5 ms·

The Modern World

26 points by edent 4y ago

theandrewbailey 4y ago
Most of that's great until the power goes out. Or DNS/Cloudflare has issues. Or someone fat-fingered a router config. Or a construction crew/cargo ship breaks a major optical cable. Or an attack happens and everyone overloads the networks. Or bad people steal the databases. Or a government decides to track you. The old world never had those problems.
- caiusdurling 4y ago
  The old world still works in those situations, but we have a better experience when the new world hasn’t experienced a fundamental failure. Seems like a reasonable trade off to me.
- edent 4y ago
  Well, it depends how you want to define those problems. Paper records got wet, or burned away. Gas wasn't always available for street lights. Forged coinage was a problem - as was bribery and corruption. So we're trading problems - but I know which world I prefer.
JasonFruit 4y ago
I loved the feeling of going somewhere, and nobody knew who I was or where I came from. Now, it's almost impossible to travel across town without a modestly-motivated person being able to find out about it. Does nobody else recognize the sacrifice of anonymity as a loss?
immigrantheart 4y ago
Technology gives, and technology takes away. That's what Neil Postman wrote in his book "Technopoly" and "Amusing Ourselves to Death". This modern world isn't without its flaws, but the old world wasn't that rubbish either. You only think it is good because you are the one of the winners chosen by the technologies.
- geysersam 4y ago
  Arguably there are a lot more winners than losers. Not sure who loses from having a good map application in a foreign country.
  - c22 4y ago
    Maybe the people who don't make enough burning e-waste to get one of their own? [0]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-29/the-rich-world-s-electronic-waste-dumped-in-ghana https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-29/the-rich-... [1]: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-behind-e-waste-dump-africa-180957597/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-...
    - immigrantheart 4y ago
      And many others
    - geysersam 4y ago
      Were they richer before the invention of the PC? Not saying everything is fine. But seriously, that's not the fault of the technology.
      - c22 4y ago
        I'm not sure the fact that some people haven't been made wealthy by technology is the most horrific thing we can take away from this situation.
- edent 4y ago
  I'm genuinely curious - did you read the penultimate paragraph of my post?
  - immigrantheart 4y ago
    Yes sir.
photochemsyn 4y ago
The one question I had reading this was... why then travel to the foreign country? You're enmeshed in the same basic experience you had in your domestic country, except you had to sit in a plane or on a train for hours to get there. I would recommend, every once in a while, a complete disconnect. Tell people you'll be out of touch for a week, entirely. Get a topological map of an area, get a compass, get an altimeter, and get a GPS satellite reciever (no, not a cell phone, a device that GPS-triangulates your latitude/longitude from GPS satellite signals) so you can see where you are on your topo map. Carry cash only. The location could be a wilderness area that you backpack into, a small town on the seaside with a hotel reservation set aside for you, something like that. Walk around, read a book, take photos on a camera with no internet connectivity to look at later, write in your journal, eat a meal. Terrifying thought, isn't it? Separation anxiety is a thing, in the digitally connected world.
- JasonFruit 4y ago
  Terrifying? It sounds thrilling!
  - geysersam 4y ago
    Right! The world is so accessible nowadays. You can travel light and far without much money. You don't have to rely on hotels and travel agencies to find a place to live and get information about the area.
- martythemaniak 4y ago
  Is finding this "terrifying" a young people thing? I'm mostly confused by this, because it's both very ordinary and rather nonsensical. First, backpacking in the wilderness with a topographical map is a vastly, vastly different experience than staying a random town, where you have access to anything. Also, why use GPS and stare at a screen instead of you know, locating yourself using the trail markers, ridges, etc? Is eating a meal and reading a book something people don't do all the time? Also, what camera is this? A phone with airplane mode on? Are you not allowed to store the pictures online, is a physical media transfer required, what's going on? What role does cash play here? I'm really confused.
jacknews 4y ago
I'm not sure if this is subtle satire, or not. The picture presented is very convenient living, but is it life?
- geysersam 4y ago
  Sure it is! The blog post focused a lot on the phone fibbing, but I'm sure in between those episodes the traveler had new exciting experiences.
teddyh 4y ago
> I have an IP address, therefore I am. But he doesn’t. He only has a NAT:ed address.
- AtlasBarfed 4y ago
  well if it's a phone, it's probably IPV6.
brudgers 4y ago
Reminds me of, Everything is amazing and nobody is happy (2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdFB7q89_3U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdFB7q89_3U
mrcaosr 4y ago
oh this is beautiful
EarthLaunch 4y ago
It is magical. But the modern world, also: I handed over my passport to the border guard. my various devices happily slurped up the bits My phone immediately latched on to a dozen satellites I have an IP address, therefore I am. An army of volunteers had already mapped the city the next bus was snagged in traffic I didn't fancy walking through an unfamiliar city. useless to a thief - unless they force me to unlock it pickpockets operated in that area The conversation with the taxi driver was a little stilted. noting which standard allergens were present in each dish verified that I was vaccinated against you-know-what knew to wake me at 07:30 local time. The next morning, as I entered the office where I'd be working Though all of this basically existed in the past in other forms.
- AtlasBarfed 4y ago
  With a little-to-lot less authoritarian and monopoly control. This thing smacks of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o7qjN3KF8U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o7qjN3KF8U

26 points by edent 4y ago

Most of that's great until the power goes out. Or DNS/Cloudflare has issues. Or someone fat-fingered a router config. Or a construction crew/cargo ship breaks a major optical cable. Or an attack happens and everyone overloads the networks. Or bad people steal the databases. Or a government decides to track you. The old world never had those problems.

caiusdurling 4y ago
The old world still works in those situations, but we have a better experience when the new world hasn’t experienced a fundamental failure. Seems like a reasonable trade off to me.
edent 4y ago
Well, it depends how you want to define those problems. Paper records got wet, or burned away. Gas wasn't always available for street lights. Forged coinage was a problem - as was bribery and corruption. So we're trading problems - but I know which world I prefer.

