Well hello hello, and welcome to the ramblings of someone that works in the tech space.
I've been in love with tech for I don't even know how long. The idea that you can help create a new world it's the closest thing to the cartoon and comic world.
Now, I never learned how to code - this might be considered a disadvantage, I know. But this is not why I hate tech.
I hate tech because it keeps making me feel like the stupidest person in every room. I'm not trying to be arrogant here, or anything, but I never saw myself as someone who's THAT dumb. But tech talks keep making me feel inadequate for this world that is ever growing.
I try to keep updating my knowledge. I am reading about technology every day. Be on top of innovative subjects; follow interesting podcasts; read news on different subjects. I am mostly reading things about things that I don't understand and the more I read, the less I get it.
I see job postings for roles that either look like they were created yesterday (even though they ask for 9 years experience). I see job postings about jobs that, unless you are deeply entrenched in the ecosystem you would never know what’s the job description. I have read and heard about more acronyms and abbreviations, that I now don't know if it is a typo or an expression. This thing has happened before…
And then we think about our education. The things we learn in school are not at all updated. And on top of that, most times it doesn't even begin to prepare us for the slap we get from tech. From the time I finished my degree until now, more things have come up that might have been created until that moment ever!!! (probably not, but certainly it feels like it).
I mean, it’s not updated, because you cannot update anything on a massive scale on industries that push away innovation, in trade of a more “secure” and tried manner, like education.
Another problem with knowledge consumption in the tech space, at least for me, is that I think of myself as someone who lives like Jon Snow - I know nothing. And I prefer to live like that, for then I want to learn more stuff. “Great atitude” - people have told me before. But where do I even begin to look?
How do you curate the right sources? Many people learn a few acronyms and start teaching it. As I look at that information like a donkey looks at an equation, I believe it to be relevant. More often than not, it is not.
How do you choose who to read, who to follow? Who is a "poser" or a fraud? Everyone looks like a fraud. Either that, or everyone looks normal, and thus, everyone is a fraud. Is that it? Or everyone is an expert and I am just the only person who doesn’t understand.
And worse than this: In some aspects, I believe that technology made me a worse person. I feel like I'm more entitled that I should ever be. And I am not talking now about professional or personal entitlement. I'm talking more about my own relationship with technology.
And, without making a huge judgement call, I can assume that you might be a little too. Before you storm out, give me at least 30 seconds to redeem myself. How often do you get frustrated because your phone doesn't have great cellular reception when you're in the subway? Or how often do you (very deep down) judge the other person because he/she has an Android or iPhone? As if there was a perfect answer...
If you think a little bit, in 2017 was 10 years since the 1st iPhone came out. And until this day I am of the belief that it has changed the social and cultural structures that all our societies are rooted on.
Nowadays, almost every major Hardware company (in the consumer space, at least) iterates their products every year. As if their previous product became obsolete after just a year. The problem is that we fu***** eat that sh*t up.
"Oh, it's the new Snapdragon 873246 and with the new AI algorithm that will make your smile look nicer, thanks to the deep learning Full RES 459k HD screen. Oh, and just in case you wondered - Yes, we are on the blockchain".
What does that mean???
I don't know, and I'm pretty sure most people don't. I actually most who do understand, actually don't and just pretend to do it. Like I said previously. Everyone says those words as if they understood them. And because it is so intangible to me, everything looks false to me.
Getting back to the entitlement - because of the speed that technology keeps evolving, we are getting more and more impatient.
I absolutely hate going to a coffee place with my friends and every 5 minutes or so, everyone looks down at their phones, even if just for 5 seconds. I am telling you this, knowing that I suffer from the same problem.
The reality is that tech is made to make our lives easier. And 99% of the time it does. It's obvious that some people might use it for some nefarious reasons, but there is nothing we can do about that.
Technology is addictive and I hate it for it. Technology is making us less capable of socializing and I hate it for it. Technology makes everything in our world closer to us, which makes the thing right next to us seem boring. And I hate it for it. Technology connects us with the news and I hate it for it. Technology makes our dreams come true, which makes our daily lives seem a waste of time and I hate it for it.
I fu***** love Technology and I hate it for it.