It was a machine from a time when personal computers were a hopeful symbol of a better future for the whole of humanity. Tech bro sumbitches monetized that hope away, and now our future is an adversarial billionaire-feeding dystopia, promising more billionaires and more dystopia.
I'm old enough to retire soon, and I constantly feel someone took away the future I was promised as a teen. As a frustrated gen-Xer who generally had it good despite everything, I can't imagine the kind of despair young people today are going through. At least I can remember the Altair, and that's something.
Yeah, I realized the computer world was going down the drain when Scott McNealy inadvertently spill the beans on the industry's true intentions in 1999, and a few years later, I quit programming entirely and changed career.
I still use computers because I have to, and I maintain a few open-source projects of little importance so I can say I've done my part. But mostly I'm busy avoiding computers and trying to maintain whatever shred of privacy I have left.
3 Comments
ExtremeDullard@piefed.social · 13 pts · 354d
My first computer was an Altair.
It was a machine from a time when personal computers were a hopeful symbol of a better future for the whole of humanity. Tech bro sumbitches monetized that hope away, and now our future is an adversarial billionaire-feeding dystopia, promising more billionaires and more dystopia.
I'm old enough to retire soon, and I constantly feel someone took away the future I was promised as a teen. As a frustrated gen-Xer who generally had it good despite everything, I can't imagine the kind of despair young people today are going through. At least I can remember the Altair, and that's something.
despotic_machine@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 354d
ExtremeDullard@piefed.social · 6 pts · 354d
Yeah, I realized the computer world was going down the drain when Scott McNealy inadvertently spill the beans on the industry's true intentions in 1999, and a few years later, I quit programming entirely and changed career.
I still use computers because I have to, and I maintain a few open-source projects of little importance so I can say I've done my part. But mostly I'm busy avoiding computers and trying to maintain whatever shred of privacy I have left.
crandlecan@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 354d
😞
snausagesinablanket@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 350d