Ed Zitron’s rant was a long read, but it sure did resonate with me. I’ve been in IT for quite a while (our first computer needed an upgrade for lower-case characters) and the current state of tech is utterly depressing. After reading the post, I think that our nerd culture in IT paved the way for the techbros. We need to take a hard look at ourselves, if we want to support this dystopian future we’re heading towards.

Back then, with the family computer (now having 16Kb and lower-case), computing was magical. You all know how it felt like, everything seemed possible, the screen was a window into the future. There were constant leaps in technology - we could store and edit audio, then video, instant worldwide communication. I’m sure that you believed, like I did, that IT could really improve people’s lives and make the world a better place.

But now, the meaningful improvements have become fewer, evolutionary. Consider the updates from your current phone and the last. Maybe the camera was a bit better, but did it really excite you or change your life? What about your laptop? Hardware is plateauing. Just like software.

I know that the engineering behind large enterprises like AWS or Netflix is just fantastic and improving all the time. But from a user’s point of view, not much has changed in a while.

Here’s the problem. We techies believe in the future, that we can change the world. And we are such insufferable know-it-alls that want to help you, and will help you, if you want it or not. There is nothing that could not be improved without computing and digitization. It’s how we are trained to think, it’s in our DNA. While you are speaking, we are making notes of redundancies, mentally tsk tsking your Excel sheets. We view the world a set of problems to be solved.

So then you have a site like (the olde) reddit, or your car, or your TV. All fully functional and fulfill all your needs. But we simply cannot admit to ourselves that our job is done - we must solve the next problem. Even if it isn’t a problem you’ve got!

And so we get computers in everything. In your TV, your car, your alarm clock, your living room lamps and kitchen appliances. All with their host of issues. And we get algorithms in everything, giving us suggestions and sending us reminders.

Current tech is intrusive, overbearing and patronizing - that’s putting it nice. A bunch of well-meant ingenuity is being wasted on problems nobody has.

We need to take people and their time serious, let them do their shit and just leave them the fuck alone when the job is done.

You see, that is another perfect example for why earth has to be flat, anything else just isn’t logical!

Male and female are also insanely large groups but I’ll never understand why the color of your skin is so important in the land of the free.

Which of the following best describes your race or ethnic background?

Seriously, WTF? Why the hell is this relevant? Is this some American thing?

deleted by creator

Zur Beginn hatte ich den Eindruck Wissing und Lutz könnten Bros werden, Wissing klang sehr positiv gegenüber der Bahn. Lang hat aber das nicht gehalten, und ich fragte mich oft ob’s an der Regierung lag, die FDP oder Wissing.

Jetzt habe ich die Antwort. Es lag an Lindner, und an Wissing, der nicht in der Lage war sich dagegen zu stellen.

Die FDP müsse da raus, die Ampel müsse enden. Er könne diese Fressen einfach nicht mehr sehen, soll Lindner gerufen haben.

Die wirst du jetzt bestimmt ganz, ganz lange nicht mehr sehen müssen.

Es ist einfach widerlich und krank, wie man auf Kosten des Landes taktiert. Warum ist sowas nicht strafbar?

Show the rest of the comic - I dare you!

Actually no, I hated the Vista era UI design. Linux themes were positively garish, add MacOS looked like a candy store. CDE greatly impressed me back then. It looked like it was made by adults for adults. Highly legible, and the pastel colors are being emulated by Solarized.

I’m sure that those UIs were a product of the times. The 90’s and noughties were loud and colorful and exciting and everything looked like a comic. Now that we live in more depressing times, we can look to the science of perceptual psychology.

You see, we have an attention budget, we need to process what we see. Visually complex UIs need to be parsed, and that takes mental effort, and that robs us of mental energy to focus on our work. It’s not a crippling effect, but it’s there.

Look at street signs and corporate logos, they easily lodge in our mind. Effective advertising has a clear and simple visual language, and this is what UIs should strive for.

What could’ve been his grudge against Andretti? On paper it made their bid made a lot of sense.

Slogging through FFXIII here. It’s super linear and repetitive, but just what I need right now.

Did I mention I’m lactose intolerant?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj1JnOd7c9M

Schätze seine Chancen eher gering ein, aber ein Mann kann träumen…

Anderseits, er will was verändern, und das wird bestimmt nicht gut ankommen. Die Grünen müssen kräftig an ihre Kommunikation arbeiten.

I don’t know of it’s exactly that font, but it looks like OpenDyslexic.

Ich sekundiere dies.

The people here tend to talk funny and gatekeep about it, but if that doesn’t bother you - feel at home!

Just stop!

But what helped me: often smoking is part of a daily routine or ritual, so mix up your routine. Take up a new hobby or take the bus instead of the car. Go for a walk after lunch. Giving up smoking is a big change, so don’t be afraid to make big changes. Get new clothes. Make new friends. You have discarded your old identity as a smoker. Still smoking? Doesn’t matter! You already want to stop - you’re becoming that person already.

And don’t be so hard on yourself if you have a smoke now and then. Be conscious of what situation or routine triggered the reflex, and change it in future. If you have a smoke every few days or weeks, don’t sweat it, you’ve broken addiction as far as I’m concerned!

Thanks. Damn autocorrect.

Back in the 80s, Don Norman popularized the term affordance. Humans need something to push, pull, turn or otherwise interact with. We are physical beings in a physical world.

Driving vehicles is potentially life-endangering. Just because the technology is there and cheaper does not mean that humans can push aside their physiological limitations in a critical situation.

Take the emergency blinker. You know where it is, you see it all the time - it’s right there in front of you! But when a real emergency happens, you’ll be fumbling for the button, concentrating on the situation at hand. Now imagine that button on a touchscreen.

Also greatly helped by the free pitstop.