JasonFruit 4y ago

I loved the feeling of going somewhere, and nobody knew who I was or where I came from. Now, it's almost impossible to travel across town without a modestly-motivated person being able to find out about it. Does nobody else recognize the sacrifice of anonymity as a loss?

immigrantheart 4y ago

Technology gives, and technology takes away. That's what Neil Postman wrote in his book "Technopoly" and "Amusing Ourselves to Death". This modern world isn't without its flaws, but the old world wasn't that rubbish either. You only think it is good because you are the one of the winners chosen by the technologies.

geysersam 4y ago
Arguably there are a lot more winners than losers. Not sure who loses from having a good map application in a foreign country.
- c22 4y ago
  Maybe the people who don't make enough burning e-waste to get one of their own? [0]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-29/the-rich-world-s-electronic-waste-dumped-in-ghana https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-29/the-rich-... [1]: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-behind-e-waste-dump-africa-180957597/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-...
  - immigrantheart 4y ago
    And many others
  - geysersam 4y ago
    Were they richer before the invention of the PC? Not saying everything is fine. But seriously, that's not the fault of the technology.
    - c22 4y ago
      I'm not sure the fact that some people haven't been made wealthy by technology is the most horrific thing we can take away from this situation.
edent 4y ago
I'm genuinely curious - did you read the penultimate paragraph of my post?
- immigrantheart 4y ago
  Yes sir.

photochemsyn 4y ago

The one question I had reading this was... why then travel to the foreign country? You're enmeshed in the same basic experience you had in your domestic country, except you had to sit in a plane or on a train for hours to get there. I would recommend, every once in a while, a complete disconnect. Tell people you'll be out of touch for a week, entirely. Get a topological map of an area, get a compass, get an altimeter, and get a GPS satellite reciever (no, not a cell phone, a device that GPS-triangulates your latitude/longitude from GPS satellite signals) so you can see where you are on your topo map. Carry cash only. The location could be a wilderness area that you backpack into, a small town on the seaside with a hotel reservation set aside for you, something like that. Walk around, read a book, take photos on a camera with no internet connectivity to look at later, write in your journal, eat a meal. Terrifying thought, isn't it? Separation anxiety is a thing, in the digitally connected world.

JasonFruit 4y ago
Terrifying? It sounds thrilling!
- geysersam 4y ago
  Right! The world is so accessible nowadays. You can travel light and far without much money. You don't have to rely on hotels and travel agencies to find a place to live and get information about the area.
martythemaniak 4y ago
Is finding this "terrifying" a young people thing? I'm mostly confused by this, because it's both very ordinary and rather nonsensical. First, backpacking in the wilderness with a topographical map is a vastly, vastly different experience than staying a random town, where you have access to anything. Also, why use GPS and stare at a screen instead of you know, locating yourself using the trail markers, ridges, etc? Is eating a meal and reading a book something people don't do all the time? Also, what camera is this? A phone with airplane mode on? Are you not allowed to store the pictures online, is a physical media transfer required, what's going on? What role does cash play here? I'm really confused.

jacknews 4y ago

I'm not sure if this is subtle satire, or not. The picture presented is very convenient living, but is it life?

geysersam 4y ago
Sure it is! The blog post focused a lot on the phone fibbing, but I'm sure in between those episodes the traveler had new exciting experiences.

teddyh 4y ago

> I have an IP address, therefore I am. But he doesn’t. He only has a NAT:ed address.

AtlasBarfed 4y ago
well if it's a phone, it's probably IPV6.

brudgers 4y ago

Reminds me of, Everything is amazing and nobody is happy (2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdFB7q89_3U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdFB7q89_3U

mrcaosr 4y ago

oh this is beautiful

EarthLaunch 4y ago

It is magical. But the modern world, also: I handed over my passport to the border guard. my various devices happily slurped up the bits My phone immediately latched on to a dozen satellites I have an IP address, therefore I am. An army of volunteers had already mapped the city the next bus was snagged in traffic I didn't fancy walking through an unfamiliar city. useless to a thief - unless they force me to unlock it pickpockets operated in that area The conversation with the taxi driver was a little stilted. noting which standard allergens were present in each dish verified that I was vaccinated against you-know-what knew to wake me at 07:30 local time. The next morning, as I entered the office where I'd be working Though all of this basically existed in the past in other forms.

AtlasBarfed 4y ago
With a little-to-lot less authoritarian and monopoly control. This thing smacks of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o7qjN3KF8U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o7qjN3KF8U