Paris Marx4d ago

I’ve begun my journey to reduce my reliance on US tech, so it’s time for an update on how it’s all going.

No surprise, some services are far more easy to replace than others. Email and streaming are low-hanging fruit; maps and messaging can be more difficult. But we should still make the effort.

https://www.disconnect.blog/p/getting-off-us-tech-is-no-easy-task

#tech #digitalsovereignty #email #socialmedia #streaming

Getting off US tech is no easy task

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make the effort

Disconnect
Show threadnikolasdi
@parismarx There are no alternatives to whatsapp and googlemaps. If you want out, you need to get rid of them along with the convenience they offer.
Jun 23 at 6:22pmPhanpy
Show threadDave Lane  🇳🇿4d ago
@nikolasdi @parismarx I've had excellent success convincing people to move from WhatsApp to Signal, simply by refusing to use WhatsApp. Once people have it on their phones (and computers) they find that lots of other people prefer it, too...
Show threadnikolasdi3d ago
@lightweight @parismarx I agree, but that is what I mean by "getting rid of the convenience". You have to inconvienience yourself by going through this phase of refusing to use whatsapp, as people slowly adapt to your ways. Still, many do not and will not adapt. In whatsapp-heavy countries even schools and public services use it and you will be left out.
Show threadDave Lane  🇳🇿3d ago
@nikolasdi @parismarx we've got to start somewhere. Sometimes doing the right thing is inconvenient. Those of us with privilege should accept that inconvenience on behalf of those who have less privilege. I've even held schools and sports teams to account. Institutional selling-out of our kids (and our) data is morally reprehensible. Those of us who 'get this' should all become activists in this area. We need to use our own political/social capital to initiate positive change.
Show threadDave Lane  🇳🇿3d ago
@nikolasdi @parismarx we also need to promote this narrative: the only 'easy' technologies to adopt are those that have had massive marketing & $millions/billions invested in their user interfaces. They only get that investment because they have *exploitative business models* that guarantee huge returns to investors to the detriment of users. Naturally, those platforms have no easy *exit* options. If it's 'easy' to get on board but not easy to get off, it's a trap. That simple.
Show threadnikolasdi3d ago
@lightweight @parismarx You are absolutely right. That is why I use the word "convenience". People should understand that there are things in this situation that have no alternatives, cannot be replaced, exactly because of the way they have come to exist and function. You cannot have available bigtech-scale data on restaurants, supermarkets and traffic without bigtech-scale data harvesting.
Show threadDave Lane  🇳🇿3d ago
@nikolasdi @parismarx yes, that's true. Maybe we have to go 'old school' on finding restaurants. Or help, for example, OpenStreetMaps develop such a crowd-sourced capability... I suspect it would work.
Show threadAlessandro Corazza 🇨🇦3d ago

@lightweight

Signal is still sadly American though, and I haven't seen any mention of them intending to change that. It's frankly a huge detriment for the rest of us.

@nikolasdi @parismarx

Show threadebrum4d ago

@nikolasdi @parismarx

Comaps (previously organic maps) is also quite good

Show threadnikolasdi3d ago
@ebrum @parismarx It is very good indeed, as is osmand which I currently use. But it does not offer the wealth of info on stores and bussinesses googlemaps does, nor will it ever. For many people that is a big convenience to let go of, so they won't.
Show threadDemian3d ago
@nikolasdi @parismarx funny, these were two of the easiest for me. Helps that I was never very active Whatsapp user. For maps, organic maps and apple maps have largely sufficed tho I still occasionally use google maps in the browser. I know apple is a us big tech company too and also caved on the gulf of mexico thing but haven’t yet found a fully adequate alternative