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Lots of people are still optimistic about tech. They just generally don't have time to get into silly arguments about it on HN.

dowager_dan99 2y ago
You're right - but also very wrong. People can be optimistic while still having an existential crisis about what they see/feel is happening. That's what makes them believe they can influence and change the world, and why they even try. What we're seeing in tech today feels like it started in the 80's, and before that point computers, etc. were viewed by some as the downfall of humankind and by others the saviour.
- UncleOxidant 2y ago
  Oh, man, I can still remember how when barcodes started showing up on products in the late 70s that there were people saying it was the mark of the beast or a precursor to it or that it was some government ploy.
  - int_19h 2y ago
    They still say that, by the way.
aprilthird2021 2y ago
Eh, people back then were optimistic about tech AND had time to get into silly arguments about it on HN. So something's changed
- sumeno 2y ago
  We've seen the enshitification process play out too many times
pie420 2y ago
i'm sure there's lots of tech optimists in absolute numbers, but my personal experience in the bay area has been that a vast majority of my friends in tech and tech adjacent have become highly pessimistic of the current tech landscape, AI, VR, etc.
- wyclif 2y ago
  All you have to do to see this is to look at how some of the biggest tech CEOs and moguls like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Elon, Jeff Bezos, etc. treat giving their children screens to babysit them. Pretty sure most of them don't, because they know how bad that is.
  - mbostleman 2y ago
    I’m looking forward to when tech is not synonymous with screens.
  - jjeaff 2y ago
    or they don't because they have full time, live-in nannies to keep their children occupied.
    - aprilthird2021 2y ago
      They explicitly share that they don't let their kids use so much screens etc. And they have always been huge advocates of this because they want responsibility for their technology's effect on children to be shifted to parents. So, by themselves modeling how to set boundaries for their kids, they bolster the claim that good parenting is the issue, not the apps designed to be addictive
- umeshunni 2y ago
  That's called a little blue bubble.
udev4096 2y ago
And yet, you are still here making silly arguments for not getting into silly arguments

dowager_dan99 2y ago

You're right - but also very wrong. People can be optimistic while still having an existential crisis about what they see/feel is happening. That's what makes them believe they can influence and change the world, and why they even try. What we're seeing in tech today feels like it started in the 80's, and before that point computers, etc. were viewed by some as the downfall of humankind and by others the saviour.

UncleOxidant 2y ago
Oh, man, I can still remember how when barcodes started showing up on products in the late 70s that there were people saying it was the mark of the beast or a precursor to it or that it was some government ploy.
- int_19h 2y ago
  They still say that, by the way.

aprilthird2021 2y ago

Eh, people back then were optimistic about tech AND had time to get into silly arguments about it on HN. So something's changed

sumeno 2y ago
We've seen the enshitification process play out too many times

pie420 2y ago

i'm sure there's lots of tech optimists in absolute numbers, but my personal experience in the bay area has been that a vast majority of my friends in tech and tech adjacent have become highly pessimistic of the current tech landscape, AI, VR, etc.

wyclif 2y ago
All you have to do to see this is to look at how some of the biggest tech CEOs and moguls like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Elon, Jeff Bezos, etc. treat giving their children screens to babysit them. Pretty sure most of them don't, because they know how bad that is.
- mbostleman 2y ago
  I’m looking forward to when tech is not synonymous with screens.
- jjeaff 2y ago
  or they don't because they have full time, live-in nannies to keep their children occupied.
  - aprilthird2021 2y ago
    They explicitly share that they don't let their kids use so much screens etc. And they have always been huge advocates of this because they want responsibility for their technology's effect on children to be shifted to parents. So, by themselves modeling how to set boundaries for their kids, they bolster the claim that good parenting is the issue, not the apps designed to be addictive
umeshunni 2y ago
That's called a little blue bubble.

udev4096 2y ago

And yet, you are still here making silly arguments for not getting into silly arguments