Tech allergy


Tech has had a rough year, and I think this will continue going forward. Facebook and Twitter were both blamed for Trump, Brexit etc. And probably rightly so. Uber got it straight: it’s a taxi company and should be regulated accordingly. This picture and this article both try to articulate the same thing; as the technology industry matures it’s image is more and more becoming like every other industry. Full of cynical, selfish, profit-seeking capitalists. No more “making the better place”. Tech is (also) all about making money, whatever it takes. 

This “all about the money whatever it takes”-thing has been around in the tech sector for many years already. It’s just that it hasn’t been talked about publicly. Facebook is not about connecting you with friends just because. They are working towards driving addiction, so that you spend more (than a healthy amount of) time on their platform and see more ads. Very few see King and Supercell as companies making the world a better place. It’s just that we’re not talking about what they do instead, which is to drive addiction and make those less fortunate more so. The tech sector is not unique in any way, it’s businesses trying to do what all businesses are supposed to do: create shareholder value. 

Software will continue to eat the world, and we should quickly start treating software companies the way all other companies are treated: for what they really are about. Not all tech is good tech or the other way around. We should give credit to those who actually do positive stuff. And we should not wait with shaming those who cheat or try to present themselves as something they’re not. If not, I fear that more people will grow allergic to the sector going forward.