Why We Hate Technology Now
That's exactly what they want
Remember when we used to love technology?
Remember the before times? When we weren’t dealing with:
Enshittified tech that doesn’t do anything new, just does the old things worse.
Tech that used to be affordable suddenly becoming prohibitively expensive.
The removal of the human touch from every point in the tech build and sales cycles.
The result? Options are shrinking and jobs are disappearing as customer costs and stock prices increase.
And if you don’t like it, you can talk to the chatbot, which will assure you that it takes your concerns very seriously.
But hold on just a minute. Let me put on my tin foil hat.
This isn’t the tech industry tripping all over itself in a mad rush. When you and I shake our fists at the digital clouds and wonder how an industry so richly rewarded can become so obtuse, we’re asking the wrong question.
Because maybe it’s on purpose. Maybe they want you to hate technology. Maybe they have a plan.
The New Good Old Days
Remember when mobile phones became mobile devices? When Apple put a computer in everyone’s pocket in 2007?
In fact, if you’re old enough to remember when these devices were originally called Pocket PCs, you might also remember the catchphrase that Apple trademarked in 2010.
“There’s an app for that.”
Then, a frothy four years later, there was an app called Yo that would send the message “Yo” to whomever you wanted, whenever you wanted, for whatever reason you wanted. At that point, there was indeed an app for everything, no matter how stupid.
Here’s the thing. Not only do these tech cycles repeat themselves, but the timeline shrinks each time. The mobile app evolution and devolution cycle took seven long years. In 2025, we’re already at the “Yo” stage of the evolution of AI.
It’s the stage for people who hate technology.
Or more specifically, it’s the stage for people who don’t so much use technology as technology uses them.
Ah, now my tin foil hat doesn’t look so silly any more.
The problem is, I think it’s real. And I think it’s really taking hold of our younger generations. The Zs and the As.
Hey kid. You don’t want to download an app? Well hold on, AI is the app for that!
AI Use Cases For the “Agency Deficient”
A couple months ago, I wrote a column about how tech, the internet, definitely social media, and now AI has made us all forget how to get shit done. And at ground zero of the surrender of agency is Gen Z and Gen A. These generations grew up not only surrounded by technology but, unlike Gen X and Gen Y, were also inundated at every turn with easy ways to let technology guide them where technology wanted to take them.
The difference is — put simply and for the most part — Generations X and Y decide what they want and then seek it out, while Generations Z and A are more likely to wait for the algorithms to tell them what they want so they don’t have to seek it out.
There’s a reason they’re called “influencers,” and not “paid pitch people.”
It’s also why old folks complain about how bad recommendation engines are while young folks complain when those recommendation engines aren’t there — or worse, have to be manually thumbed through.
Let’s play this rash generalization out
Why bother deciding if you feel like watching a comedy, action, or drama if TikTok will just let you rage scroll through all those emotions at once?
Why bother downloading an app when you can just yell at your phone until it does something close to what you want?
Why bother learning from history when you can just edit ChatGPT?
Why bother hiring the right people to build and sell tech when all you need is people who can prompt the AI to make best decisions for the company?
Yo!
The Good News Is There’s No Friction Whatsoever!
Life needs a little friction. The best airline pilots will tell you they like a little turbulence under their butt.
The attack on agency is hitting our youngest and most vulnerable generations first. And yes, I know there are bigger problems in society, bigger short-term problems anyway, and I know this is the stuff of Wall-E and science fiction, but did we really expect to wake up one day on a cruise ship sponsored by Walmart?
Or is it more likely that companies are tired of waiting for users to make the choice that’s best for them. It’s happening now. Those use cases are dehumanizing and we’re being lulled into complacency with the promise of a friction-free life.
But don’t worry! If the ramifications and long-term impacts bother you, there will also be an AI to help you cope with that.
Or you can go out there and fold some friction into your life. Maybe even on purpose. Maybe even right now.
By the way, I’m happy to provide all the friction you need. Join my email list and let’s shake our fists at clouds together.
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