Tech is Tool.
"There is no content or tech solution to your problems, Adi" ~ [me to myself, 2026].
Technology used to be fun. We used to be able to power on our PCs, use them for specific tasks and then power them off again when we didn't need them. Most of the technology I owned growing up still required 'AA' batteries to work, and were too rudimentary to multitask let alone replace my need to think and make decisions. All of it was optional, and when I did use it, I actually enjoyed it.
These days having a laptop and phone is not only essential, but potentially the difference between life and death. Banking? Bank App. Entertainment? Netflix. Gaming? GeForce Now. Music? Logic Pro and Spotify. Validation? Instagram. A thousand apps in one device, and an amalgamated overload of information and decisions that need to be made. Not to mention that we've been successfully convinced that our lives need constant optimisation.
Enough has been said about the enshittification of technology, notably the internet. Enough has also been said about "detoxing", "bringing back old technology", and "embracing boredom". I have absolutely nothing to add to this conversation. Rather, all I want to say is that I have realised that there are no tech solutions to my life. The notion that we need a phone to exist is a lie. They are ultimately tools, and the best tech, in my opinion, is that which does its job, and then gets out of your f**king way.
In memory of my childhood - a time when Pokemon cards were cheap, when we traded MP3s over bluetooth, and when Adobe Photoshop didn't require a subscription - here is everything I miss dearly about the early 2000s:
- Playing split screen Call of Duty on my Xbox 360 with my neighbours.
- Loading CDs into my Toshiba laptop's disc tray to use an encyclopaedia or write a document.
- Posting random memes to Google Plus and sharing them in online communities.
- Texting my friends on Google Hangouts to figure out homework.
- Sending emails to long-distance friends to share life updates.
- Playing Road Rash and Crazy Taxi on my computer.
- Buying new movies on DVD to watch with my family on our flat screen TV.
- Watching BeyBlade reviews on YouTube in 240p.
- Carrying a walkman and SkullCandy headphones to listen to my Dad's MP3s.
- Recording videos with the house Camcorder.
- Making phone calls on my Moto Razr.
- Video calling Relatives through Skype.
- Making random PPTs about cars with a thousand flashy transition effects.
- Playing Angry Birds and Temple Run on my tablet while on a road trip.
- Scheduling time to watch TV because Phineas and Ferb only airs at 6:30pm every Tuesday on the Disney Channel.
- Taking photos of plants with a digital camera and then getting them printed and framed.
- Showing off my digital watch with a built-in stopwatch and step tracker.
- **Feeling like I can exist, and that I'm worth something, without a device in my pocket, a million followers on the internet, and a thousand different products, opinions or pieces of advices being pushed onto me.