I feel completely out of control and it feels like no matter how hard I try, no matter how diligently I plan things out, everything everywhere get worse all at the same time. If my tools were working N out out of M today, they will work N-1 out of M tomorrow and it's impossible for anything to get better.
It feels like any electronics I interact with are maddening nowadays. Yesterday, me and my partner needed to set up a timer for 1 hour, I set up it through our dumb kitchen timer, and my partner was wondering why I didn't use my phone timer. Look you don't understand EVEN LOOKING AT MY PHONE is a fucking nightmare at this point because there are going to be N notifications that need my attention.
> build a cabin somewhere in a small rural area and throw my electronics in the trash
That's a reasonable response to what we're seeing today.
We are effectively in a phase of history where the folks that are good at making money have abstracted most of the rest of the economy beyond the point where it harms the fundamental purpose of human activity in the first place.
For example, car companies are actually finance companies that use cars as the substrate (I almost said "vehicle") for extracting more money from consumers.
We are being fought by large AIs (corporations are AIs that use humans for neurons.)
To a first approximation, "Tune in, turn on, and drop out." is a good response.
Take a breather, re-examine your relations with the economy and technology, design a better life, and go live that.
Go to a theme park: buy a ticket. Then have the option to buy a fast-pass otherwise you will be in line all day. But wait, that only covers certain attractions and other ones need a faster fast-pass. [1]
Food delivery: pay a fee to the delivery network, separate tip for the driver. Then some places will hide a fee by raising the prices of things ordered through the delivery network vs. calling in. Then how much you tip might determine if your food arrives warm or cold. [2]
I've started patronizing businesses and products that don't nickel and dime at every step. I guess the easiest thing to do is vote with our wallets.
[1] https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/genie/ [2] https://www.businessinsider.com/doordash-tips-orders-take-lo...
This is a bit off-topic I guess, but I am growing so frustrated with dark patterns on the web and in life in general that I really want to build a cabin somewhere in a small rural area and throw my electronics in the trash. Just pay for basic services like electric. And only talk to people who I already know.
Buying a car? Full of dark patterns. Gap insurance, bs fees, bs options. Buying internet? Full of dark patterns. Bundles cheaper than just net. WiFi for extra charge. Web is just all dark patterns turned to 100.
Bleh.