I’m starting to wonder what the real benefit even is anymore. Between the technofeudal landscape we live in, where billionaires own the means of communication, data is constantly mined for profit, and surveillance is baked into every layer, it feels like I’m standing at the beach, using my bare hands to push back an endless tide.
Even when I take the so‑called “liberated” path through Linux, self‑hosting, and privacy tools, it often feels futile. The web itself is poisoned. Browsers are turning into tracking engines. Sites rely on manipulation and dark patterns. Social media is full of misinformation and ragebait.
Even open-source projects are being pulled under corporate influence (ex: Firefox adoption of AI).
It feels exhausting to route around a web that’s already been captured.
So I’m asking myself: what’s the point? Why not just step away?
Why not trade the illusion of digital control for actual peace, get a dumb phone, a CD player, and check out books, movies, music, and games from the library as my entertainment?
Does anyone else feel this way? Have you found ways to reconnect with technology?
Yeah im currently on a sabbatical and I dont think I will go back to working in tech.
But ive been working with it for 25 years in different roles. Im just tired of seeing the same thing being reinvented again and again under different names.
I dont feel excited about micro services or AI or blockchain. Its just more and more complexity all the time and its exhausting, not interesting.
Also the culture has changed. It used to be a fun profession for figuring out how to write the code to solve something. Now its telling agents what to do, and pressure to always work hard.
It wasnt like that before. The company needed your skills and they couldnt push or replace people very easily. Which meant they treated you well and didnt stress you.
It depends on your level of expertise. It is still the case for a good senior technician. They unfortunately don’t grow on trees and the better the guy the more he’s dancing on the nose of his working environment.