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Turns out the PC was an accident of history. Not an endpoint like some of us saw it, but simply an unfortunate stepping stone to the ultimate goal of making a r
by ergot_vacation 5y ago
Turns out the PC was an accident of history. Not an endpoint like some of us saw it, but simply an unfortunate stepping stone to the ultimate goal of making a really smart toaster. The end goal was never really to empower people, it was just to create a new market for rent-seeking via lock-in on a shiny new black box. No repairs allowed. No modding allowed. And you can go fuck yourself if you want the source code for anything. "Micro-computing," as it used to be called, was never intended as way for ordinary people to gain freedom and agency. It was just supposed to be another tool for the rich and powerful to extract wealth from everyone else. And now, thanks to always-online requirements, inescapable updates and aggressive planned obsolescence, that dream is finally a reality. Welcome back to the farm serf. You never really left.
- sigstoat 5y ago> Turns out the PC was an accident of history > The end goal was never really to empower people whose end goal would that have even been? you're talking like history possesses some sort of inherent narrative, instead of just being a bunch of people doing shit.
- echelon 5y agoYou could have a million downvotes, but you're eternally correct. Thank you.
- selfhoster11 5y agoI disagree. Micro-computing was not "intended" for anything, it just was and that's it.