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

[psf@oldbytes.space]

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.

[nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social]

@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.

[f4grx@chaos.social]

@psf so much this

[notknown@infosec.exchange]

@nazokiyoubinbou @psf

Very disturbing that surveillance has progressed so blatantly with so many lining up happy to participate.

[wastelandwandrr@freeradical.zone]

@psf I thought I was nostalgic, but Yes!

[geos@toot.community]

@psf
Man did you get that right.

[profbib@layer8.space]

@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.

[morgan@sfba.social]

@psf I worked at #Broderbund and #GeoWorks, two companies that made software for people, to make their lives better. I'm glad I did. I still work in tech, but do not recognize that desire to help people in the current environment.

[quixote@mastodon.nz]

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

Perfect.

[psf@oldbytes.space]

@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.