This is the grift economy baby! Everything is a gotcha.
this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2026
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I'm hoping repairable tech is going to become more and more common. So far neither Framework nor Fairphone seem like grifters while some that came before didn't end up fulfilling their promises.
The technologies themselves aren’t grifts, but grifters are notoriously “first-adopters” of new technologies.
I wouldn’t say all “AI” was a grift. Machine learning is a useful tool, like a hammer, it’s just not a magic genie for everything. Always has been, always will be.
Same with blockchain, albeit in a much narrower niche. I do think it’s a terrible system for a widely-used currency, though.
Same with quantum computing. It’s a niche.
The pattern is that Tech Bros inflate something narrowly interesting into a “it’s going to ascend the human race if you give us enough money” FOMO thing.
…And, currently, the next target seems to be space travel.
Again, I emphasize. Very useful in certain niches, like science. Stupendously impractical outside of them.
I hate how "AI" is abused in many ways. But it is a huge help for me transitioning to Linux. It's such a time saver, plus I actually learn from it as I always ask what the commands are for and to explain them to me. Often I can then detect if it's right or wrong and then come up with better alternatives. I'm a bit ashamed to admit this honestly.
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At this point, the only thing that wouldn't be a grift is a proof that P=NP, so that we can break all DRM effortlessly.
The FOSS, for one.
FOSS isn't a "new and emergent technology". The OSI was founded in 1998. Richard Stallman started the FSF in the 80's.
By that metric, llms aren't new either and the blockchain was invented in 2008.
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I think we are in a key moment for change to happen at a big societal level. As others have said the problem isn't any of the technologies listed, it's how they are being exploited and the perception of them maligned by said exploitation.
Capitalism is a big part of this problem. As is the messy elastic way that human society implements change over time. tl;dr - some people will pull society forward, others pull it back a bit. That's the "elasticity" at a macro level.
For most of my life I've witnessed a gradual degradation, a reduction, entropy and resignation. Balance requires that we now leap forward again. I remain hopeful that a great correction is not just inevitable, it's coming in my lifetime.