R.I. Reverse Improvement is real
Everything today is absurdly complicated. Even as a software developer, I find things have become overwhelmingly complex.
Abstract algebra feels easier to grasp than whatever Bill Maher is ranting about here.
After moving into my new home, I had to get a new washing machine and dryer. I was used to older, simpler versions. These new ones make me feel like I’m operating the Space Shuttle.
Am I going to space? All I really want is clean clothes. But no! I have to install an app on my phone. Create an account. Configure everything. But wait! There’s more! I have to read the documentation. Yo! Buddy! I already had to go through 500 pages of documentation just to get my AWS cloud thingamajiggy to connect securely inside the VPC while making sure the firewall didn’t block *&@S@nqdfds87$$… Man! I need ibuprofen.
We even have vacuum cleaners connecting to servers in China. Why?
Maher isn’t wrong, but it’s easy for outsiders to blame the tech-bros. When people think of software, they imagine a bunch of nerds who are socially awkward. That must be it! They don’t understand humans, so that’s why everything is becoming overly complicated — like a geek trying to explain chess to a two-year-old.
Have we lost the plot? Maybe. Sure, software engineers sometimes sound like they’re from Planet Technobabble, where LED lights get more attention than the hottest guy/girl in high school. But every industry has its own verbiage. Try aviation. I thought software engineers had a thing for acronyms. Pfff! Devs have got nothing on pilots! Have you been to a courtroom? Or listened to a doctor talk to a pharmacist?
So what happened to the plot? We tech-bros aren’t the only ones behind this mess. Yes, we built it. Hey! Got to pay those bills! But a lot of it actually comes from the business jocks. Or, if you prefer, the MBA-bros.
It’s all about the wad! A decade ago, Kodak announced its own crypto-money/blockchain-doohickey. Why? Stocks. This boosted their stock price. But how does this relate to taking pictures? Exactly. It doesn’t. It’s a grift.
Grift it! The more buzzwords and technobabble you throw at a new product — whatever it is — the more people imagine we’re getting closer to the dream world of hot sex robots, 4-hour workweeks, no stress, and, well, you get the grift! And all this is brought to you by do&*w1o.ai (hopefully this isn’t an actually name of a company; can’t tell these days)! Where the future is found!
It’s the future! We’ve all heard it. So cringe! What a faux, lazy attempt at an argument to push for a useless gizmo that adds nothing but pain.
This won’t stop. Ultimately, it’s up to the avid stonk gambler to stop pulling the trigger on anything with techno-salad attached to it.
Good tech is also the responsibility of the people designing these products. It’s part art, part science.
For now, maybe we need less techno and more humano.
Extra: I was reminded of the term enshitification that sum up the situation that we are in. Here is a great video on the subject:
