7 ms·

> I was actually happier with that stuff 10 years ago than I am now. Why can't you just use that then?

amanaplanacanal 1y ago
The Internet of 10 years ago doesn't exist. The Google search of 10 years ago doesn't exist. The social media of 10 years ago doesn't exist.
vouaobrasil 1y ago
Sometimes it's a matter of the prisoner's dilemma or an arms-race. For example, I would like to continue using older phones. But most older phones don't support 4G or 5G. And that's not just a matter of internet: I had a nice phone, worked well for calls and texts, but the phone literally would not connect to the network because it was 2G max. In other cases, one has to use newer technology because it is what is provided at work. Mainly because older technology doesn't get security updates. Now my iPhone SE original, which works perfectly fine, no longer is updated and I don't know what to do. I DON'T want a newer phone. I hate phones. Still, some other technology isn't even made any more and if you need to use something at all, it has to be newer because it's harder and harder to find older stuff.
Analemma_ 1y ago
Because increasingly I can't park my car, order from a restaurant, manage my bank account, or schedule a doctor's appointment without an up-to-date smartphone, since the old ways of doing those things got removed in favor of apps. I also can't stay in touch with a bunch of my friends, who are on various chat platforms I can't access. Unless you're prepared to go full off-grid hermit, you cannot opt out of technological progress even if you want to. That irks me, but what can I do?
- ryandrake 1y ago
  > Because increasingly I can't park my car, order from a restaurant, manage my bank account, or schedule a doctor's appointment without an up-to-date smartphone We still have the ability to opt-out of these things, and (sometimes) loudly let businesses know why, but the window is closing fast. If we want to have any hope for a world that doesn't require smartphones and apps, we need to take action now.
  - vouaobrasil 1y ago
    > We still have the ability to opt-out of these things, and (sometimes) loudly let businesses know why, but the window is closing fast. I sometimes wonder if we do have the ability, because for every one person that has some sense, luxury, or energy to opt-out, there are a hundred that go with the flow. For every person who walks out of a restaurant with a QR-code menu, there are a dozen hungry people that walk in. How can we then take action within this system that is closing up around us?
    - ryandrake 1y ago
      I don't know what the solution is. The idiot consumers that accept and help to normalize this are too numerous. One can only hope that there will always be at least one bank, at least one restaurant, or at least one doctor that addresses the shrinking market of those of us who care.
terminalbraid 1y ago
That's the whole thing with "enshittification". Things have been made deliberately worse or unavailable.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

The Internet of 10 years ago doesn't exist. The Google search of 10 years ago doesn't exist. The social media of 10 years ago doesn't exist.

vouaobrasil 1y ago

Sometimes it's a matter of the prisoner's dilemma or an arms-race. For example, I would like to continue using older phones. But most older phones don't support 4G or 5G. And that's not just a matter of internet: I had a nice phone, worked well for calls and texts, but the phone literally would not connect to the network because it was 2G max. In other cases, one has to use newer technology because it is what is provided at work. Mainly because older technology doesn't get security updates. Now my iPhone SE original, which works perfectly fine, no longer is updated and I don't know what to do. I DON'T want a newer phone. I hate phones. Still, some other technology isn't even made any more and if you need to use something at all, it has to be newer because it's harder and harder to find older stuff.

Analemma_ 1y ago

Because increasingly I can't park my car, order from a restaurant, manage my bank account, or schedule a doctor's appointment without an up-to-date smartphone, since the old ways of doing those things got removed in favor of apps. I also can't stay in touch with a bunch of my friends, who are on various chat platforms I can't access. Unless you're prepared to go full off-grid hermit, you cannot opt out of technological progress even if you want to. That irks me, but what can I do?

ryandrake 1y ago
> Because increasingly I can't park my car, order from a restaurant, manage my bank account, or schedule a doctor's appointment without an up-to-date smartphone We still have the ability to opt-out of these things, and (sometimes) loudly let businesses know why, but the window is closing fast. If we want to have any hope for a world that doesn't require smartphones and apps, we need to take action now.
- vouaobrasil 1y ago
  > We still have the ability to opt-out of these things, and (sometimes) loudly let businesses know why, but the window is closing fast. I sometimes wonder if we do have the ability, because for every one person that has some sense, luxury, or energy to opt-out, there are a hundred that go with the flow. For every person who walks out of a restaurant with a QR-code menu, there are a dozen hungry people that walk in. How can we then take action within this system that is closing up around us?
  - ryandrake 1y ago
    I don't know what the solution is. The idiot consumers that accept and help to normalize this are too numerous. One can only hope that there will always be at least one bank, at least one restaurant, or at least one doctor that addresses the shrinking market of those of us who care.

terminalbraid 1y ago

That's the whole thing with "enshittification". Things have been made deliberately worse or unavailable.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]