your tribe is not really in the same ball park as this.
Pretty ironic for this article to have a paywall.
Get Firefox and use reader mode right after the page loads.
Is it any wonder why we pirate and adblock. Im not going to embrace hostility, im going to fight fire with fire. Every time.
Don't forget open source software.
Open Source Software is definitely pretty 🔥 if you ask me!
Even the article itself is hostile as i cant read it because it’s paywalled
I'm glad that The Atlantic is covering this issue. Nothing groundbreaking here for anyone who follows these issues, but the Atlantic's audience overlaps a lot with actual policymakers and their staffs. The tech companies don't want to be regulated by the government, so coverage by these types of publications may be a good starting point for reform (whether voluntary or regulated).
The end is here. You will love not owning your TV and it's sending ads directly into your brain.
Your phone will make calls without you and your PC will do the work for you so can watch more ads.
Ahhhhhhhh WTF! I was only half joking.
Our records indicate you haven't received your Neuralink implant yet. Please report to the Elon Musk Centre for Compulsory Happiness next Thursday at ten. Failure to comply will result in your arrest.
You have 20 seconds to comply
The real question is whether or not you can still buy a dumb TV in 2024.
I'm one of the crazy people who spent 4 grand on a 85 inch dumb display meant for stores to use as digital signage. Honestly a great decision. It's no home theater display but damn if it isn't just as good as any smart tv I've seen. I just have it hooked to a raspberry pi running librelec.
Rooting an Android TV gets you there, plus you get a TV that you actually own. It's super niche and difficult to do, though. Hard to find info on which TVs can be rooted.
Is any of that information centralised anywhere? I still have and love my old dumb TV, but I want to be prepared for when I am inevitably dragged in to the "smart" era.
I use video projectors. Many of them, typically the better ones do not have any built-in smarts requiring an Internet connection.
In general, smart devices are a major security risk, and need to be firewalled off.
There really needs to be laws requiring any smart device to have, like, 20 years of security patches, customer support and liability if anything goes wrong. If they want to place a device, that they insist needs internet access, in my home, they need to, at the very least, pay their way.
business opportunity, Smart TV lobotomies.
You can, but now it's called "a big monitor and your own server with a personal media library".
Sorry but this article is just false and misleading.
The company currently has no ability to see what users might be doing when they switch away from its proprietary streaming platform. This is apparently a problem, in that Roku is missing monetization opportunities!
Now look here.
https://lemmy.world/post/9840946
Look at the logo in the bottom right.
Roku is already doing this and has been since last year. This is not a threat. It is a promise to shareholders and advertisers, and they have already fulfilled it.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
