Pluralistic: When the app tries to make you robo-scab (30 July 2023)


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: When the app tries to make you robo-scab (30 July 2023)"

The Shitty Tech Adoption Curve Has a Business Model

It is difficult to get a public procurement officer to understand something, when a vendor’s salary depends on his not understanding it.

A jail cell, seen through the bars. Bundles of US $100 bills are piled up on the floor of the cell.
Flying Logos/CC BY-SA 4.0 (modified)

In the ā€œShitty Technology Adoption Curve,ā€ oppressive technologies are first imposed on people who don’t get to complainā€Šā€”ā€Šprisoners, migrants, children, mental patients, benefits recipientsā€Šā€”ā€Šin order to normalize these tools and sand down their rough edges. Once the technology has been rendered a little more acceptable, it crawls up the privilege gradient, bit by bit, until even the most socially powerful among us are using it.

In other words: 20 years ago, if you ate dinner under a CCTV’s unblinking eye, you were probably dining in a supermax prison. Today, you’re likely just someone who bought some luxury surveillance, like a ā€œhome automationā€ system from Google, Apple, Amazon or Facebook.

Continue reading "The Shitty Tech Adoption Curve Has a Business Model"

Pluralistic: 04 Sep 2021


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 04 Sep 2021"

Pluralistic: 01 May 2021


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 01 May 2021"

Pluralistic: 22 Apr 2021


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 22 Apr 2021"

Pluralistic: 02 Apr 2021


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 02 Apr 2021"