I’m not going totally “Amish”, but I’ve become a cranky bitch about technology nowadays. I was very passionate about tech throughout my teens and early twenties. Since then, I’ve watched every major tech company go to shit. Services I used forever go to shit or die. Companies harvest more and more of our data in creepier and more invasive ways. They went from “don’t be evil” and creating interesting new tech or shaking up an industry (Google fiber, for instance) to doing anything as long as it saves a dollar.
The only thing giving me any hope or interest in this space is FOSS and hosting things myself. It was confusing to me at first and still is in some ways, but not only can I solve my own issues, I can offer a lot of it to my friends and family. Having 10 different streaming services and finding where a show is within them is expensive and annoying, but I’m enjoying managing a library and hosting it on jellyfin. Then I can tell a few people, hey get jellyfin and type in this url, I’ll find whatever you want. I recently setup seerr so now they don’t have to feel like they’re bothering me when they want something, they can just request it (and see what’s new, upcoming, where something already is streaming if they already have that service, ratings, etc). Yeah it doesn’t support the show or movie but it’s a much more enjoyable experience. I stopped paying for Google drive and have all my pictures and videos (which is what used up all that space) syncing right to my PC, which then backs up to jotta cloud (not foss). I got off windows entirely (except at work) and use Linux now. I’m probably going to setup nextcloud and get a few people on there soon, since i have the space and it’ll save them a subscription.
I used to really push FOSS. I’ve run Linux since the late 90s. But I don’t know that I really believe it’s that much better anymore. I guess I kinda feel about the same as I do “organic” farming… It’s just not worth the price, effort, etc
I’m actually happier rolling back to older tech options and sticking with open source apps and OS’s.
My car has no computer, I go talk to humans at banks, I avoid large companies. No AI, I vet everything I utilize for privacy, My brain is at peace.
Hey that’s me! I actually specifically bought a 2019 kia because it has less digital controls than the 2021 they had for the same price.
Oh, yes! I was thinking why someone would do that, but cars are a very good example. I wouldn’t want a smart car that can’t drive without an internet connection, or an android tv that pushes ads on every menu option. I choose the “dumb tech”
Im not kidding one bit when I say, “We need open source Vehicle & Engine Manage System software and hardware!”
I want to be able to flash my Car’s ECU with custom FOSS software. Yes, you can already replace the ECU with custom tuneing opetions that cost an arm and a leg. I want there to be Open Source Software and Hardware for consumer vehicles!
YES! PLEASE GOD GIVE ME OPEN SOURCE CARS!
I’m desperately trying to figure out how to make this happen but I have no idea how.
Lemmy
- Developer: LemmyNet
- Initial release: May 5, 2019
Whew, we’re safe guys
deleted by creator
The Luddites got a bad rap. They weren’t anti-technology. They just knew that the technology was being used to push their wages down and make their hours longer.
Ned Ludd knew that smashing the machines was sometimes the best option!
Yeah, after I learned about his movement, I stopped using the term as a pejorative. They were’ pretty based.
A lot of the machinery was also dangerous AF.
I like technology (mostly pre-2010), but I think there’s been a philosophical shift in the things that modern tech companies prioritize. AI is a huge part of the problem obviously, but it’s more of a symptom than a cause.
I want something that I can repair and modify. I want the internals to be easy to access and made out of parts cheap enough for me to replace. I want to be able to play pretend like I’m Terry Davis and not have to deal with UEFI bullshit telling me what I can and can’t run on my computer.
It’s all a move to walled gardens with very limited access to the OS or hardware, where the focus is on touch screens and amplified UIs. I’m the kind of person who customized Xmonad and Vimperator (RIP, I know there are dupes but it’s not the same) to never even bother with a mouse, and so it all feels unnatural. I spend so much time fighting my autocorrect when I’m on windows or Mac products, another one of those “helpful” features that is forced and obnoxious.
It’s a move from computers as toy (LEGO set) to computers as toy (needoh squishy). They’ve become machines designed to deliver content and extract data while you zone out. Some of the most fucking fun I’ve had in my life has been spending 6 hours writing PERL to do something I probably could have done manually in 30 minutes or strange journeys into the windows registry as I try to figure out why all of my / changed into ¥, and that’s just not the vibe of anything in modern technology. Everything is designed to hide as much of itself from you.
I like that DDG lets you put date perameters on searches. Usually when looking for reciepies, I seach only from 1998-2016.
lemme get some of that sweet old internet
Fr?! Cheat code!
