It was a rant, I was venting, it’s not supposed to be an objective statement about the state of tech. It’s shouting into the void about the things I find unfair and unbearable, I don’t think it’s a great HN material.
I made up parts of the story because it didn’t happen to me and I didn’t want to share details of somebody else’s situation.
One thing I'd like to point out, though, is that this kind of stuff isn't really about micro-optimizations. Most software in the "good old days" wasn't really micro-optimized either. No, what this is about is bloat. Layers upon layers of abstractions that, in most cases, amount to rearranging the pieces in the way the author deemed most aesthetically pleasing. When I look at call stacks while debugging most modern software, I can't help but feel that it spends most of its time calling functions that call functions etc, 20-30 levels deep. Most data flow isn't from component to component, but within the component between those layers. And it all adds up.
You say it’s not an objective statement about the state of tech and I would agree: it’s highly subjective, a literally made up story, and a dumbass opinion.
Getting a phone capable of doing an online bill pay is trivial. Literally free with a discount shit cheap phone plan.
The victim mentality will destroy you if you let it take over.
I also don't think the author is in a victim mentality, it is more like a reminder to other developers that they can do so much better.
When you get into a lease agreement you should know how to pay going into it. If your landlord doesn’t take a form of payment you can handle you don’t sign the lease in the first place. That’s your life responsibility as a functional adult. Paying rent every month isn’t a surprise. Being low on funds isn’t an excuse and being low on funds isn’t the issue at hand.
No matter how cheap your phone is, if you're poor someone will always judge you because your phone is too expensive.
"Why do you have a more recent phone that 2012 if you're on benefits?"
I saw an ad yesterday for a free iPhone 13 with a discount carrier and that phone is almost indistinguishable from the current iPhone on sale.