The Tech Industry Fails Us
Tech for the greater good does not exist
The tech industry claims a culture of inclusivity, innovation, and changing the world. This is bullshit.
Failing upward, merging together, and serving the shareholder have become the hallmarks of the tech industry. And no matter how many times founders say that their product serves the greater good or solves an issue in society, the end goal is money, growth, and the establishment of an industry to benefit themselves.
The tech bubble has been ballooning toward bursting for quite some time. We aren’t quite at dotcom era levels of inflation, but there’s only so many face filters and “Uber for blank” we can sustain.
So enough with the idealistic, bombastic language used when introducing tech. It’s not revolutionary, or courageous.
I’m not against technology and software that solves small problems (or doesn’t solve a problem at all). Technology is a great way to connect or distract people. You may enjoy turning your lights off with your phone or telling a voice-activated speaker to play your favorite song while you cook. We all know how cool it is to be able to summon your car to drive to you. There is nothing wrong with pursuing these frivolous and “fun” things, but call it what it is.
In fact, I’d be much more likely to buy a product that touts it’s newest features in the following ways:
It’s your favorite feature from our rival, just a little different!
We’re trying this out because it’s apparently popular, but it probably won’t take.
This feature isn’t really necessary, it’s just really cool.
The Tech Industry are no longer the ones who “Think Different”
The tech industry has had chances to be better than the very corporations they eschew, but often the end result is that they become big enough to join the ranks of those corporations or literally get absorbed by them.
Capitalism is partly to blame here. The viscious cycle of VC funding, going public, and becoming a corporation is built entirely on the foundation of what capitalism in America is designed to do — make the rich, richer, and ignore the common person, or consumer.
So be honest! You are not truly trying to change the world if you wish go public and answer to shareholders. Aside from the affect it has on catering to the customer, it also cuts founders off at the knee.
Nothing illustrates this better than the initial lukewarm responses to the executive order on immigration. Seeing as many of these executives work with the president on his “Economic Advisory Board” orhis “Manufacturing Jobs Initiative,” the ability to be truly outspoken is neutered by their very work with him.
This isn’t new either. Facebook and Google profited off fake news and didn’t accept the consequences until it was too late. Apple, Microsoft, and Google would all benefit from a proposal to slash the rate to repatriate cash outside the country under the president. Elon Musk, for all his awesomeness and dedication to the environment, now offers tepid responses to human rights issues such as, “a Muslim ban is the not the best way.” Basically, our current president has turned him into a “crony capitalist”
Startups are just “cooler” corporations
Startup culture is a filter on the same picture of corporate priorities.
Sure, the work is exciting and the atmosphere is interesting, but venture capitalists don’t make investments to donate to a good cause, they do so to earn a return on their investments. So when startups use venture capital to fund their idea, they start the race in the red. They owe an explanation and plan for their ideas to the people who invested in them. They have to become profitable before too long, or else the track ends.
Twitter is a perfect example of this. The service has proven invaluable to capturing on-the-ground, raw journalism in real time. But if you read any business report, it will say the company is doomed despite forth quarter revenue of $717 million and active user growth of 11% from the previous year, simply because it missed investor expectations of $740 million. It seems growth is not enough, it has to be exponential growth. The public good that Twitter serves does not matter in the end—only that it be more like Facebook.
The same story happens with Apple. The company continually outpaces revenue from the previous year, yet product lines that customers appreciate are being shut down, no doubt to focus resources on products that will grab the attention of shareholders and investors.
The chase of profit and growth when it is not necessary hardly seems revolutionary or courageous, it’s profiteering at its finest.
There’s a gap between VC and Nonprofits.
Where are the companies and investors who simply want to do good?
I think they are are out there. In principle, many of these executives really do say (and even do) the right thing by pledging to hire refugees or donate to the ACLU. But the kowtowing to VC’s, and later, shareholders, puts a damper on the “do good” ideal.
And how “free” can a service be if your data is what’s monetized? On one hand, it’s why we have services that are relatively “free” like Facebook, Google, and Twitter. But we’ve been conditioned to get these services without giving much to anything out of our pockets, so in order for these companies to get started they need capital. And gaining capital adds more cooks to the kitchen, which can really complicate the recipe.
There’s a gap between companies donating to causes and nonprofits and making products that need to turn a profit. Where are the companies that make products for the greater good without any plans to ever turn a huge profit? Tech that delivers food to the hungry instead of the already wealthy. Tech that helps inform the public of voting records and positions in a clean and usable way. Tech that provides electricity, clean water, and shelter to places that need it. All of these possibilities exist, but in less helpful ways that cater to the already wealthy.
Innovation should always exist and thrive — and the human spirit will always push that type of work forward, but the tech industry does little to turn that innovation into something truly world-changing. And frankly, that’s a shame.
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