there's a disingenuous argument i see go completely unchallenged all the time, which is "this <computer thing> deserves to be respected and celebrated, because it underpins the entire world and you wouldn't have {products, services, entertainment, electricity, food, etc} without it". like, we had supermarkets before SQL. we had maps before Google Maps. the world functioned successfully, it just wasn't on Computer. now it *needs* Computer, when it didn't before. strange to brag about that, really
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@jk generally the "oh you dislike Thing? but Thing is very popular/successful, so you should like it" type of argumentation just baffles me
i think the IT-dominated 'tech industry' of the ~21st century is historically distinct from earlier eras, in that it is largely parasitic, using novel ideas primarily to capture existing industries and extract the value from them. all the 'great new things' it has provided are things we could already do before, but now they're a bit quicker and more convenient, and under the total control of corporations. nothing life-changing or life-saving like the tech developed in the 20th century