| I agree that washing machines are great. I've lived in places without them for years at a time. It's doable but hand washing is time consuming and not fun. Phosphates are a separate issue. There is phosphate free detergent. There are low water use machines. It's being solved. Let's look at another example of convenience that isn't being solved very well: my car. My car is incredibly convenient. Often I'd rather drive than take the bus. And you can't beat it for hauling stuff around. Better than my bike, for sure. Cars have freed up the world's pedestrians from footwrecking walking! But there's a lot going on here. Cars, roads, the death of public transport (cf trolly cars in LA http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/la/historic/redcars/ ). America, at least, was sold on the car by businesses that had a vested interest in seeing the car succeed. Cities dismantled public transport systems at the behest of these same powerful lobbies. And today our cities are outgrowths of the personal motor vehicle. (Electric cars don't solve anything here, it's still energy being produced). While I think that you make a point worth considering, I believe that we should error on the side of suspicion when utility, or less nobly, convenience, comes at an initially small cost and is heavily promoted by... whom, exactly? I worked in advertising long enough to look squarely to the data-finance industrial complex (tongue only partially in cheek when using that phrase) whenever personal information is involved. Convenience has costs. Moglen may not have the right to judge but we need noisy people that remind us there is a problem. |
On HN we sometime need people to remind us there are benefits, too.