5 ms·

Yep, that's why I started working on Indie SaaS and am trying to go live on a farm, and will never work for a FANG (except Apple, because its hardware is mostly

by _xnmw 4y ago

Yep, that's why I started working on Indie SaaS and am trying to go live on a farm, and will never work for a FANG (except Apple, because its hardware is mostly neutral), even remotely. I don't want to contribute to the dystopian machine, but I still want the real benefits that technology provides (both for myself, and for others, through the product I build). The original purpose and true benefit of computing is in math (e.g. accounting), simplifying logistics, and enabling communication at a longer distance. Anything else is dystopian, socially-destructive garbage that I won't touch for the sake of my own well-being, which is why I'm not on any social media (except highly selective communities like HN or strictly for work purposes) and I strictly limit entertainment that arrives through a screen. My yardstick for determining whether a particular pattern of use of technology is "good" or "bad" is by considering its effects on my base human faculties (eyesight, hearing, memory, physical strength and wisdom), and its effect on my relationships with others. Any pattern of use that improves my bodily faculties or my real-life relationships is good, otherwise I shun it.

jmfldn 4y ago
I think we're on the same page, I see things very similarly! What sort of product are you working on, or would you work in future, if you don't mind me asking?
EddySchauHai 4y ago
Where are you looking to buy a farm? I work in tech and love it, and won’t quit anytime soon, but I’d love to own a farm that’s at least break even with the perks that come with it (hiring a farm hand and doing the bits I can). I used to live in the countryside in rural England, then London & Oxford, now Palo Alto, and that small village was still my favorite place so far. If I’m in tech all day I need that balance of nature outside of it.
freedomben 4y ago
I agree with most everything you've said expect: > will never work for a FANG (except Apple, because its hardware is mostly neutral), that's very surprising to me because I see it so much differently. Apple may be a "hardware" company in spirit but it's very much a software company these days too, and increasingly push into software domains.
- haswell 4y ago
  Even then, I think Apple remains the most neutral. Apple “hardware” is synonymous with Apple software at this point - they are vertically integrated to a degree that make the two inseparable. Missteps like on-device scanning notwithstanding, I feel like I have the most choice in how my Apple stuff behaves if compared to the other members of FAANG. Time will tell if this remains true.
  - freedomben 4y ago
    > Missteps like on-device scanning notwithstanding, I feel like I have the most choice in how my Apple stuff behaves if compared to the other members of FAANG. Limiting to FAANG, I think you're probably right, although I've been really impressed with the openness and flexibility of much of Google hardware (chromebooks, mobile devices, etc. Not chromecasts, Nest devices, etc).
    - hiptobecubic 4y ago
      Isn't Apple UX primarily famous for the fact that it's not particularly configurable and instead focuses on being simple and "just working?"
- al_mandi 4y ago
  Not to mention that Apple has factories in provinces that use forced Uighur laborers.
balaji1 4y ago
Like you said "improves bodily faculties" seems great. Well-designed, efficient, repairable, sustainable "robots" like dishwashers, vacuums, etc from a few years ago could have lasted us a long time. Efficient, safe, maintainable transport is great. We had massive improvements in quality of healthcare without fears of dystopia until recently.
- balaji1 4y ago
  And to keep it simple, even real-life relationships enhanced by tech seems somewhat "bad". I suppose a useful example of tech improving real-life relationships would be LinkedIn: LinkedIn (and others) _might_ help me amplify my achievements and accelerate my career; but somehow that seems unnecessary also. We don't really need a lot of relationships otherwise, and if we had free time because of other tech, we could spend more time with people or even invest in career. Tho one could argue, the careers have increasingly been about building said dystopian tech.
5350-uiop-1130 4y ago
> except Apple, because its hardware is mostly neutral tell that to the uighur factory workers.
- th1s1sit 4y ago

by _xnmw 4y ago

jmfldn 4y ago

I think we're on the same page, I see things very similarly! What sort of product are you working on, or would you work in future, if you don't mind me asking?

EddySchauHai 4y ago

Where are you looking to buy a farm? I work in tech and love it, and won’t quit anytime soon, but I’d love to own a farm that’s at least break even with the perks that come with it (hiring a farm hand and doing the bits I can). I used to live in the countryside in rural England, then London & Oxford, now Palo Alto, and that small village was still my favorite place so far. If I’m in tech all day I need that balance of nature outside of it.

freedomben 4y ago

I agree with most everything you've said expect: > will never work for a FANG (except Apple, because its hardware is mostly neutral), that's very surprising to me because I see it so much differently. Apple may be a "hardware" company in spirit but it's very much a software company these days too, and increasingly push into software domains.

haswell 4y ago
Even then, I think Apple remains the most neutral. Apple “hardware” is synonymous with Apple software at this point - they are vertically integrated to a degree that make the two inseparable. Missteps like on-device scanning notwithstanding, I feel like I have the most choice in how my Apple stuff behaves if compared to the other members of FAANG. Time will tell if this remains true.
- freedomben 4y ago
  > Missteps like on-device scanning notwithstanding, I feel like I have the most choice in how my Apple stuff behaves if compared to the other members of FAANG. Limiting to FAANG, I think you're probably right, although I've been really impressed with the openness and flexibility of much of Google hardware (chromebooks, mobile devices, etc. Not chromecasts, Nest devices, etc).
  - hiptobecubic 4y ago
    Isn't Apple UX primarily famous for the fact that it's not particularly configurable and instead focuses on being simple and "just working?"
al_mandi 4y ago
Not to mention that Apple has factories in provinces that use forced Uighur laborers.

balaji1 4y ago

Like you said "improves bodily faculties" seems great. Well-designed, efficient, repairable, sustainable "robots" like dishwashers, vacuums, etc from a few years ago could have lasted us a long time. Efficient, safe, maintainable transport is great. We had massive improvements in quality of healthcare without fears of dystopia until recently.

balaji1 4y ago
And to keep it simple, even real-life relationships enhanced by tech seems somewhat "bad". I suppose a useful example of tech improving real-life relationships would be LinkedIn: LinkedIn (and others) _might_ help me amplify my achievements and accelerate my career; but somehow that seems unnecessary also. We don't really need a lot of relationships otherwise, and if we had free time because of other tech, we could spend more time with people or even invest in career. Tho one could argue, the careers have increasingly been about building said dystopian tech.

5350-uiop-1130 4y ago

> except Apple, because its hardware is mostly neutral tell that to the uighur factory workers.

th1s1sit 4y ago