[nytesky]

What do you not like about tech? I work in gov space sector and while it’s crazy bureaucratic and risk adverse, it’s a fulfilling mission and most people I work with are just excited to be working “in space” like their 12-year old self dreamed of.

[gmerc]

Tech has run out of growth and it’ll be a race to the bottom over the next decade. AI is decremental.

[dartos]

Tech has always been a race to the bottom.

That’s why the most popular services are/have been free.

The whole point of technology is to make things easier and cheaper en masse.

[throwaway_0xff]

> What do you not like about tech?

I feel that it's no longer about making quality products, but more about milking money by any means, even if immoral and/or obviously (self-)destructive. It may have been like that for some time already, but I wasn't able to realize that before.

It seems to me as if we've become the machine that we wanted to build.

I would love doing something that's more "down to earth". Optimally, in some sector that is involved with treating people with respect - "as if" they were real human beings. An alternative would be working outdoors and being nearer to nature in general.

[LVB]

I’m sort off in your boat, I think. Late 40s and quite tired of the tech rat race and money obsession. I’m about 6 months into a totally different thing: writing/selling my own apps (mobile). I have the luxury of a working spouse and some savings so I don’t have to focus too much on speed or high profitability.

I very much like the idea of building the thing I want to, to the quality and aesthetic I want (eg no ads or dark monetization patterns), and selling directly to customer. It’s still early days but it has put me in a good state of mind.

[abnercoimbre]

> I feel that it's no longer about making quality products, but more about milking money by any means

Check out the Handmade online community [0] and/or attend one of our conferences [1] this year.

I’m biased because I’m the organizer for the conferences, but we genuinely share your line of thinking. Wouldn’t hurt to congregate with like-minded folks :)

[0] https://handmade.network

[1] https://handmadecities.com

[dartos]

How are you planning on affecting the industry at large?

[abnercoimbre]

Increasingly bigger conferences and meetups that remain 100% indie and sponsor-free. It’s going to take years, if not a decade.

But let’s not underestimate the power of independent organizing. We haven’t seen much of it in our industry because us worker bees are historically well-paid.

[dartos]

I desperately hope you’re right.

Not to be a downer, but I just don’t see how you could convince a business to go slower for the sake of a better technical foundation.

[abnercoimbre]

With enough collective anger, social pressures will factor into business decisions.

It's a nebulous proposition, I get that, because you can't precisely engineer an outcome. My hope is there's enough of us organizing together to trigger the right shifts.

We'll see.

[hgs3]

It doesn't sound like you're sick of tech but rather sick of profit-focused leadership corrupting it. I feel the same way so I'm starting my own business with values that matter to me. If starting a business doesn't appeal to you, then try finding a like-minded non-profit or cooperative.

[0x20cowboy]

Not to stop you from trying, I encourage the effort, but I think you’ll find starting your own business will just lead to you to becoming profit-focused - if you like eating and paying rent that is.