Riccardo MoriAs I’m preparing my COMEBACK in tech blogging, I’ve been trying to catch up with news and discourse I’ve missed these past six months or so. My general impression so far is that I haven’t been missing that much. I don’t know if it’s because it’s summer and everything’s filtered through the heat and humidity and swelter, but this feels like the most tedious and uninteresting phase in tech industry I’ve seen in a while.
So little substance, so much buzzword-ridden talk and empty promises. Marketing pitches trying to have people believe there’s actual tech innovation going on. The greatest trick tech companies are trying to pull is convincing the world AI exists. I can’t wait to see the reckoning, especially when the markets come knocking at these companies’ doors.
Last year I was starting to feel bad for having an increasingly unenthusiastic and cynical overlook on tech. Now more than ever I believe *more* people should share this outlook and attitude. I’ll always cheer the indie developer coming up with great ideas for software. I’m not entirely blind to good stuff in tech. But people should really stop drinking the kool-aid from the big names in tech, and should look past the big plates of bullshit they serve on a daily basis.
Every time you see some unspecified AI-related ‘accomplishment’, the correct reaction should be “Yes. And?”
The AI house of cards can’t withstand 2 or 3 rounds of “Yes. And?”
Like, “Look what this chatbot is capable of!”
(A chatbot that’s been fed literal millions of data bits and still comes up with bad approximations and incorrect answers. But you play along and just ask:)
“Yes. And?”
It all trails off. There’s nothing there. What’s the point of this tool that just wastes energy?
ראַף 
I'm not sure computers in general can withstand 5 “Yes. And?”
@raf Agreed.
mako@morrick I go through waves of this as well; probably more often than not as of late.
Any new indie/software you’re excited about?
@mako The last app I bought for my iPhone was probably around November 2023, and it must have been the app to manage the Tile I got around that time. So nothing special.
When it comes to the Mac, I really, really love the work of @tylerhall — He makes some truly cool utilities. If you already know his work, then you know what I’m talking about. If not, check https://retina.studio. I especially love TextBuddy. Really useful for what I do.
tylerhall@morrick @mako Thanks for that :) Ironically, I’m stuck in the least productive streak of my indie software career - as evidenced by the lack of any meaningful updates to my apps. I struggle to find inspiration from the larger industry, and Apple’s constant bullshittery has removed the joy from building for their platforms.
@tylerhall @mako I sympathise. I’ve been wanting to get back to writing fiction for the past 9 months or so. Almost complete creative block.
And I really understand your feelings about Apple. If I were a developer, I’d probably feel the same at this point.
@tylerhall @morrick well, TextBuddy seems fantastic- instabuy.
@mako @tylerhall Glad you like it. 👍
@morrick @tylerhall thanks! will check it out!