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Comment by jonas21 | Hacker News Reader

Lots of people are still optimistic about tech. They just generally don't have time to get into silly arguments about it on HN.

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You're right - but also very wrong. People can be optimistic while still having an existential crisis about what they see/feel is happening. That's what makes them believe they can influence and change the world, and why they even try.

What we're seeing in tech today feels like it started in the 80's, and before that point computers, etc. were viewed by some as the downfall of humankind and by others the saviour.

Oh, man, I can still remember how when barcodes started showing up on products in the late 70s that there were people saying it was the mark of the beast or a precursor to it or that it was some government ploy.

They still say that, by the way.

i'm sure there's lots of tech optimists in absolute numbers, but my personal experience in the bay area has been that a vast majority of my friends in tech and tech adjacent have become highly pessimistic of the current tech landscape, AI, VR, etc.

All you have to do to see this is to look at how some of the biggest tech CEOs and moguls like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Elon, Jeff Bezos, etc. treat giving their children screens to babysit them. Pretty sure most of them don't, because they know how bad that is.

I’m looking forward to when tech is not synonymous with screens.

or they don't because they have full time, live-in nannies to keep their children occupied.

They explicitly share that they don't let their kids use so much screens etc. And they have always been huge advocates of this because they want responsibility for their technology's effect on children to be shifted to parents. So, by themselves modeling how to set boundaries for their kids, they bolster the claim that good parenting is the issue, not the apps designed to be addictive

That's called a little blue bubble.

Eh, people back then were optimistic about tech AND had time to get into silly arguments about it on HN. So something's changed

We've seen the enshitification process play out too many times

And yet, you are still here making silly arguments for not getting into silly arguments

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