@tomw so true 🤣

@tomw
Don't get me wrong, I would like an omnipotent, benevolent AGI from Asimov's stories to rule the planet.
But until we get there I would appreciate it if companies would stop showing crappy LLM's and ML into every system imaginable.

@tomw

... oh I don't know.. Computers have uses: for warming cats' asses.

@tomw I'm a nerd about hosting my servers and using open source software, but I shock people around me when I tell them that I ain't got Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or whatever mainstream social networks you can name. I do have LinkedIn, but only to have a public profile that people can search.
My smartphone is also stripped to the bearbones minimum of what I need to live in a digital society.
And it's exactly because I'm an IT guy and I know what's shady, that I stay away from it.

@tomw @Gargron > “people who deeply love computers”

…heh, that reminded me of how Twitter started long ago 🤔
Now it's just noise, trolls, bots, ads, branded content, tracking, right-wing extremists, etc. 😮‍💨

@tomw hesitated to retoot this because the counter was at 64… 😆

@tomw

That's so true (at least from my PoV).

But then, that's not too dissimilar to the original Luddites.

So, if anybody calls me a Luddite, I take that as a compliment.

@tomw
Maybe just a little computer? 16bit at most.

@tomw @MercG
Love might be a bit of a strong word. Rely on them to make a good living in an interesting way and recognise they underpin the modern world yes.

@tomw 😂 👍

@tomw the Venn would be almost a circle

@tomw I don't just feel like that about computers, but also about humans[big asterix].

*I definitely don't mean we should get rid of us. Just that the world would be better off, if we never evolutionized. Now that we exist, we should absolutely try to keep it that way.

@tomw We've found, anecdotally, that the most vocal and well reasoned arguments against including computers anywhere at all, come from programmers, engineers, and others you may consider "experts".

We know exactly how fragile and Bad these systems are, and have no illusions as to how easily they can, will, and do collapse entirely.

@tomw May I suggest that there is a significant subset who would say it would be better off without computers built on post-1980s CPUs.

@tomw Speaking as someone who's worked in IT for over 25 years I still prefer to use a pencil and paper

@tomw

I feel like I might distrust connectivity more than computers.

Should I delete my account? (lolz)

@tomw Maybe you include more people (also myself), if you replace “deeply love” by “like” and “computers” by “social media” - to which Mastodon belongs. And that was your issue. - Only some people on the spectrum (or the like) “deeply love” computers.

@tomw You already said we love computers

@tomw The problem is always the business model. People here think, computers would be great, if they weren't corrupted by big tech's business models.

@tomw 😂

@tomw computers are just amplifying the lack of any media laws on what is "news"

@tomw without Microsoft Windows, not computers. We can make use of BSD and Linux

@tomw 👏👏

@tomw @Hudson It’s the connectivity that bothers me, especially when it’s “required“ for operation.

It’s funny, but I can use Affinity Photo on my Mac without even being connected to the Internet. Try that with an Adobe product.

@tomw same with beer

'course I'm drunk, so ignore this

@tomw @halama_immuno
More than 15 years ago I installed Linux and messed around a lot on the computer. It opened up many opportunities in using a computer. Now, with no time to dedicate time to IT, I occasionally require the service of the hospital's IT specialist. For me, computing is not an end like it is for some Nerds. My purpose is clinical microbiology and I use a tool that requires maintenance by a specialist.

@tomw My 5 cents here is that we don't think the world would be better without computers, but without computers that can be operated using other ways than console commands.

@tomw@mastodon.social

Without computers? No.

With fewer computers in the hands of morons? Yes, absolutely.

@tomw @viq Forcing rocks to think was a mistake...

@tomw Yeah teaching sand to think was a mistake.

@tomw There are some individuals, who abuse computers, to abuse people. These have to go...

@tomw legit.

@tomw love is a strong word. More like “ a complicated and emotionally fraught relationship that’s hard to explain to your long term spouse or partner “

@tomw how to pin someone else's toot on my own profile

@tomw

Not really.

There are some people who shouldn't have computers. Much as some people can't be trusted with cars, guns, etc.

@tomw@mastodon.social All I want is to be rid of them and live out my life with animal friends.

@tomw You know us!

@tomw @jonshute finally I feel seen

@tomw Home Atreides of programmers?

@tomw After 25 years of working IT, I still surprise people when I tell them I hate computers. When it comes to tech, it's been a love-hate relationship between us since day one.

@tomw Better off without humans, I think!

@tomw I'm doing my part! 😂

@tomw oh, it hurts.

@tomw

@tomw I'm less "anti-computer" and more "anti-what-computers-have-become-over-the-past-couple-of-decades"

@tomw Very true! 🙂

Or to paraphrase, the fediverse is the world's biggest community of people who love computers deeply enough to be terrified of the way some people and corporations weaponise them.

@tomw I've been working with digital technology all my life and I'm also planning to only pay using cash and never card from next month onwards.

@tomw @ifixcoinops wait 'till you meet the rest of fedi :cat_giggle:

@tomw ❤️

@tomw you missed the "and people" off the end there..

