I feel this so, so much. The internet was so much better before it got commercialized and polluted with non-stop politics, hype, influencer crap, etc. I just want to be left alone, I know what I want, I don't want you to try and force it on me, trick me into it, etc. I want to have a functioning email account my friends can use where the messages won't get drowned in a sea of spam. I want a phone that only rings when someone I know calls.
We've created such a shithole, a perfect mirror of society I guess.
This gives a little "old man yells at cloud" vibes. Like, I get that some people are more misanthropic than others, but I personally have forgotten about appointments so text reminders were nice, I'm in plenty of Discord servers, getting help can be nice sometimes, etc.
Even if you're not religious or spiritual (which I would bet the author isn't), at the very least the natural process of evolution seems to value the idea of community and togetherness, so shunning it seems a bit shortsighted.
Don't forget when you choose to opt-out but then start getting random spam from other businesses because they sold your email address. Also fun is when they send email anyways.
Heard, felt, strong agree. It's like trying to explain how irrationally upset I am that Liberty Mutual is sending physical mail to my parents house. I do not reside there. I do not reside in the US. I am neither a candidate nor even able to take advantage of any of their products.
But they bought my info, and so now USPS is delivering this trash into "my" mailbox (my mom texts, opens it, scans it, etc). I will NEVER buy anything from a flyer.
So I'm going to idle, every working hour next week, on the phone with Liberty Mutual sales staff. If they can harass me and waste my time, why can't I do it right back?
It's like last year when 3 different airlines opted me into text alerts. I was already getting them in-app and in-email.
Honestly I think people are so absent minded, distracted, ADHD-Y that they don't even realize how intrusive and annoying this deluge of consumerist capitalist sludge is to your mental state. Of course people also think I'm crazy when I tell them my phone stays in DND mode.
You seem to be a minority. Consider for a moment that the default behavior of the gmail app is to make a notification for each and every incoming new email.
Look at a normal person’s email inbox sometime.
Most people use default settings and are barely even aware that it’s configurable. They just put the info in the boxes until it stopped giving red exclamation marks and smashed the big button at the bottom without reading the field labels, the checkbox labels, or even the big button label.
Users don’t read, and most people aren’t as busy as us. They spend 3 hours a day watching television, a few more playing video games, have never heard the term “inbox zero”, and don’t know any of the steps to make that red bubble that says “65,535” on the gmail
icon go away.
No one reading the piece in the first place wants to be left alone. If you wanted that, you wouldn't say to yourself "I wonder what this guy has to say" and then click his thing.
I read and leave comments on Hacker News for two reasons: I want to know I'm not alone, I want to be helpful.
My boomeritis flares up when I’m asked to “confirm” my appointment. It was confirmed when we made it. Are you asking me to “re-confirm” the appointment ? Now I’m not sure if we had one to begin with.
No I don’t want to confirm it. I want to show up and have you ready , like you’re supposed to
Companies do have an ego-centric view of relationships. Of course our customers want to know what's happening. Of course they want to sign into our website and see their account.
And all of the measures that the article is complaining about do help with usability metrics - especially when measured in a fake corporate study.
It's much harder to consider the role we want technology to play holistically as a part of an entire life.
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[ 1.9 ms ] story [ 73.7 ms ] threadDamn I was so stupid and weak to NOT stay alone.
We've created such a shithole, a perfect mirror of society I guess.
Even if you're not religious or spiritual (which I would bet the author isn't), at the very least the natural process of evolution seems to value the idea of community and togetherness, so shunning it seems a bit shortsighted.
:)
But they bought my info, and so now USPS is delivering this trash into "my" mailbox (my mom texts, opens it, scans it, etc). I will NEVER buy anything from a flyer.
So I'm going to idle, every working hour next week, on the phone with Liberty Mutual sales staff. If they can harass me and waste my time, why can't I do it right back?
It's like last year when 3 different airlines opted me into text alerts. I was already getting them in-app and in-email.
Honestly I think people are so absent minded, distracted, ADHD-Y that they don't even realize how intrusive and annoying this deluge of consumerist capitalist sludge is to your mental state. Of course people also think I'm crazy when I tell them my phone stays in DND mode.
No, I want to be left alone.
Look at a normal person’s email inbox sometime.
Most people use default settings and are barely even aware that it’s configurable. They just put the info in the boxes until it stopped giving red exclamation marks and smashed the big button at the bottom without reading the field labels, the checkbox labels, or even the big button label.
Users don’t read, and most people aren’t as busy as us. They spend 3 hours a day watching television, a few more playing video games, have never heard the term “inbox zero”, and don’t know any of the steps to make that red bubble that says “65,535” on the gmail icon go away.
Installed, logged in for the first time and got the ‘welcome to KDE’ screen, dismissed it and then… nothing.
Every time I log in… nothing.
It just sits there waiting for me to do something. It doesn’t tell me to do anything. I’ve been mostly using it to play Civ2.
No one reading the piece in the first place wants to be left alone. If you wanted that, you wouldn't say to yourself "I wonder what this guy has to say" and then click his thing.
I read and leave comments on Hacker News for two reasons: I want to know I'm not alone, I want to be helpful.
No I don’t want to confirm it. I want to show up and have you ready , like you’re supposed to
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ii4YJK_-RTk
> Do you want to go ad free? No, I want to be left alone.
The ads, by definition, won't leave you alone.
Wrong answer!
"I already have one!"
Instant pitch snuffer-outer.
You literally pay a premium to be bothered less than the alternatives.
And all of the measures that the article is complaining about do help with usability metrics - especially when measured in a fake corporate study.
It's much harder to consider the role we want technology to play holistically as a part of an entire life.