Aleksandr YakunichevMar 19
psf

software is a mirror that reflects the times and the environment it was created in.

this is why much software created in the 1970s counterculture was joyful and humanistic, and why much software created in the 2020s capitalistic hellscape is soul-crushing malware (adware, spyware).

#retrocomputing can mean celebrating hardware limitations and creative coding, but it can also mean celebrating personal computing - computers that are tools for liberation - bicycles for the mind, not cattle trains to the slop farm.

People's Computer Company - Wikipedia

Mar 18 at 9:28pmWeb
Show threadNazoMar 18

@psf I would argue that the Age of Enshittification began in the 2010s (hard to pin down exactly. Maybe 2015-ish) but otherwise absolutely 100% agreed.

Computers and technology as a whole used to be neat. I just can't emphasize enough how exciting it all was. When some new tech, device, or software came out it was exciting! Now it's pretty much "*groan* how much is it going to screw me over and when will I be forced to use it?"

It's not just computers. It's everything. For example, cars next year will track your every movement and know where you scratch while trying to decide if you might be impaired and thus not allowed to drive based on criteria that will never allow for all possibilities.

I begin to wonder these days if there is any hope for this ever to end really.

Show threadF4GRX SébastienMar 18
@psf so much this
Show threadsnowyfoxMar 18
.
Show threadDan, the US is the threat!Mar 18
@psf I thought I was nostalgic, but Yes! 
Show threadGeorge SaichMar 19
@psf
Man did you get that right.
Show threadprofbibMar 19
@psf I am fairly sure that I have never had anything on social media touch my soul quite like the phrase “bicycles for the mind.” Love that so freaking much.
Show threadpsfMar 19
@profbib To give credit where credit's due, I got "bicycles for the mind" from Steve Jobs, who, knowing him, probably got it from someone else.
Show threadquixoteMar 19

@psf "computers that are bicycles for the mind, not cattle trains to the slop farm."

Perfect.

Show threadMad EngineeringMar 20
@quixote @psf Or worse, the abbitoir.
Show threadRichard AMar 19
@psf Vibe coding is going to hit Apple app developers and Android app developers hard. I miss the "free" web, when we were passionate about sharing, in the 90s, and community in the early 200s. I don't like the mercanary 2010s and 2020s.
Show threadmauvedeityMar 19
@psf oof. This is Conway’s Law writ large, I think. I had noticed this, thank you so much for sharing.
Show threadRiley S. FaelanMar 20
@psf Also, the War On Drugs shifting the pattern of popular programming chemicals towards those whose users would be happier to vote for Nixon might have been a factor, especially if one considers What the Dormouse Said a creditable source.