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> even if the tech itself is inanimate and neutral I've come to believe that no tech is neutral. Some tech allows more variety in the politics surrounding it,

by dirkc 3y ago

> even if the tech itself is inanimate and neutral I've come to believe that no tech is neutral. Some tech allows more variety in the politics surrounding it, while other tech has a very narrow range or politics - like DRM.

hiatus 3y ago
Interesting, could you expand on your view about the range of politics afforded by technologies? Specifically, your mention of DRM was intriguing. While I personally dislike DRM applied to consumer devices and content, I think there are applications of digital rights that are less objectionable, like ensuring the integrity of medical device firmware deployed in a hospital.
- dirkc 3y ago
  It depends on the technology in question, but most development has some agenda that drives it or that is enabled by it. Simply engaging in the development of tech is already pushing an agenda - the notion that we should pursue technological advancement. For me the important realization is that I'm not being neutral when creating something - at best/worst I'm being ignorant. I'd like to reflect more on my motivations for building things and be more explicit on my motivations for doing so.
BSEdlMMldESB 3y ago
but is DRM a 'technology' or is it something more specific? if computers are a technology, then DRM is an specific application of it??? ugh, I just destroyed my own understanding
Nasrudith 3y ago
I've come to a view that is an antonym personally whose difference is oddly semantic. The tech is neutral in itself but people can make absolutely anything political. There are no real constraints on sanity. They can make needing to eat and drink to survive political because admitting the obvious contradicts 'great leader'.
klabb3 3y ago
Yes you could put it that way. A sorting algorithm has very little impact on politics whereas say fingerprinting or encryption can be leveraged for political purposes. DRM (and it’s hipster cousin “remote attestation”) stands out as being exceptionally political because it relies on the hardware to be controlled by a different actor than its owner and operator. Similar to “tamper-proof” physical objects, from the old days.

by dirkc 3y ago

hiatus 3y ago

Interesting, could you expand on your view about the range of politics afforded by technologies? Specifically, your mention of DRM was intriguing. While I personally dislike DRM applied to consumer devices and content, I think there are applications of digital rights that are less objectionable, like ensuring the integrity of medical device firmware deployed in a hospital.

dirkc 3y ago
It depends on the technology in question, but most development has some agenda that drives it or that is enabled by it. Simply engaging in the development of tech is already pushing an agenda - the notion that we should pursue technological advancement. For me the important realization is that I'm not being neutral when creating something - at best/worst I'm being ignorant. I'd like to reflect more on my motivations for building things and be more explicit on my motivations for doing so.

BSEdlMMldESB 3y ago

but is DRM a 'technology' or is it something more specific? if computers are a technology, then DRM is an specific application of it??? ugh, I just destroyed my own understanding

Nasrudith 3y ago

I've come to a view that is an antonym personally whose difference is oddly semantic. The tech is neutral in itself but people can make absolutely anything political. There are no real constraints on sanity. They can make needing to eat and drink to survive political because admitting the obvious contradicts 'great leader'.

klabb3 3y ago

Yes you could put it that way. A sorting algorithm has very little impact on politics whereas say fingerprinting or encryption can be leveraged for political purposes. DRM (and it’s hipster cousin “remote attestation”) stands out as being exceptionally political because it relies on the hardware to be controlled by a different actor than its owner and operator. Similar to “tamper-proof” physical objects, from the old days.