Bad Tech and How to Avoid It
a rubric for deciding what must go
I will confess I had initially thought of this as a personal adventure, but I think this is actually an interesting conversation regarding how I think of digital solutions for my day to day work in digital development and R&D.
Imagine the rubric below as a way to think through what good applications might be for a company to deploy.
I’ll revisit this from a company angle at the end, stick around!
I designed a rubric for letting go of bad software
Would you pay for it even if you don't currently?
Does it value your time like you value your time? Does it try to make you more efficient or is it hungry for more of your time?
My wife added to the previous one: Are you embarrassed by how much time it takes up in your life i.e. are you addicted? Are you ashamed when you tell people your use patterns? (A side bar: this REALLY sounds like drug users and alcoholic behavior)
Do you experience more positive or negative emotions after you've used it?
So I said I was going to eliminate the magnificent 7 tech companies. Let's see how they hold up here
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) - they are a time suck and do everything to keep you on there. I would absolutely not pay for it. I am embarrassed I ever used it. I would say negative or neutral. Certainly had some fun but the overwhelming feeling is bad. 0 for 4.
Musk (X) - time suck. Wouldn't pay for it, I tried out the subscription and it was just as bad. Oh man, I was definitely addicted to Twitter and I'm ashamed of how much I used it. I think I've scrolled so much over the years that the dopamine hit just isn't there anymore. Over the years, this has been a fun space for me but I find myself wondering what I was looking for. That's neutral at best. Feels like fun Twitter died when trump took office the first time and everyone went insane.
Side bar: bluesky is dying because of trump 2 and Elon news consuming everything. Social media seems to really respond, positively and negatively, to egomaniacs.
Amazon - this used to be incredibly efficient but as the site has filled up with unrecognizable brands, it's become increasingly hard to find anything. Still good but getting worse quickly. I canceled Amazon prime, in part, because the site is getting worse, so interest in paying is decreasing. I do feel ashamed when I come home and there are multiple Amazon boxes on my porch, so shame is increasing. I don't feel better buying from Amazon. I feel worse and it's partly because I've read too much about how they treat their workers like garbage, not human beings.
Google - I use a lot of their services, they work well, I'm proud that I use them and they help me run my life better. I think they value my time so they try to make me more efficient. I do pay for their service because I see value in it. The only thing that really bothers me is that the AI search is awful. I feel a little ashamed by how often I mindlessly find myself cleaning up my inbox but I think this is just a bad habit, I'm currently working on this habit. I generally feel better after I use their products because they work and are efficient for things I need to do.
One thing I've thought about as I've tested out proton Mail is that part of the reason Gmail is King is because it works. I dumped flickr for Google photos about six months ago because it's just better.
I would say this one is overall, a 4 of 4 keeper. I would probably pay more for it if they'd get rid of ads.
So that's the big 4, all crap but one.
Let's move on to Microsoft….
I use it for work and that's not my decision. However…
I did not know they owned LinkedIn. I hate LinkedIn. It's worse than Facebook. I am convinced to use it because it's “for work” but I'm becoming less convinced it even is for work as there become more fake jobs on there. The algorithm is terrible. The influencers are more annoying. The AI crud is taking over the site.
Let's run LinkedIn through my rubric.
LinkedIn - I might pay for it if it improved the experience. I've tried LinkedIn premium and would actually argue it's not all that much different than regular and the price is an outrageous $20+ a month. Yikes. It doesn't value my time, which is even worse when it's for work. They want me on there looking at their useless ads. I am not embarrassed to say how much I use it, because again, it's “for work” but maybe I should be? I wouldn't say I feel better after using it, let's just say I'm neutral to be generous. That's a big 0 for 4. Hmmm.
Apple - I only use this for work or to watch major league soccer. I do like watching soccer. The other part isn't my choice. Moving on.
Nvidia - I'm going to substitute openai since they use these chips and several others on here are investors.
I hate openai because Sam Altman appears to not have a care in the world about deleting a bunch of people's jobs. Sociopath!
I have paid for openai. I have found it's not worth the price. I do think it values my time, i get the sense, probably since they're losing ungodly sums of money, that chatgpt is often trying to get you answers quickly and not string things out. I am a bit embarrassed that I've used it and the dumb things I've used it for. I often did feel better after using it but sometimes I was more frustrated. Let's call this a 1.5 out of 4.
I've also found this rubric helpful for lots of other apps too.
If it fails the test, you can delete it. It can always get added back if you really need it.
Now think of this from the perspective of the company making the technology. I’m going to redesign this rubric with that in mind.
Are customers willing to pay for your solution? Can you place a value on it?
Do you value customers time or are you profiting off of taking their time? How is your solution making customers better humans?
Is it possible that customers become addicted to your solution in a way that causes them to abandon responsibilities or lowers their quality of life?
Do customers experience positive or negative emotions after they’ve used your solution?
I know that Silicon Valley is currently running amok, destroying our government, destroying our children and our families, and getting everyone addicted to crypto gambling but I wish they would do some soul searching.
You may get rich selling crypto schemes or technology that makes young people kill themselves at a higher rate (i.e. Instagram) but you are the one who has to sleep at night with the hell you’ve created.
With great power comes great responsibility, we should be building solutions that actually make the world a better place.
I know that people can do better than they’ve been doing. What if Zuckerberg pulled the plug on the monster he has created at Meta. Would the world be a better place? Would people be happier?
I think the answer is obvious. But does he have the guts to fix what he’s created?
Do we have the guts to turn the damn thing off?