This year we made good progress. You know, Linux gaming becoming better, Reddit fucking up, Metaverse failing etc. But on the other hand Big Tech has or are planning to make some moves. Such as, Google’s Web Enviroment Integrity API (EDIT: they backed off), UK’s encryption bill, etc.
So what do you think of the future? I’m currently optimistic. I think the best recent event was Reddit fucking up. Obviously one of the biggest information sources going down that path isn’t something to celebrate. But it was bound to happen. I believe decentralized social networks becoming more popular is what Aaron Swartz would have wanted if he saw how Reddit was being managed.
We are far from it, as enticing it sounds from Microsoft’s perspective. Microsoft will lose quite a bit (easily 20-50%) of marketshare the moment they go that way, from readymade offshelf machines’ preinstalls. The reason is simple – people no longer use computers, and do 95% of the computer stuff on their smartphones. And nobody will continue to pay for subscriptions for a computer that collects dust, unlike Netflix or Disney+ where people atleast use them twice a week actively. (And even streaming services becoming expensive is decreasing subscriptions and increasing piracy now.)