Nov 26, 2023·edited Nov 26, 2023Liked by HumbleRando
Perhaps I should be glad to have lost desire for IT work around 2015; granted my reasons were unrelated to politics (computing doesn't have the wonder and excitement it used to, since available PCs are already powerful enough for nearly any task an ordinary user can imagine; and I'm not enough of a gamer to care about maximum power, with 9 years already on my main PC), but just as well.
I still occasionally fix spare PSUs in my spare time, and I'm still technically a staff member on Hardware Insights (a small site which mainly reviewed PSUs and cases); but even then, there are now enough good PSU reviews that it's hard for a small site to hack it (our last reviews were in 2017), and I've even confessed in the forum there that I don't like working on computers anymore.
Maybe it doesn't help that HWI has been an all-boys club for its entire run (us small operations have to work with people who already have the skills), but I don't think that's a major problem.
The only “modern” computing development I care much about is that at least Linux and free software have reached the point that they pretty much work for mainstream tasks, rather than being the barely‑functional curiosities they started as. (The pain of recent Windows versions is also making Linux more attractive than before; Windows 7 was the last version I used myself.) I've long had distaste for proprietary software in general – sure it gets there quicker (which was vital during the past rapid changes in computer usage), but it creates a monster in the process. Even on Win7 I made sure to use mostly FOSS (and multiplatform) applications – and failing that, at least applications using standard file formats – so that my inevitable eventual switch would be relatively painless. (XnView MP is the sole remaining proprietary application on my home PC, as I have yet to find a stable FOSS replacement with comparable functionality.) Specialty applications (such as accounting software at Mum's office) seem to be the major hurdle now, but that's all the more reason to go Linux (or FreeBSD or whatever tickles your fancy) in the mainstream – specialty developers will only move once Linux or (however unlikely) other free OSes have the mainstream presence to justify the effort…
Basically the last major hardware change of notice to the average user was affordable SSDs of useful capacity…though I'm still more fond of HDDs than I am of cars. Sure you can tinker with cars, but I don't want to; while HDDs are inescapably the slowest key part of the PC, they're still among the pinnacle of mechanical devices, and modern HDDs are reasonably quiet (unlike cars), consume minimal energy, and if they crash it only destroys the data (rather than injuring or killing people).
I mostly get around on an electric scooter (not quite as green as a bicycle, but still night-and-day compared to cars; and I'm more confident about making emergency stops on it than a bicycle).
By most measures I'm probably a more successful “environmentalist” than anyone I know, even if I keep quiet about it most of the time…
Perhaps I should be glad to have lost desire for IT work around 2015; granted my reasons were unrelated to politics (computing doesn't have the wonder and excitement it used to, since available PCs are already powerful enough for nearly any task an ordinary user can imagine; and I'm not enough of a gamer to care about maximum power, with 9 years already on my main PC), but just as well.
I still occasionally fix spare PSUs in my spare time, and I'm still technically a staff member on Hardware Insights (a small site which mainly reviewed PSUs and cases); but even then, there are now enough good PSU reviews that it's hard for a small site to hack it (our last reviews were in 2017), and I've even confessed in the forum there that I don't like working on computers anymore.
Maybe it doesn't help that HWI has been an all-boys club for its entire run (us small operations have to work with people who already have the skills), but I don't think that's a major problem.
The only “modern” computing development I care much about is that at least Linux and free software have reached the point that they pretty much work for mainstream tasks, rather than being the barely‑functional curiosities they started as. (The pain of recent Windows versions is also making Linux more attractive than before; Windows 7 was the last version I used myself.) I've long had distaste for proprietary software in general – sure it gets there quicker (which was vital during the past rapid changes in computer usage), but it creates a monster in the process. Even on Win7 I made sure to use mostly FOSS (and multiplatform) applications – and failing that, at least applications using standard file formats – so that my inevitable eventual switch would be relatively painless. (XnView MP is the sole remaining proprietary application on my home PC, as I have yet to find a stable FOSS replacement with comparable functionality.) Specialty applications (such as accounting software at Mum's office) seem to be the major hurdle now, but that's all the more reason to go Linux (or FreeBSD or whatever tickles your fancy) in the mainstream – specialty developers will only move once Linux or (however unlikely) other free OSes have the mainstream presence to justify the effort…
Basically the last major hardware change of notice to the average user was affordable SSDs of useful capacity…though I'm still more fond of HDDs than I am of cars. Sure you can tinker with cars, but I don't want to; while HDDs are inescapably the slowest key part of the PC, they're still among the pinnacle of mechanical devices, and modern HDDs are reasonably quiet (unlike cars), consume minimal energy, and if they crash it only destroys the data (rather than injuring or killing people).
I mostly get around on an electric scooter (not quite as green as a bicycle, but still night-and-day compared to cars; and I'm more confident about making emergency stops on it than a bicycle).
By most measures I'm probably a more successful “environmentalist” than anyone I know, even if I keep quiet about it most of the time…