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Yours is a heartfelt, sincere take on a successful 21st century career in tech, but I feel it is so one-sided. Yes, you seem to have benefitted greatly, but yo
by mykowebhn 2y ago
Yours is a heartfelt, sincere take on a successful 21st century career in tech, but I feel it is so one-sided.
Yes, you seem to have benefitted greatly, but your examples of efficiency and availability are flawed. For example:
"apps on phones that can know my tastes and preferences": I don't see any benefits. When Youtube recommends for the billionth time a stupid soccer short because I previously watched one soccer short, I want to scream. Also, privacy or lack thereof.
"hailing a cab virtually": made possible due to full-time workers who have none of the benefits of full-time workers, in other words, exploitation.
"a bonkers level of selection of goods to all consumers": One word that encapsulates the other side of your "bonkers level of selection"--Temu.
"low friction same-day delivery": Made possible due to our reliance on fossil fuels
"far greater access to online services including education and financing": I'm not sure about the financing part. Education? Yeah, if I want to learn about something like video-editing. But I could've bought a book on that in the past and probably learned it much more in depth. If I wanted to learn something like German Idealism, not so much.
I think your pocket book has benefitted immensely, but all of the other benefits don't seem like benefits to me on a macro level. But kudos to you for doing so well and believing the world partakes in your good fortune.
- borski 2y agoThat’s a pretty cynical view. In essence, what you’re saying is “all the things you care about are not things I care about and/or actually despise.” And that’s OK - you don’t have to work at Amazon! But the implication is that the OP has the “wool over their eyes,” so to speak, and I think that’s unfair. They’re allowed to love their job and find it impactful, even if you don’t. :) It’s possible I misread this somehow, so if that’s the case, apologies in advance.
- j_maffe 2y agoGP isn't arguing for subjective preference but objective value. People are of course allowed to find their work impactful. Doesn't mean it actually is.
- azemetre 2y agoIt's not cynical to point out external costs, the alternative is to take corporate propaganda at face value without ever questioning if things are right or not.
- hluska 2y agoWhat do you do that is so pure it doesn't have externalities?
- arcticbull 2y agoLet they who work on a product without externalities cast the first stone
- yamazakiwi 2y agoThe opposite, as it is a privilege to work somewhere without externalities.
- Ferret7446 2y agoThe privilege of ignorance? Because no such thing exists, unless of course you are ignorant of the externalities which is very likely. As they say, ignorance is bliss.
- bl0b 2y agoI read it as the privilege of being able to choose a lower paying job (that lets you sleep better at night, be more fulfilled, etc)
- yamazakiwi 2y agoIt's a privilege because the number of roles with no externalities are limited
- fwip 2y agoDegree matters. Working at a missile factory is worse than working for Amazon is worse than working for a public library.
- CamperBob2 2y agoAsk your friendly neighborhood Ukrainian refugees if they agree with that.
- roenxi 2y agoThere seems to be an argument here against markets, energy use and entertainment. While criticism is legitimate, little there is related to tech specificially and it is more a complaint against the construction of modern society from the 1700s onwards.
- specialist 2y agoAmazon, Uber, etc. are more platforms than markets.