@tomw I was so excited by computers in the 80s and 90s, but dislike the way they've evolved. Constant updates, too much marketing, the costs, hackers and scammers, viruses, the internet (really, the misinformation and abuse). It makes me long for the days of typewriters, fax machines, snail mail and wired telephones.

@tomw jokes aside, the more one knows and desires to use the capabilities of modern computing, the more they're aware of the drawbacks. You'll find people on here who work on all computer things from infrastructure to minor patches to software application plugins. This, in essence, refers to a deeply distributed network of producers whose desire to use computers doesn't trump their economical and social awareness.

@tomw@mastodon.social That's not wrong. I originally wanted computers to be a fun hobby, but now it rules my life as a my only income source.

And as computers get faster, people keep using them for progressively dumber tasks.

@tomw that's the only thing that keeps me from thinking I accidentally joined a cult again.

@tomw This is the most entertaining thing about Mastodon lol. I welcome our computer based overlords, they will probably do better than humans. I know you're listening Alexa and Siri.

@tomw My Dad was struggling to understand today, when I said, that if he starts typing an email on his mobile, he can view the 'draft' on his laptop.

When I mentioned, it's because it's saved "in the cloud", he pointed to a cloud in the sky, out the window.

I said, "Yes, that one".

He asked what happened if that cloud developed into a raincloud and disappears by soaking the ground, I said, "Well that's your data going down the drain".

Luckily he knows when I'm joking.

@tomw @fuzzface

I think computers are a net positive for humanity.

@tomw Reminds me of this people who think that the world would probably be better off without masturbation.

@tomw Not completely gone, but definitely limited. My number one issue being "No voting by computer". To be trusted, the voting process must be transparent and understandable by most people, not just the ones who can check the software.
Inconvenience never outweighs this.

@tomw Mastodon: Where tech enthusiasts and luddites coexist, proving irony is alive and well. 🤔💻

@tomw

And smart phones. The world would definitely be better off without smart phones.

@tomw Most people working in IT today and worth their salt knows deep down in their heart that, all things considered, computers were a mistake.

@tomw 🤔😁

@tomw
😁

@tomw I think this is the single biggest impact mastodon has had on me and I’m totally ok with that.

@tomw
We just want computer at their right place: playing video-games and make silly projects.

@tomw I don't agree, the world would be a much better place if the IT ecosystem wasn't controlled by capitalists, an important nuance...

@tomw No, I don't love computers. I wish there were fewer people loving computers. Love your pets instead.

@tomw s/deeply love/used to deeply love

@tomw Sounds about right.

@tomw The world would be better if the Industrial Revolution had never happened. And Colonialism, of course, which kickstarted Capitalism.

@tomw Couldn’t have put it better.

@tomw @the_etrain sometimes the symphony of my timeline plays the sweetest note… 🎶

@tomw better off but less fun.

@tomw I mean. Yes.

@tomw I worked in IT for years, if you don't develop a love/hate relationship with tech from that, idk something is wrong with yah wrinkles I think.

My dream is to retire to a little hut deep in the woods with nothing but a flip phone...
@tomw
@rooster

@tomw @jwz With fewer computers anyway. They are a lovely replacement for paper systems.

@tomw The world would be better with different computers.

@tomw so true! I found myself in tech only because I didn’t fit into the machine. Now it’s part of the machine, I had to get out. Obviously, I still love parts of tech that are beneficial and giving to my life. That’s this community.

@tomw @dsilverman Ha, been using computers since punched cards on IBM 360 in 1970’s, then TRS-80, Atari 800, Apple II, IBM PC’s. Worked at Bell Labs in 1980’s, loved Unix & now get my Unix “fix” on macOS every day. iPhone indispensable to daily life, on it every day in retirement as I work on converting my 26 years of film photos to digital. Mac hardware great for photo & video work, world would be horrible without computers & photos stored in a shoebox 🙁

@tomw Not specifically computers, but all this modern shit that destroyed the Internet.

@tomw seen

@tomw

Mastodon will organise the Butlerian Jihad.

We know how to bring down the machines as much as Crowdstrike does 🙂

@tomw @stiofi
I love you but I've chosen darkness.

@tomw "yes I do work in IT. Now, take a look at this sourdough I just baked from harvesting the wheat crop growing wildly a 10km walk from here I go to with my dog every day"

@tomw I'm just the latter. It's more that we need to understand them properly in order to mitigate the damage

@tomw I think the community does not 'love' but 'understand' computers and tech in a more general scope. And desperately try to put it in the 'correct' hands ( notice : I do not say 'right' hands ) Tech is a matter of precise wording

@tomw The world would be better off if only nerds were allowed computers.

@tomw And the cats! Don't forget the cats!

@tomw
The problem is with with total digitalization in the hands of big tech, not technology by itself

@tomw
... that the world would probably be better off without the Internet!

@tomw technology is very useful, but definitely not the solution for everything.

@tomw Good luck with getting rid of the matrix. Reading this?

@tomw

🤡

@tomw
@flomaraninchi ☝️