I've been observing a pattern that I've been trying to articulate here and I can best describe as a framework where stuff 'comes to you' whereas the Internet for a long time was an enabler of 'you go to stuff'. The pendulum swung back, thanks to ad tech, and centralization, that have or are trying to orchestrate a culture shift. Okay, here are some concrete examples.
1. Television/cable (absent a TiVo type device), things come to you (ads and programming were fixed and you had to conform to their schedule back in the not-so-old days). Early 2000s, we could download content (illegally), we could pay for Netflix to send us DVDs of our choosing, and the algorithm was benevolent: its recommendations were superb.
Russian and French directors I positively rated -- ratings 1 through 5 stars plus a written review were permitted back then -- opened my world to suggestions for other movies that I got to select. Today, Netflix/HBO/etc display a limited UI set of options, highly hyped shows and movies shown repeatedly, and it now Comes To You. You have a tiny bit of choice, but not much.
2. Google search. Before, it was a resource for you to customize and find what you wanted: information about medicine, a product, or a store. Now, it Comes To You. You search for thing X, you end up in a rabbit hole of Y and Z topics or things, and a lot of things seem algorithmically generated or manufactured to steer you rather than help you.
There are many many patterns like this, from news searches to even tech problem searches and articles. Don't even get started on product comparisons. It's scary I can't even search on medicine interactions (I add reddit to the search field).
I should add, web sites all have their own mobile app so you get trapped, they can steer you, and you can't control ads, the UI, cut and paste, and so on. Thanks, world in which Things Come to Us now.
Such as it is: a heavy weight on pulling and steering us, and new generations growing up on phones not knowing it could be different.
Phones are an extension of our organ senses now. How will a world in which Things Come to Us and We Dont Go to Things anymore affect us cognitively long-term?
1. Television/cable (absent a TiVo type device), things come to you (ads and programming were fixed and you had to conform to their schedule back in the not-so-old days). Early 2000s, we could download content (illegally), we could pay for Netflix to send us DVDs of our choosing, and the algorithm was benevolent: its recommendations were superb. Russian and French directors I positively rated -- ratings 1 through 5 stars plus a written review were permitted back then -- opened my world to suggestions for other movies that I got to select. Today, Netflix/HBO/etc display a limited UI set of options, highly hyped shows and movies shown repeatedly, and it now Comes To You. You have a tiny bit of choice, but not much.
2. Google search. Before, it was a resource for you to customize and find what you wanted: information about medicine, a product, or a store. Now, it Comes To You. You search for thing X, you end up in a rabbit hole of Y and Z topics or things, and a lot of things seem algorithmically generated or manufactured to steer you rather than help you.
There are many many patterns like this, from news searches to even tech problem searches and articles. Don't even get started on product comparisons. It's scary I can't even search on medicine interactions (I add reddit to the search field).
I should add, web sites all have their own mobile app so you get trapped, they can steer you, and you can't control ads, the UI, cut and paste, and so on. Thanks, world in which Things Come to Us now.
Such as it is: a heavy weight on pulling and steering us, and new generations growing up on phones not knowing it could be different.
Phones are an extension of our organ senses now. How will a world in which Things Come to Us and We Dont Go to Things anymore affect us cognitively long-term?