3 ms·

I find my personal computer very personal, much more personal than say the Commodore 64 I had when I was a kid. I think the current state is mainly the inevita

by drbig 3y ago

I find my personal computer very personal, much more personal than say the Commodore 64 I had when I was a kid. I think the current state is mainly the inevitable outcome of most people wanting their computers toaster-like, i.e. appliances; and companies just doing their thing, which is maximizing profits. Having lived through a lot of changes I think we're in a much better place than 20 years ago. The stuff I can do with my laptop to work exactly as I want it, while still being able to say access my bank account, is amazing. In other words, I strongly believe that the "personal" part of the equation is strictly in the hands of the _person_.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
gspencley 3y ago
I've been a computer nerd since a very young age. I'm now in my early 40s. I've been a professional coder for 25 years. Started coding when I was 10. I'm trying to figure out why these last 10 years or so I'm starting to feel like a luddite. I just find myself using tech less and less in my day to day life, for the most part. There are certain things that are "new" that I wouldn't give up: grocery delivery services, online shopping and the ability to work remotely from home. In those specific areas, I can say that I "use" tech more. But when I'm not working or avoiding driving to a store? I find that I have little to no interest in most of what modern tech has to offer these days. For me, personally, something feels like it has been lost. The closest analogue that I can think of is cars. I've never been a car person, but I live in the Detroit area and so I'm surrounded by people who are very much "car people." They hate modern cars. Why? Because to them, a car is not just an appliance or a way to get from one place to another. It was something that they took care of, maintained, nurtured, poured themselves into. And these days? Their local mechanic who they've known since they were a little kid can't even perform maintenance on it anymore. It needs to be sent to technicians who plug in a computer and will ultimately send it back to the manufacturer for parts replacements. Is this worse than before? Arguably it's better in many ways... probably safer. But it took something away from the people who loved the independence of being able to connect to a machine on an intimate level. For me it was the "mobile revolution" that made me feel like I was becoming an old fashioned "car person." I never liked phones. I'm an asocial loner who doesn't like being interrupted by noise making devices. I don't want to have to remember to bring the thing with me. I never trusted the security and privacy of the things. I never enjoyed using a device with such a small screen and no keyboard (let alone the lack of a mechanical one to provide me with tactile feedback). So I never jumped on the bandwagon. To this day, I use GrapheneOS and a few FOSS apps (mp3 player and Signal to talk to my wife and that's about it), and I always have notifications turned off because I despise push notifications as a concept. As a programmer, I have always felt this intimate connection between myself and "the machine." Although I never did a lot of low-level systems programming, that's where I find my heart going to these days. I feel so removed from the bare metal, like the connection has been severed and I've lost a lifelong partner. But this still doesn't explain everything. It explains why I feel a loss as a PROGRAMMER and HACKER. But it doesn't explain why, as an END USER, I don't find myself using as many products and tech-related tools as I used to. I'm still searching for those answers. Maybe it's me that changed, and not technology. I don't know.

by drbig 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

gspencley 3y ago

I've been a computer nerd since a very young age. I'm now in my early 40s. I've been a professional coder for 25 years. Started coding when I was 10. I'm trying to figure out why these last 10 years or so I'm starting to feel like a luddite. I just find myself using tech less and less in my day to day life, for the most part. There are certain things that are "new" that I wouldn't give up: grocery delivery services, online shopping and the ability to work remotely from home. In those specific areas, I can say that I "use" tech more. But when I'm not working or avoiding driving to a store? I find that I have little to no interest in most of what modern tech has to offer these days. For me, personally, something feels like it has been lost. The closest analogue that I can think of is cars. I've never been a car person, but I live in the Detroit area and so I'm surrounded by people who are very much "car people." They hate modern cars. Why? Because to them, a car is not just an appliance or a way to get from one place to another. It was something that they took care of, maintained, nurtured, poured themselves into. And these days? Their local mechanic who they've known since they were a little kid can't even perform maintenance on it anymore. It needs to be sent to technicians who plug in a computer and will ultimately send it back to the manufacturer for parts replacements. Is this worse than before? Arguably it's better in many ways... probably safer. But it took something away from the people who loved the independence of being able to connect to a machine on an intimate level. For me it was the "mobile revolution" that made me feel like I was becoming an old fashioned "car person." I never liked phones. I'm an asocial loner who doesn't like being interrupted by noise making devices. I don't want to have to remember to bring the thing with me. I never trusted the security and privacy of the things. I never enjoyed using a device with such a small screen and no keyboard (let alone the lack of a mechanical one to provide me with tactile feedback). So I never jumped on the bandwagon. To this day, I use GrapheneOS and a few FOSS apps (mp3 player and Signal to talk to my wife and that's about it), and I always have notifications turned off because I despise push notifications as a concept. As a programmer, I have always felt this intimate connection between myself and "the machine." Although I never did a lot of low-level systems programming, that's where I find my heart going to these days. I feel so removed from the bare metal, like the connection has been severed and I've lost a lifelong partner. But this still doesn't explain everything. It explains why I feel a loss as a PROGRAMMER and HACKER. But it doesn't explain why, as an END USER, I don't find myself using as many products and tech-related tools as I used to. I'm still searching for those answers. Maybe it's me that changed, and not technology. I don't know.