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by swiftcoder 23 days ago
It honestly might be helpful if we framed more conversations that way, when talking about the creeping dependencies on tech firms that fill our lives.

Those of us without a medical dependency are lucky that catching one of the many tech failures modes won't actually kill us - but you'll still want to throttle more than a few folks if you ever have to recover from your Google/Apple ID getting banned, or PayPal running off with all your money, etc.
2 comments
tptacek 23 days ago
This isn't, like, TikTok. It's a firm that provides a transformative improvement in quality of life to diabetics.

(Not above criticism, of course, but weird to lump them together as insidious "tech companies").

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chemicalsnakes 22 days ago
“Creeping” from what? More primitive medical technology that saved fewer lives?
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swiftcoder 22 days ago
The medical technology isn't the problem - the profit motive negatively affecting its continued operation (or not) is (and this is not just the technology firm, it includes the insurance company, the hospital/pharmacy operators, etc).

You can't have a reasonable customer relation with any corporation when you are a captive audience - let alone one when they could kill you at any moment, whether from negligence or plain indifference.

This plays out in less-lethal versions all over tech. Do you dare redeem that Apple Gift Card your aunt gave you for your birthday, knowing that Apple might nuke your whole digital identity from orbit[1]?

[1]: https://hey.paris/posts/appleid/

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