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Remember when the news used to claim drone deliveries would change everything? And 3D TVs? And the internet of things? And blockchain? And NFTs?

Why do we just let this slide when considering new fads? Why don't more people say "not this again, you were wrong last time"?

in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

FediThing 🏳️‍🌈
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FediThing 🏳️‍🌈
• •

We need more people like @timnitGebru and @emilymbender and @alex who question whether new tech actually does what it claims.

Being sceptical of grand claims seems such an obviously correct thing for journalists and academics to do, but for some reason in the tech field there is some kind of unwritten rule that new tech must be worshipped if it comes from a big tech company.

@Alex Hanna @Timnit Gebru (she/her) @Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
This entry was edited (6 days ago)
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

Code of Amor 💘
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Code of Amor 💘
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skepticism should not have exclusions - that's how the church became so powerful in the first place
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

Robert Kingett
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Robert Kingett
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@timnitGebru @emilymbender @alex Agreed! I've noticed it's becoming harder and harder to find critiques of tech even though I am actively seeking it out.
@Alex Hanna @Timnit Gebru (she/her) @Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
in reply to Robert Kingett

FediThing 🏳️‍🌈
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FediThing 🏳️‍🌈
• •

@WeirdWriter

Tech journalism increasingly becoming advertising channels rather than journalism?

@Robert Kingett
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

Robert Kingett
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Robert Kingett
• •
I mean, that, and I am seeing takes like this everywhere, where I've read someone just openly banking on future hype and it's just sad karlgroves.com/ai-is-the-futur…

AI is the future of accessibility - Karl Groves

When I was a kid, my mom bought a 1979 Camaro Berlinetta. It was a deep blue color with a 350 cubic inch/ 5.7 liter engine. In 1979, that Camaro had 185 horsepower. The ‘79 Z/28 had 245 horsepower.
karlgroves@gmail.com (karlgroves.com)
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

Robert Kingett
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Robert Kingett
• •
Especially so, but you have corporate grifters in the accessibility space. They are the ones at marketing events and they are the ones that think putting a11y onto bags and shirts is a sign of making the world more accessible. These types are usually business people, basically capitalists that think all of us anti-capitalist accessibility people are just a bunch of weirdo accessibility anarchists so we're never invited to the cool kids table. At least, I'm not anyway but that's fine because I don't wanna be around these people.
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

jollyrogue
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jollyrogue
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@WeirdWriter That and Tech Journalism is overrun by people who aren’t technical. They don’t have the tools to dissect the tech.
@Robert Kingett
in reply to jollyrogue

FediThing 🏳️‍🌈
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FediThing 🏳️‍🌈
• •

Yes, I wonder if that is a problem nowadays. Modern tech journalists are people who enjoy using tech but are not interested in how it is built? They see tech more as toys?

Older tech coverage from the 1950s/60s often featured engineers who loved the process of making technology and how it worked, rather than just passively using it. At some point it crossed over into passivity perhaps?

This entry was edited (4 days ago)
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

soaproot
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soaproot
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@WeirdWriter Tech "journalism" is part of it, plus there are a lot of people hoping to get rich off a hype wave (which, I guess, afflicts tech more than most industries because of the number of people who have gotten rich in past waves).
@Robert Kingett
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

CaveDave
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CaveDave
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@timnitGebru @emilymbender @alex wouldn't be surprised if it's those funny articles about people who claimed things about the internet not taking off and haven't aged well and no one wants to be the person who said "this is all a scam" and made fun of because it became the nex big thing. Unfortunately the only two instances I can think of of tech blowing up are smartphones and the internet. Everything else HAS been hype and scams
@Alex Hanna @Timnit Gebru (she/her) @Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

tripleman, a 🇨🇦 in 🇩🇪
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tripleman, a 🇨🇦 in 🇩🇪
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Modern society is like a sidewalk shell game and most people don't walk past. They lose their money and laugh it off and say maybe next time.
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

millennial falcon
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millennial falcon
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that is exactly what I have been saying from the jump. that is what lots of people have been saying since way back when twitter still had human users.

you've got a great point, but it sounds based on the perception you shared as though you might have a situation where you're facing high exposure to naive, do-nothing voices rather than people who are perhaps a little more skeptical, even to a point of advantage.

in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

George Baily
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George Baily
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basically the tech brands or more generally that business 'community' are their advertisers.
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

piebob ✨
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piebob ✨
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to be fair, the Internet of [Things|Shit] /has/ changed everything, just mostly not for the better.
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

Tor Lillqvist
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Tor Lillqvist
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I remember when people used to claim that the fediverse would change everything.
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

William B Peckham
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William B Peckham
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We do. I mean, every time something sketchy comes up, there are people who tell you, "hey, this is sketchy AF", and there are even one or two people who listen. Can we call the great majority of the population bandwagon riders?
in reply to FediThing 🏳️‍🌈

オチュー🕊🇵🇸
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オチュー🕊🇵🇸
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Sometimes it succeeds at causing what is claimed to be a hit. Like "everyone need an iphone" worked very well, and nobody would have known they needed one before being advertised about it.
This entry was edited (4 days ago)
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