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It was a truly strange experience being in San Francisco in the mid-aughts, with the vibes quickly turning away from the idealistic but flawed freaks and geeks

It was a truly strange experience being in San Francisco in the mid-aughts, with the vibes quickly turning away from the idealistic but flawed freaks and geeks (now largely retired) to the brogrammers and techbros of the latter half of the aughts who are still with us today. It's as if the techbros tried to emulate the positive aspirations of their hippie-tech forefathers and, over the past decade, were just like "naah, forget it." Once upon a time, we geeks truly believed that computing and telecommunications would bring us together. It's truly depressing seeing this generation of money-addled idiots set us back thousands of years using the tech we created.

toomuchtodo 1y ago
At some point, the Jobs folks took the helm from the Woz folks, and it went from being curious, eccentric (a compliment, if ambiguous) people doing fun stuff to "How can we take over the world from the finance bros (“east coast”, NYC) and the political establishment (DC)?" Andreessen Horowitz, for example.
ThrowawayR2 1y ago
> "Once upon a time, we geeks truly believed that computing and telecommunications would bring us together." There were historical precedents, like the printing press, which was hoped to bring morality and education to the masses but brought penny dreadfuls and yellow journalism along with it, and radio / television, which was hoped to bring culture and education to the masses and brought us soap operas and more yellow journalism along with it, that should have clued geeks in about what humanity would do with computing. Technology can't solve humans being human.
- grafmax 1y ago
  Blaming human nature mystifies the power relations that shape society. Penny dreadfuls and yellow journalism were the result of the commodification of culture under capitalism. The internet failed to bring us together because it was shaped and appropriated by corporate power to fragment solidarity, extract data, and commodify attention. In each case, it’s the profit-seeking of a minority class that bends technology toward commodification and cultural degradation. But let’s blame human nature instead of the power structures that generate these outcomes.
rzazueta 1y ago
> Once upon a time, we geeks truly believed that computing and telecommunications would bring us together. I still believe that. We just lost the plot. We can get it back.

toomuchtodo 1y ago

At some point, the Jobs folks took the helm from the Woz folks, and it went from being curious, eccentric (a compliment, if ambiguous) people doing fun stuff to "How can we take over the world from the finance bros (“east coast”, NYC) and the political establishment (DC)?" Andreessen Horowitz, for example.

ThrowawayR2 1y ago

> "Once upon a time, we geeks truly believed that computing and telecommunications would bring us together." There were historical precedents, like the printing press, which was hoped to bring morality and education to the masses but brought penny dreadfuls and yellow journalism along with it, and radio / television, which was hoped to bring culture and education to the masses and brought us soap operas and more yellow journalism along with it, that should have clued geeks in about what humanity would do with computing. Technology can't solve humans being human.

grafmax 1y ago
Blaming human nature mystifies the power relations that shape society. Penny dreadfuls and yellow journalism were the result of the commodification of culture under capitalism. The internet failed to bring us together because it was shaped and appropriated by corporate power to fragment solidarity, extract data, and commodify attention. In each case, it’s the profit-seeking of a minority class that bends technology toward commodification and cultural degradation. But let’s blame human nature instead of the power structures that generate these outcomes.

rzazueta 1y ago

> Once upon a time, we geeks truly believed that computing and telecommunications would bring us together. I still believe that. We just lost the plot. We can get it back.