Why the present doesn’t need us

Three news this week give us a glimpse of the digitally-enabled gloomy future that’s lurking in front on us. Did I say enabled? Because, in truth, it is rather a disabling future, one in which we are irrelevant meat in matrix-like pods.

First: The car of the future is a car that you won’t own and you won’t drive, but wow! It’s nice, isn’t it?

It is still to be seen if it is a car that will take you to where you want to go or it will be someone else who decide. But even if it takes you where you decide, convenience is not all.

Second: In case you think that buying is still a possibility to control what you own, forget about it. As long as your things are connected, and everything will be connected (do you remember?), you do not actually own them anymore. Therefore, It will be someone else who will decide what they do or don’t do.

Oh, and Third: Beware with what you think, because privacy is finally sentenced to death. The big powerful company that was supposed to be the last advocate of privacy, has given up. C’est fini. Big brother is happily watching you.

Twenty years ago now, Bill Joy announced that the future didn’t need us… And it seems Bill Joy’s future has grown up and become our young adult present.

No, no, no. I do not want to be pessimistic. I am sorry. I struggle to embrace the new religion of Pinkeroptimism, but it is very difficult. And who knows? Maybe it doesn’t matter after all, because very likely this is not going to last a lot more.

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Featured Image: Tim Cook

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