The more I think about it, the major problems in tech and in society in general is that all the investment is going to solve problems that white affluent men have
I don’t know how or where to start but I want to build things that solve problems for people that are really struggling to just make it every day. I want to build things that matter
I’ve seen several tech/phone ads lately where the problem space is, “Make my vacation photos funnier” or “Help me buy more stuff”
The tech that impacts my life the most is like the app that reminds me to take my meds with increasingly aggressive reminders when I forget multiple times. It’s not fun or sexy but it helps me stay alive
@danirabbit or white colonizers generally.
@danirabbit 100% agree on this. BTW, what do you use for those reminders? I love Due on iOS, it has been an amazing tool in the face of my ADHD, and has saved me from the ire of those around me many times.
@laydros I just use the built in medication reminders in Apple Health. I get one of those watch vibrates, every device I own makes a noise, etc announcements at least once a day
@danirabbit it's focusing on making money.
@danirabbit I'm guessing you already know this, but focusing more on accessibility isn't a bad place to start. Note: this isn't a criticism of Elementary or Pantheon; I'm not familiar enough with those to know if there's anything specific that needs to be improved.
@danirabbit Theoretically that’s what government is for. For decades, though, we’ve gotten the message that government should be cost-effective, and people who need government services are inherently undeserving of those same services.
@jmelesky @danirabbit the cops and the army don't have to be cost-effective. Just stuff that helps people. That shit has to be run like business.
@danirabbit that’s what I want to do too! How can we make it happen? This is exactly the sentiment I’ve had for a while. What is the dang point of all this technology?
@danirabbit Apart from obvious stuff like already mentioned a11y, the issue is that most contemporary problems aren't technical, but rather social or political. And you can't fix that with tech. You have to fix that with policy and education changes.
@danirabbit some try to solve problems others have, and honestly it's not necessarily better, because they try to solve *their idea* of the problem others have, and can be something wildly inappropriate and even dangerous (and be frustrated when people aren't thankful).
I would say, best way to get started is to listen to people you want to help, and try to design solutions *with them*, and pay a lot of attention to feedback.
Tech is not the important part of good tech.
@danirabbit have you heard of https://codeforamerica.org ?
there are other groups like that. also, focus your job search in the public service space, not the silicon valley / marketing space
@danirabbit Well - I for one appreciate what you have already done in helping to build the OS on which I'm typing this (on a laptop that had been refurbished - and I bought 5 years ago - still going strong). So thanks!!
Yes it's hard because the challenges are social, moral and political.
You might enjoy this talk by Kentaro Toyoma about this question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxutDM2r534
@danirabbit SHAMELESS BUT RELEVANT PLUG:
If you’re American, join the #PoorPeoplesCampaign
Take a look at the problem-spaces here:
There's all kinds of solutions awaiting implementation. :D
@danirabbit I really feel this. I have been doing some sort of tech for almost 25 years, and most of that has been spent doing interesting work for non-interesting clients. I'm pretty burnt out now, but all of the job openings seem to be NFT rug-pulls or AI wrappers around ChatGPT. It's pretty depressing.
@danirabbit That does explain why there’s more effort put into making AI girlfriends than making laundry-folding machines.
@danirabbit So let's give them more problems.
@danirabbit Good article on this from (dear God) 8 years ago https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/the-end-of-apple-man
@danirabbit Honestly I think it's to the point where tech mostly isn't solving problems anyone has so much as injecting new systems for the sake of profit. It's just that white affluent men suffer the least from having things disrupted.
@danirabbit I've said this in a slightly different way:
It all stems from a jealous vein from non creative tech ceos who desperately wish they were, and telling a computer to generate something feels like they did it
Re the ‘why doesnt AI do my housework and other needed menial tasks’:
They already pay immigrants to do their dishes, and they are not people to them, so that problem is already solved
It's 100% correct. If its not a richass white man's problem it's not going to get fixed
That’s the double standard of America - we call out everyone else for #humanrights violations but fail to ratify international human rights laws that would require the US to solve problems that everyone has.
#RatifyICESCR
#UNUDHR
#DignityForAll
#health #healthcare #HealthForAll
@danirabbit in 2018 I went to work for a company that was solving a real problem providing a very cheap accessible way for people to get really yummy food. However, the operation doesn't scale easily so the founder tossed it aside as soon as he could, and now the company has pivoted to the point where the original mission no longer applies.
@danirabbit I think so too. The things that get money thrown at them are things that interest people with money.
My take is the fixable problem with almost everything is (extreme) inequality. The people largely steering society are a tiny tiny fraction of deeply disconnected people.