Paris Marx
Balaji Srinivasan is calling for a “tech Zionism” that would see “Grays” loyal to the tech industry take over San Francisco by allying with the police to give themselves privileges as they oppress the “Blues” (liberals).
Essential read by @gilduran: https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat
Paris Marx
Apple’s Vision Pro is a bad product with an even worse vision for the future of computation.
New sales numbers prove it’s a failure, but more than that it shows the idea of tech’s inevitability is a myth. We have the collective power to stop tech that doesn’t serve us.
Paris Marx
Apple is cutting Vision Pro production as it fails to meet sales targets.
Analysts expected it to sell 700-800k units in 2024, but it could now be as low as 400k. A lower cost model could now be pushed beyond 2025, if it ever arrives.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/23/24138487/apple-vision-pro-cut-shipment-forecast-kuo-rumor
Paris Marx
For a decade, Hollywood hasn’t aggressively fought piracy because it saw people would pay if they made them a good deal.
But as streaming has gotten worse and more expensive, consumers turned back to file sharing. Now the industry plans to get Congress to pass new legislation to stop them.
https://disconnect.blog/hollywood-is-reviving-its-war-on-piracy/
Paris Marx
Apple has disciplined and wrongfully terminated Apple Store employees who show support for Palestine by wearing bracelets or kaffiyehs because they create a “harmful environment,” says a new open letter signed by hundreds of workers.
“We humbly ask that Mr. Cook and the rest of the executive team end their silence on this crucial subject, and make it clear that Palestinian lives matter.”
Paris Marx
i can’t wait for the ai bubble to burst
Paris Marx
Even the Financial Times is turning against the smart home.
“After thinking it through, perhaps more people will come to the conclusion that dumb homes are the smart choice after all.”
Paris Marx
In what world is Truth Social worth $5.5 billion? 😵💫
Paris Marx
“The Cloud now has a greater carbon footprint than the airline industry. A single data center can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes. At 200 terawatt hours annually, data centers collectively devour more energy than some nation-states.”
https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-staggering-ecological-impacts-of-computation-and-the-cloud/
Paris Marx
Imagine if a country passed a law saying Facebook or Google had to sell to a non-US owner or it would be banned.
The ban isn’t because TikTok is a threat to US privacy or whatever, but because it threatens the global market share of US tech and by extension the geopolitical power of the US state.
Paris Marx
Streaming services are getting more expensive, cracking down on password sharing, pulling content for tax write offs, and pushing people onto ad tiers.
But if you were hoping to go back to physical media, good luck! It’s almost impossible to find anymore.
Paris Marx
After a year of hype, the reality is emerging. Cloud clients aren’t buying generative AI tools because they’re expensive, lack accuracy, and it’s not clear what value they provide. Some analysts are already warning of a coming “trough of disillusionment.”
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/generative-ai-providers-quietly-tamp-down-expectations
Paris Marx
Plastic recycling is a scam dreamed up by the fossil fuel lobby to ensure we don’t phase out disposable plastics.
On #TechWontSaveUs, I spoke to @dharnanoor to discuss where the idea came from and how little plastic is actually recycled.
Listen to the full episode: https://techwontsave.us/episode/210_plastic_recycling_is_a_scam_w_dharna_noor
Paris Marx
Italy’s far-right party proposed using AI to assign youth mandatory jobs.
“The young person will no longer be able to choose whether to work or not, but [will be] bound to accept the job offer for himself (sic), for his family and for the country, under penalty of loss of all benefits.”
https://algorithmwatch.org/en/italian-neofascists-artificial-intelligence/
Paris Marx
Sam Bankman-Fried and his brother Gabe wanted to buy the island nation of Nauru and turn it into a doomsday bunker and lab for genetic enhancement, regardless of the impact on its 12,000 residents.
Nauru has a long history of exploitation by powerful outside forces, and the Bankman-Frieds’ desire to be their latest exploiters tells us a lot about tech billionaires.
https://www.disconnect.blog/p/the-tragedy-of-sam-bankman-frieds
Paris Marx
The Butlerian Jihad against “thinking machines” happened 10,000 years before the events of Dune:
“This is the literal, narrative reason for the purging of any use of the machines: People in this world felt an overreliance on such technology that inevitably changed how society functioned for the worse.”
Paris Marx
Uber says it finally made an annual profit after 15 years, but who paid the price to get it there?
The company fired 6,700 workers, hiked fares for customers, and squeezed drivers even harder. Now the stock is up and investors will get a $7 billion share buyback. It turns your stomach.
https://disconnect.blog/the-high-cost-of-ubers-small-profit/
Paris Marx
ChatGPT does not have “a memory.” It does not “remember” anything. OpenAI is just storing data about you and your engagement with its product.
I’m begging the media to stop repeating tech companies’ misleading framings of their products.
Paris Marx
linkedin appears to have banned me for no apparent reason. i didn’t even get an email to explain why and can’t seem to contact support without logging in, which i can’t seem to do. if i know anyone with connections to linkedin, let me know!
Paris Marx
The AI boom requires massive data centers that consume enormous amounts of water and energy.
Tech CEOs have plans for hundreds more hyperscale facilities in the coming years, but activists around the world are fighting back to protect their communities and force us to ask who really benefits from the future Silicon Valley is building.
critic of tech futures | host of tech won’t save us | writer of disconnect | my book “road to nowhere” is out now! | he/they
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