5 Tech for Good Companies
Tech gets a bad rap these days, doesn’t it? There is a groundswell of opinion that suggests times were happier in the pre-smartphone era. Sepia infused memories of crosswords, of letters and genuinely candid photos. And, I have to say, I can understand and agree with that perspective.
Next time you walk down a busy high street or idle in a coffee shop, have a glance around and check how many people are glued to their smartphone. Then, check how many are applying filters to images ready for social media or are posing for selfies. It’s crazy, dangerous and a toxic cycle of narcissism.
Consider the wider world in which we inhabit. Phone addiction is a real and powerful thing. Read “Digital Minimalism” by Cal Newport for an in-depth examination of the chemical forces that smartphone addiction catalyses in the brain. If you prefer TV, check out “Social Dilemma” on Netflix.
We are all slaves to tech addiction. The big forces that control tech, think Google, Apple, Facebook and so forth, are all unbelievably affective at using their products as a mechanism of control.
Look at the power of the Facebook algorithm — in its own right, it is powerful to influence elections never mind persuade me to buy a new Under Armour Hoody. The power these tech giants is both unbelievable and unacceptable in equal measures.
This dependency on tech and smartphones as a portal to our lives leaves us vulnerable as a species, too. Very few things now exist on pen and paper or in real, hard copy. This has led to a real boom in cyber hacking; blackmailing wealth transfers or old plain old theft. Look at Manchester United’s recent travails, having had to hand over millions of pounds to an anonymous hacker lest they leak their private data all over the internet.
If that’s not all bad enough, throw into the mix increased suicide levels and revenge porn among other negative manifestations of tech.
That’s all pretty bad, isn’t it?
But it’s not all bad. There is ample good.
Here are 5 examples of tech companies that serve a genuinely good societal purpose:
Wagestream
Payday poverty has become a huge problem in our society, leading to the prevalence of payday loan sharks such as Wonga, who charge exorbitant interest rates to tide the consumer over to payday. I have to say, it was always a bit of a bugbear of mine too — I like to see the wages trickling in daily rather than waiting a whole 30 days.
Wagestream is ethical and allows it’s customers to draw down their salaries on a rolling basis. No more loan sharks. Happier employees.
- ShareThyme
Imagine being in your late 80s and lonely? Sitting alone every day. Loneliness is a huge epidemic in the UK.
ShareThyme helps fix that, connecting over 65s with the young for weekly cooking based meetups. It’s not really about the food, more about the Company…but the food is always a good conduit to forming a bond. It’s a great thing.
Now, having mentioned the nefarious powers that big tech wields, why am I listing Facebook in my top 5?
Having just mentioned a loneliness epidemic, Facebook deserves recognition for connecting the world in a completely new way, all for free. It helps reunite old school friends, forgotten cousins and lets people connect to the world on their own terms.
While it has, at times, lost its way, Facebook is fundamentally still a tech for good platform.
- Proxy Address
Homelessness, incredibly in 2020, is still a significant problem in the UK.
Some people prefer to live a frugal lifestyle and don’t want a fixed address. Have you ever considered, what a headache that must be, though? An inability to receive mail or specify a permanent address must stifle your ability to do or achieve anything in the world.
Proxy Address steps into that gap and provides the homeless with an address at disused council buildings or other suitable vacant premises and solves a huge problem.
- Care Rooms
Imagine being treated in hospital, and then discharged. You aren’t quite right, you feel very weak, shaky and uncertain. But you have no one to look after you, and the hospital needs the bed back.
Can you imagine how scary that must be, caring for yourself even with a support package? CareRooms steps into that void and connects recuperating patients with vacant rooms and prospective hosts.
While our overreliance on big tech is obviously causing some quite devastating effect on our society, let us not forget some platforms have emerged to fly the flag for tech for good. So don’t jump on that tech bashing bandwagon too soon.
