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Good lord. Almost none of it, if by "tech" you mean "software". Most of it's pushing consumerism via invasive advertising, spreading lies on purpose, or chasing
by yamtaddle 4y ago
Good lord. Almost none of it, if by "tech" you mean "software". Most of it's pushing consumerism via invasive advertising, spreading lies on purpose, or chasing marginal improvements in entertainment. I also suspect the majority of B2B activity is neutral or negative in actual delivered value over whatever it's replacing.
[EDIT] I think this is true even for extremely generous values of "essential", in fact. I think the vast majority of software effort delivers marginal gains at best, with a net effect that is overall harmful in the median case, which harm is masked by the occasional huge improvement it delivers.
- manuelmoreale 4y agoWell, software is not just the web. Software that runs medical equipment is valuable and essential for example. And I think the same is true for all sorts of digital infrastructure. I’m thinking about software to run the power grid or running street lights or controlling a dam. There’s countless examples of useful to society pieces of software. But there are also countless other that are example of the opposite.
- yamtaddle 4y agoYes, that's why it's only almost none. Some single-digit percentage of programming effort probably is important.