Freedom in technology must include freedom from technology.
We must not create societies where the price of admission is owning a device controlled by one of two trillion-dollar US corporations.
We must safeguard people’s access to public services and the everyday necessities of life via alternate methods.
Technology should always be a progressive enhancement.
Do not let Silicon Valley privatise your access to modern life.
https://mastodon.ar.al/@lrvick@mastodon.social/112079059430275102
@aral i agree and disagree.
agree in that proprietary tech, google, apple, as a condition to access is ridiculous.
i do think public funding can create open source alternatives, including hardware, which can be mandatory options for businesses to support if it is an access requirement to basic services or something.
Is is quite clear, that you cant access a lot of services without cash or letters, the telephone or motorized transport. ...and so on. that is tech too. time moves on
@serapath @aral While there can be legitimate reasons to require some sort of technology for government services, I do not think that "time moves on" is one of those reasons.
It's a values-neutral statement; if you accept that "time moves on" is in and of itself a good reason to mandate technology, then that also validates it as a reason to mandate *unwanted* technology.
The actual reasons for mandating technology must be precise, well-scoped, and strongly justified.
i do think tech is massively adopted mostly because ppl love the upsides, that includes apple or google pay experience... but it doesnt mean there cant be alternatives without the downsides ...now if a market adopts a new tech in ways that excludes open alternatives, then laws should support and maybe enforce markets to make room for open alternatives... but forcing businesses and industries to always support fax machines will drown progress in enforced technical debt
@joepie91 @aral
yes. "time moves on" says nothing.
what i hope it would stand for is... that there is a reason for people to largly adopt tech. it is not just for the sake of it or because they are forced.
it is because, e.g. a washing machine makes life so much more convenient than washing cloth by hand and you will very rarely find anyone who is against washing machines.
now sometimes, new tech comes with downsides. amazon might be convenient, but side effect is central control by jeff