The Tech Emperors Have No Clothes

... and increasingly, we need to realize this.

I think that even back in 2004, a lot of people kinda sorta maybe realized that “Big Tech” was floating on a cloud of nothingness. There’s definitely some amazing innovation and technology in the world, but a lot of what we describe as “Big Tech” is just platform advertising companies that have boom and bust cycles based on whether Proctor and Gamble feels like advertising for a six-month period. We deified these founders in society, and they keep letting us down in huge ways.

Adam Neumann was a joke story — a real estate play that somehow became about the collective consciousness of society? — and Elizabeth Holmes has literally been put on trial. Musk has a nice brand of “I work 20 hours/day” and “Engineering shall save us all,” but at base he just seems like a far-right asshole who wants to run for Governor of California or President someday. The bloom is largely off that rose for sensible people.

Meta lays the pipe