There's nothing wrong with the technology, it's who is running it all that needs to be fixed, with the general f*ckery that is through everything now I miss my 2400 baud modem that was bigger than my computer and dialing in to a BBS.
this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2026
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You have my permission to write fuck on the internet. On the fediverse, Zuck is the more offensive four-letter word.
I'll take the Zuckwit over Bozos or Ellison.
Why did you censor 'fuckery' tho?
I like the star in it, reminds me of a sticker, which is an odd mental association but I swear like a sailor while dropping that in fuck.
Fair enough!
I really don't think that specific emotion is isolated to gen z.
I remember all the promise and excitement that tech had back in the late 00's and early 10's. Things were unique and fun. That's just not true anymore. Every new software update adds shit that you didn't ask for and don't want (AI, ads, removal of user freedom). New hardware releases are either an underwhelming iteration of specs from the previous version, or an unimaginative device that has the same basic look and feel as every other device it's competing with.
Tech used to be fun and exploratory, now it's just companies pushing to see how much they can be allowed to exploit you for the least cost.
I feel the same. I quit working in tech. It really has no soul anymore, specially talking to chat bots and agents.
Tech now is building the infrastructure for dystopia and its so obvious.
Are you still working? If so, doing what?
I quit the whole rat race. Early retirement with pension. It's way better on this side of things. And I never had the nice tech jobs that made most of lemmy rich anyway (even tho you all complain about being poor--$85K+ is rich for most people, guys). But at least I don't have to work anymore. :)
Oh boy. If people would just start seeing that open source still gives you exactly this, but you know, Linux is for incels and shit, I much more prefer being spied on by big corp.
Linux and FOSS tech about to become the new mainstream underground punk rock hangout spot.
And that's awesome! :)
Well, no. It's because Linux has never tried to appeal to casual users. Even if you download something like Ubuntu, you still have to jump through hoops sometimes to install things. People are turned off by using command lines.
With Mac and Windows, you just search up what you want and download it.
Compatability is a huge thing too.
I'm a new Linux convert. And I love it! But you're right. Also, in the past, when I tried to convert (when it was more difficult), the Linux communities then were um, less than helpful.
I remember back then not being super comfortable with the terminal, and they were like "Fuck off and come back when you know how to program simple shit, you fuckin' newb."
So I put it off for a long time. Now I love going into the terminal and learning new things. And it doesn't seem like linux communities are as elitist as they used to be. But yeah, back in the day, I had such a bad experience with them, I actively boycotted Linux stuff. I was just a young office professional and needed my computer to work without a lot of tweaking.
I love it all now though! And I have plenty of time to tweak because I don't work. Even tho, to be honest, it's all pretty easy to install these days.
Tech used to be fun and exploratory, now it’s just companies pushing to see how much they can be allowed to exploit you for the least cost.
The fun and exploratory tech still exists, its just not sitting as a single product on a store shelf in a plastic clamshell package. The maker space is where all the exciting exploration is happening. If you have an idea the technology likely exists to make it happen, and the cost of the parts won't break the bank. Lots of reuse of cast off out-of-date tech can be integrated dropping the costs even more. While there are even better solutions, if you're just getting started pick up an old Arduino or Raspberry Pi (not the new expensive high end models) for under $30. Grow from there to microcontrollers like the ESP32 where it gets even cheaper for about $5 each. Learn to solder! Learn modeling and 3D printing! Use an operating system that lets you control your system instead of one that you just have to accept what they give you.
It really is an amazing time in tech if you stop accepting a products as they are, and instead what you want them to be with your own modifications.
It really is an amazing time in tech if you stop accepting a products as they are, and instead what you want them to be with your own modifications.
Yep, but that doesn't fit the doom-and-gloom outlook that most of Lemmy has. You're post is totally right on though!
Read the article, just a bunch of morons who have zero self control.
Isaacs specifically pointed to the 1990s as a time with “a lack of phones, more personal experience, but also still some of the ease of modern technology.”
Just this alone shows they have no idea what the 90s were like.
"Waaah my phone does too much, I just want an iPod!"
Delete social media, download Spotify and boom, your phone is an iPod again. Or turn off all notifications on your phone and buy one of those iPod clones.
"Gen Z" acting like the world was better before social media but they have no idea how to function without social media. If they went in the theoretical time machine back to the 90s they'd have a mental breakdown trying to find their way to the local McDonald's.
Yeah, I don't know why everyone in this thread is bitching. You can go back to that lifestyle anytime you want. Delete tiktok/facebook/messaging app/whatevs on phone. Put music on it. Only call people. It's really easy to NOT have subscriptions to everything.
You can just not subscribe. I don't have any tech subscriptions at all, other than just my internet company and my phone plan (which is the cheapest phone plan). That's it. If I try something and it looks cool, then I see I'd have to "subscribe," then I just delete and move on.
It ain't that fucking hard. From the whining from babies in this thread, you all couldn't have fucking handled the 90's. LMAO
It's not really discomfort. It's the fact that any benefit technology would give us is being monetized and abused to the point where it's not enjoyable. I have this phone because employers expect to be able to contact me 24/7, and because governments want to spy on me, and companies want to harvest my data so they can profit from me. In return im given just enough to make it to the next day, and a screen to distract me from how fucking pointless our society is.
A skilled/educated American worker should be able to retire comfortably at 50 without having to worry about how they'll afford healthcare.
Companies make millions off you, then you give a few thousand because they know if they ever paid you a fair share, we'd all realize how much they've been robbing us this whole time.
A skilled/educated American worker should be able to retire comfortably at 50 without having to worry about how they’ll afford healthcare.
I did that, and I'm an unskilled American worker. Never had a tech job in my life.