What is annoying is that it doesn’t accept it inline unlike StartPage and Google:
hazelnut pancake before:2017. This means I have to click on the selector and write 02-01-1970 (01-01 breaks it) > 01-01-2017 each time.yeah, I get that. Its better than nothing though. Minor annoyances like that, are just that, minor. Of course I dont know the coding, or how simple the fix might be, like you do
I… usually do 01-01-1998 and 01-01-2016 (the dates ive chosen have no real meaning). What do you mean 01-01 breaks it? Seems to work for me on ddg. I do get results thst were initially published in say, 2009, but the last update will be marked 2025 or somthing, which is fine, and not what I think you mean by breaks it.
Ill try 02-01, and see if I notice a difference in results
I tried 01-01-1970 (Unix epoch start) and that just closed the dialog without changing anything.
Someone is pushing a very stupid narrative about those of us who see the situation as anything other than progress.
I refuse to buy a car made after 2013, so I believe it.
You can go a little newer without the bullshit. Mines a 2016. Same make/model is good til about 2019
`09 shitbox FTW
'07 shitbox checking in. Was at the scrap yard last week getting replacement parts.
I like my cars dumb and with an actual key. Bonus points for being easy to work on.
I was just thinking about how this is likely my life going forward. The last tech I bought was a first round preorder steamdeck which was a lot longer ago than I want to think about. If I need a phone I buy 5 year old refurb flagships instead of the overpriced disposable “budget” slop they make these days. New hardware is now a luxury item for the petite bourgeois so they can make slop to satiate the poor. AI has sucked up both more money and physical resources than it would have taken to globally eliminate poverty.
No thank you. I’d rather live off grid in the woods with some solar panels so I can emulate every game from the last 40 years. More than a lifetime of games. I don’t need anything new.
Recently I’ve taken to modding consoles. Turns out a 360 can play every game made for the entire original Xbox line as well as its own and that’s not mentioning emulating older things like the n64 and it’s predecessors. Between that and a modded ps4, you’ll never run out of games to play.
After that, it’s 3d printing every board game.
Tiny minority very vocal on lemmy
My current phone is an iPhone 12 mini. Am happy multiple companies, commodore, clicks etc are working on more limited phones. It all takes too much out of a day.
Also, I want my electronics to have buttons. Not screens.
Buttons and the aux hole.
I don’t know why everyone just accepted that we don’t get those things anymore.
I hate cordless earphones, I doesn’t make any sense at all.
I want my electronics to have buttons. Not screens.
Could you elaborate? Do you miss tackle controls so much you’d rather have that vs screen space, or you genuinely don’t want a bigger screen?
Cooking plates come with (janky) touch panels instead of physical buttons, my laundry machine too.
Also actual feel of good buttons on for example amplifiers etc actually is a nice feel. Also buttons are replaceable if broken.
Generally if no screen is needed (fridge) it can just go.
Also a screen should be if it’s there dumb. Eg a TV should not come with an OS that will serve me shitty apps and advertisements.
My induction hob comes with physical handles, and so does washing machine. And for them, it doesn’t make sense to do otherwise - wet fingers don’t go well with sensors, and I don’t know who came up with that terrible idea.
For the smartphone, though, touch controls allow for the precision and speed of input unmatched by any other input method. They also allow to maximize the screen space on a very small device, allowing better interfaces and reducing eye strain.
The quality of an OS and the developer incentives are different matters entirely, though.
Are we? I wasn’t aware
This is probably unfounded extrapolation of https://openpath.quest/2026/i-am-retiring-from-tech-to-live-offline
Is “digital amish” meant to be a pejorative of some sort?
They say it like it’s a bad thing?
I guess if you consider the word “Amish” to be negative? I mean I despise Amish because of how they treat their animals, but I don’t consider it negative. I’d assume most people don’t.
Yeah I’ve got beef with their love of domestic violence, not their aversion to technology
Yeah it’s not really a bad thing if you’re about it. Religious aspects aside the (general, it varies) Amish approach to technology is that each thing is looked at very intentionally with community integrity in mind. Instead of everything for everyone, technology is considered a tool.
Most people don’t get cell phones to scroll tik tok slop, but they might let a business owner have one with a limited plan for planning jobs for their business.
Most people don’t get cars because they encourage people to live farther apart and are expensive, but they might allow solar charged e-scooters
I take it as a “fixed” reference. Many people know the Amish community hit a point and chose not to use new technology created after that.
They are not against it, or others using it.
I don’t interpret the phrase as having malace, just a way to show this might be the new line in the sand.
Amish 2.0 ?
