justing.net

Week Notes No. 39: Output

By Justin G. on 25JAN24FRI

Vader is always on my mind.

Stray thoughts

Broken Promises

When I notice some enshittification in real time, mentally I see the scene from the beginning of Empire Strikes Back where Vader says “I am altering the deal, pray I do not alter it any further.” Of course when something is being enshittified they alter the terms again and again, sneakily creeping along to get as much as they can get away with.

At least Vader was open and honest about what he was doing, no need for deceptions.

Maybe that’s one of the keys though, we have more choices. Lando’s options were fewer.

Caged goods

Is the caging of all the things at stores, locking them up, even in nice, ahem, “nice” neighborhoods an indicator of moral decline? Or is it saying that they aren’t being justly compensated for what they do, in terms of gainful employment. The world today, it asks so much of us. So much of all of us.

Speaking of speech

Is the algorithmic feed free speech? I mean Facebook, Instagram, Threads. I mean YouTube. I mean X. These platforms, they amplify, they boost what someone said, freely or not.

They ensnare. It’s their purpose.

They get that thing in front of more people, and those people respond. And the algorithm responds, and spreads that shit even more. So, I’ll ask again: is selective amplification and distribution a form of protected free speech?

Phones

Can you believe it? We used to just go around, in public, or at college, or whatever, with no passcode on our phones. For years. Just forget for a minute about those few years when the phones were not smart and all they had was a few text messages and our phone book. Remember the time after that, after flip phones and feature phones. All those phones were just open to anyone who picked them up. I guess, like our wallets were. Are.

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