Many people appear to have given up on understanding technology so thoroughly that rather than choosing their software and hardware based on it's merits they rather choose allegiance to a tech company as if it's some sort of deity.
And people often get really offended if you "insult" their tech deity of choice.
For example once I pointed out that iPhone was manufactured unethically and doesn't respect our rights as tech-users, and someone started angrily saying that they have to use iPhone because it's better than Android.
And the other day myself and a friend were talking about whether it could be possible to make a privacy-respecting home-assistant and someone started accusing us of making conspiracy theories about Alexa and got really angry.
:o
But really, it shouldn't be about choosing this tech deity or that tech deity. We should be in a position where we can choose what hardware and software we use independently and individually.
- I have an Android phone; not because I think Google or Samsung is better than Apple, but because I can re-install or change the operating system (I like LineageOS), and choose what software repository I use (I like F-Droid). This means that I am in control and not locked-in to using certain software that the vendor chose for me.
- I run GNU/Linux on my desktop and laptop; not because I'm infatuated with Linus Torvalds or Richard Stallman. Not because it's "better" than Windows or Apple. I choose an operating system that's built with Free Software and works well on the second-hand hardware I like to buy.
- I make my own websites and share them on link-aggregators; not because it's more elite than using social-media. And not because I'm worried Facebook will sell my data to third parties. Rather because it gives me the freedom to create the type of websites I want rather than being spoon-fed a social "experience".
o:
Really the point is to be in a position where you are in control of your computing. That way tech companies become just suppliers of hardware and software components, rather than deities that control us. Technology is a big part of our lives, our jobs and our economy. It's important to have the right attitude towards it. Don't just give up trying to understand or control it and swear allegiance to some tech deity.
The tech deities will, if you let them, lock you into a proprietary ecosystem that conflates hardware, operating system, applications and web-services all into one package.
But that is a problem because as responsible tech users we must at least know what these components are and be in a position to choose and replace them independently.
- You mustn't be in a situation where you have to throw away a working piece of hardware just because there's a problem with the operating system.
- You mustn't be in a situation where you don't know where your files and data is stored.
- You mustn't be in a situation where you don't know which of your stuff will stop working if your internet connection dies.
For these reasons I invite you to reject the tech deities and take back control! Join my new community platform Tech Savvy Human.
a bit of fun
Please see the joke version of this article on my other blog: Naughty Computer.