this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
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Technology

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User accountability and complicated technologies (beehaw.org)
submitted 1 year ago by elfpie@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org
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I've been thinking about the arguments that are increasingly common when dealing with tech: "it's too complicated" and "I just want something that works".

My father gifted a used computer to me and my brother when we were kids. Ours to use, ours to take care. He would pay for the eventual screw up, but we had to walk several blocks carrying the tower to get assistance.

I messed up a lot over the years, mostly because I wanted to explore the little that I knew and learn more. I had some magazines that expected everything to go well if instructions were followed and no access to internet forums to ask for help. I was limited to just one language as well. I had to find a way out. Nowadays things are much more simple and really just work, until they don't and I can't really fix them.

In this world, what people can do is complain. Or offer a report of how things went wrong and wait patiently. It's not even that common for people in general to just go back to the version that worked. There's no version, only the app we use or can't use and it's not our responsibility any kind of maintenance.

I have to confess I was going in another direction when I started, but things are really limited from a consumer's point of view. In part, it's our fault for not wanting to deal with the burden of knowledge, it inevitably takes the control away from us, but big tech really approves and incentives this behavior.

As with so many problems I see in the world, education is the solution. And educating ourselves might be the only dependable option.

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[–] costa@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

I believe the solution is a balance of people spending a little more time learning and companies not making so hard for people to fix/change stuff.

I see this a lot around me. People are convinced that nothing can changed or be fixed. And if you just turn to people with knowledge in general you get the complete opposite picture.

Knowledge gives power to the people and takes away all the desperation they have. You don't have to know specific technicalities but enough to know where to look to change what you want, and enough to get the feeling that you can actually change anything you want.