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Many thanks! I share your thoughts that tech is "heroin", in fact I've been thinking that UX is killing us, it has become so good, that it's addicting. This is

by staltz 9y ago

Many thanks! I share your thoughts that tech is "heroin", in fact I've been thinking that UX is killing us, it has become so good, that it's addicting. This is true clinically too, as social media instant gratification releases Dopamine and its usage is an activity comparable to gambling. There is a way forward, though. Between the Old Web and GOOG-FB-AMZN's Trinet, we can build something else: the New Web based on decentralized protocols like IPFS, Dat, blockchains, secure-scuttlebutt, and others. That's what I'm working on.

salmonfamine 9y ago
I have seen articles and repos for various technologies that claim to be the new "decentralized" web, but so far I haven't seen anything that provides a cohesive experience. Could you provide more information as to what you're working on in particular?
dleslie 9y ago
A not-insignificant portion of HN is employed by the three you've accused of killing the web, and with a somewhat convincing argument. It must be a tough pill to swallow when hearing that the employer you love is killing the platform that has defined your adult life.
kowdermeister 9y ago
UX is killing us Like guns kill people, right?
- knowaveragejoe 9y ago
  Guns do kill people, but it's obviously less extreme than that. Killing us in a long term way by encouraging sedentary behavior, for example.
sordidasset 9y ago
But if, as you predict, ISPs/infrastructure only support GOOG, FB, and AMZN packets, what good will alternative protocols be? Seems like there will be no opportunity for new information-innovations like Bitcoin. Seems like the solution is to begin treating infrastructure as a public utility, but I can hardly imagine that actually happening.
dredmorbius 9y ago
I'd twigged on "the dopamine meme" by April 2014, you're right about that. What creates decentralisation is distance and transport costs, not (merely0 prottocols, and definitely not efficiences: they are inherently centralising. https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/240xss/the_dopamine_meme_and_capitalism_as_the/ https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/240xss/the_dop...

by staltz 9y ago

salmonfamine 9y ago

I have seen articles and repos for various technologies that claim to be the new "decentralized" web, but so far I haven't seen anything that provides a cohesive experience. Could you provide more information as to what you're working on in particular?

dleslie 9y ago

A not-insignificant portion of HN is employed by the three you've accused of killing the web, and with a somewhat convincing argument. It must be a tough pill to swallow when hearing that the employer you love is killing the platform that has defined your adult life.

kowdermeister 9y ago

UX is killing us Like guns kill people, right?

knowaveragejoe 9y ago
Guns do kill people, but it's obviously less extreme than that. Killing us in a long term way by encouraging sedentary behavior, for example.

sordidasset 9y ago

But if, as you predict, ISPs/infrastructure only support GOOG, FB, and AMZN packets, what good will alternative protocols be? Seems like there will be no opportunity for new information-innovations like Bitcoin. Seems like the solution is to begin treating infrastructure as a public utility, but I can hardly imagine that actually happening.

dredmorbius 9y ago

I'd twigged on "the dopamine meme" by April 2014, you're right about that. What creates decentralisation is distance and transport costs, not (merely0 prottocols, and definitely not efficiences: they are inherently centralising. https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/240xss/the_dopamine_meme_and_capitalism_as_the/ https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/240xss/the_dop...