You have your kids college/first home deposit covered and enough for you and a spouse to retire comfortably, and also cover any and all future metal expenses. Good on you man. You're a unicorn
But that’s exactly the point...I’m not some rare unicorn.
Most people on Lemmy make more money in a single year than I ever earned. A lot of you have probably never made less than $85k a year since college. Do you even realize how much money that actually is?
How many on Lemmy made at least that much on their very first fucking job. You know what I did as a job in college? I worked as a fucking dishwasher.
The average full-time U.S. worker makes about $62,000 a year.
Most of you wouldn’t even consider taking a job that pays that little. You can complain about prices, gas, and the cost of living all you want, but $85k a year is more than enough to live comfortably for the vast majority of Americans.
The truth is, most of Lemmy has no real idea how the average person actually lives. Yet you still come here and bash capitalism and technology. The very fucking things that let you earn well above the national average.
Most of you have had far more financial comfort than I ever did, even after adjusting for inflation. Plenty of you could buy a house in a nice small town and pay it off in less than 10 years. But instead, you choose to live in expensive cities, go out every night, buy the latest tech and electric cars, then act like your life is so hard.
I was a single dad at 19, could never afford to finish college. Worked two jobs so my kid could have a room of his own in a small dumpy house. I would stay awake at night scared to death of losing one of my jobs and then losing my kid to the state because I wouldn't have housing. The vast majority of Lemmy has no idea what real struggle is, but they'll come on here and bitch about how terrible their lives are. What a fucking joke! What, you worried you won't be able to make a payment on your brand new EV? lol
Get away from me with that nonsense. Most Lemmy's have never had to work at McDonalds and wouldn't know how to live off that salary if they did. Hell, my pension is smaller than half of your paycheck. LMAO
Most on this platform have multiple degrees, tech jobs that pay way above average, but you bitch and moan. It's all bullshit. You could go to a rural town in Missouri and buy a nice fucking house for $180K. And you know what the majority of replies here on Lemmy would be to that bit of info? "Yeah, but it's Missouri and they probably voted for Trump, so fuck that!"
That shit right there is all of Lemmy. Every single one of you could have a house if you really wanted one. But holy smokes, you may have some conservative neighbors, so fuck that. hahhahhaha
Guess you don't really want a house and affordable living then do you? Because god forbid that you have neighbors that vote different than you.
But all good. The reckoning is coming. Your good tech jobs are gonna go away, and then you can know what real fear is like. How many of you are gonna be able to survive digging ditches for a living.. like I did for 6 years. Try that during summer in Missouri, then come back here and tell me how much of a "unicorn" I am. lololol
Does GenZ want to live in the past?
Nearly half (47%) of adults ages 18-29 said if they had the option, they’d choose to live in the past, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey. One-third said they’d pick a time period less than 50 years in the past, while another 14% said they’d choose more than 50 years in the past.
Sort of, yes?
I was born in the 80s and grew up in the 90s. It’s natural for me to be nostalgic about the 90s. It’s absolutely strange to me that any significant group of people who grew up in the 2000s would actually want to go back to the 80s or 90s, which they never experienced first hand.
The only explanation I can think of is that these GenZers watch shows like Stranger Things or Friends and think that’s what we all lived like back then.
I think it’s more because the future looks so bleak. Climate change & global ecological collapse, fascism, techno-feudalism, enshittification, the destruction of the middle class. These are all problems that the ruling class is actively and purposefully making worse. It’s no wonder that the younger generations don’t want the future we are headed towards.
It definitely seems like a lot of people think the future is bleak, though most people feeling that way have no idea what things were like 100 years ago.
My grandparents grew up on farms with 10+ siblings and left school after grade 8. They lived in tiny houses with multiple kids packed into a single room. They worked heavy manual labour on the farm and in forestry. It was very common for young children to die of the flu or measles or the common cold. My grandfather’s little brother died as a child. They had no idea whatsoever that the future was going to be as good as things are now, so it’s hard to say they had any more to look forward to than we do now.
They also had 2 world wars in their future, and for all the war we have going on right now, we’re fortunate that it isn’t even close to as bad as the world wars of the 20th century. Climate change is definitely a legitimate thing to worry about, but it’s really hard to predict how much it will affect any of us individually.
Yep! Lemmy poster have no fucking idea how hard things were back then. They cry about Trump and think the world is gonna end. That's all they see. They have no fucking clue that these, by far, are some of the best times to be alive.
I've seen people on here bitch about only making $85K salary. That's still higher than the average salary in the US. And more than I ever made in my entire life. And I still managed to own my house. Lemmys have no fucking clue how the real world works. lololol
I was born in the 70's, grew up in the 80's. Stranger Things did not feel like the 80's to me at all. They definitely tried to nail the look and stuff (sometimes it worked, sometimes not), but the whole thing just seemed to be made by someone who watched a couple of 80's movies and said, "yeah, let's set it during this time!" rather than actually lived thru the 80's.
I was in my 20's in the 90's and that's the time I miss most. OMG the girls, the music...that was a great. Fuck the 80's...bring back the 90's!
Xennial here. I got rid of most social media years ago (FB, twitter, etc.) and never signed up for a lot of others. I'm replacing my google pixel watch with a pebble. I'm open to ditching my android google phone as well once something works properly with all the Japanese government and banking services. Thinking about how to degoogle.
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows back in the '80s and '90s, but I definitely feel like we should take back some of our balance, security, and comfort (though streaming and recording video can stay).
I’m replacing my google pixel watch with a pebble.
And you make way more money than the average US worker.
I work in Japan and get paid in yen so that seems unlikely. Indeed. I am basically at the median us salary with the exchange rate. I've bought two phones in the last 11 years (and won't replace my pixel 6 until it dies). I also work two jobs.
Fair point. I was wrong to be snarky without knowing where you lived.