Rejecting big tech
Now, I know how this seems like every other post on Bearblog so far, but I’m not here to whine about anything, in fact, this is just my journey into breaking out of what I put myself in.
A few months back, I realized that Youtube’s “Downloads” feature was moved to the premium subscription. This ticked me off, really badly. I had fond memories as a kid regarding it— I used to download as many videos as I can before going onto Google Earth to imagine traveling. This wasted so much Wi-Fi, that I was the reason for many “no Wi-Fi weeks”. I felt so bad, I even tried deleting the downloads to bring back some of the Wi-Fi!
The removal rang a bell, “enshittification”. I wasn’t too surprised. I mean, this is the same company who make you sit there and wait for two 30s ADs roll by so you can watch your favorite Youtuber complain about those ADs. But all this was said already. So, I won’t bore you with rehashing what you’ve heard time and time again.
I was thinking to myself recently— What can I do? Do I have to just suck it up? No!
I have been beginning my departure of “Big Tech”. I have a Spotify account that I plan on abandoning for MP3, I am aware that MP3’s do negatively impact the quality, but honestly? I don’t care. I think it is worth it instead of feeding my money into a corporation that tries to steal your listens with AI.
For my OS, I have been planning to switch to a Linux distro. Not sure which, but I want versatility. Aesthetics mean a lot to me, and I plan on picking one that focuses on that, but obviously keeping optimizations in mind. Who wants a slow computer?
Though, I do have Steam games. And the compatibility worries me. I think before switching, I’ll make a spreadsheet seeing which games of mine are incompatible, and I will prioritize completing them first. Linux is getting more popular recently, so I think it won’t be tooo many.
Camera talk, now! I really have been thinking of getting a nifty one. I have a heat(?) camera currently, but it produces low quality images, but hey, not too bad, I suppose. Though, It’s quite difficult taking a photo that is easy to make anything out of it when you're in a dim room, but not too bad!
On the social media end, I plan on deactivating a handful of my accounts by 2030. The longtime is due to my social network. I am quite shut-in, and that won’t help me too much in the long run if I were to pursue my passions… And I have current friends who speak to me on platforms like Instagram. I think the primary apps I want gone are Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. I do not use the latter two often, but I do not want any ties to them. I think having Youtube, and some texting apps is sufficient. Pinterest doesn’t count!
I wonder if anyone who is reading this has done this before, and how did it go? I hope Well.
Thank you for reading!