Technology

I really don't think that specific emotion is isolated to gen z.

I remember all the promise and excitement that tech had back in the late 00's and early 10's. Things were unique and fun. That's just not true anymore. Every new software update adds shit that you didn't ask for and don't want (AI, ads, removal of user freedom). New hardware releases are either an underwhelming iteration of specs from the previous version, or an unimaginative device that has the same basic look and feel as every other device it's competing with.

Tech used to be fun and exploratory, now it's just companies pushing to see how much they can be allowed to exploit you for the least cost.

Tech in the 1980's - 2010's was hopeful, beneficial, and fairly consumer oriented. Tech today is mostly some sort of scheme for recurring billing while openly assisting the modern surveillance state. It's no wonder modern tech feels icky.

Tech used to promise a better life. Now it requires a subscription and wants your biometrics just to lie about pizza toppings to you. Sounds like gen z is on the right path.

Is it "discomfort", or a full rejection of the values represented by the enshittified tech companies and their LLM-cronies?

I'm tired of tech being everywhere from cars to toasters I still prefer analog things that do the job and only that job.

I don't need my internet connected fridg to tell me what groceries to buy while selling my data to insurance companies

It's universal man. They fucked everything up, don't blame us (everyone) that we don't want to use your garbage tech. What do you expect to happen when you suck all the soul and humanity out of everything, out of daily living? People want that, need that, desire that, well, most people.

There's nothing wrong with the technology, it's who is running it all that needs to be fixed, with the general f*ckery that is through everything now I miss my 2400 baud modem that was bigger than my computer and dialing in to a BBS.

Modern technology is great. It's massively cheaper and more performant for orders of magnitude less money.

Consumer technology on the other hand, is cursed.

The problem is that nobody needs to know how to use technology anymore. Every piece of consumer hardware and software is designed so that the company does all of the work for you and then rents you the fruits of the technology. Now you're eternally dependent on someone else to operate your technology for you because you're constantly paying the people that are ensuring your technological ignorance.

Don't worry about learning how to store mp3s or manage your music Library! Just pay Spotify, YouTube Premium, or Apple Music $10/mo!

Don't worry about needing to learn how to backup your data or to store you photos, just give Apple $29.99/mo! Shopping for hardware is hard, learning the difference between a Megapixel and a Megabyte is for nerds! Just buy the iPad, iLaptop, iCamera, iEarbuds, it only costs 50% more than it should!

Dealing with .mp4 and .mkv files, too complicated! Don't worry about needing to learn anything about movies, Netflix/Hulu/Disney/Paramount/Amazon/AppleTV/etc will gladly take your $20/mo and do everything for you!

Don't like your computer's OS being filled with advertising, spyware and AI? Too bad! Your only options are 1. Live in Apple's Walled Garden, 2. Put your entire life's worth of private data on the auction block for the lowest bidding advertiser for the benefit of Microsoft's shareholders or 3. Give your cellphone provider and Google root access to your entire life!

Yes, this is a 'Just use Linux' comment.

It's not really discomfort. It's the fact that any benefit technology would give us is being monetized and abused to the point where it's not enjoyable. I have this phone because employers expect to be able to contact me 24/7, and because governments want to spy on me, and companies want to harvest my data so they can profit from me. In return im given just enough to make it to the next day, and a screen to distract me from how fucking pointless our society is.

A skilled/educated American worker should be able to retire comfortably at 50 without having to worry about how they'll afford healthcare.

Companies make millions off you, then you give a few thousand because they know if they ever paid you a fair share, we'd all realize how much they've been robbing us this whole time.