I think the challenge of the PG essay (which to me is defined by an attempt to take the particulars of a cultural moment, romanticize the individual, and attempt generalize toward universal laws and principles) is that they are too idealistic for this cultural moment

There was a time when software was closer to a freer market and there was room for anyone to be the next google. But this moment is deeply political, tactical, and the existing incumbents have so much power that learning the intricacies of their systems may be make or break for any of your goals (e.g. how to advertise on google, or get featured on the app store, how to secure a government contract, etc). It isn't a time for abstract generalities (like chasing "golden ages")

At least I don't think anybody is or should be asking how to build "great" stuff anymore, great hasn't won in many categories. Most things that were great were so only to gain a moat and then enshittify.

I'd be really curious if he's happy where the tech-world is now, if he sees it as an oligopoly, if he sees it as meritocratic, and if he sees any hope of it getting better.

> Humans evolved in an atmosphere containing roughly 280–300 ppm of CO₂. The average annual increase over the past decade has been about 2.6 ppm per year, with 2024 recording a 3.5 ppm rise.

So currently we're at 428 with 3.5 increase per year, yeah, that's scary if it doesn't slow down soon. Makes you wonder about what indirect health side-effects that could have on us.

Great, well deepseek is free for most use and certainly won't be helping the US military any time soon. Since you aren't paying them you aren't really supporting anything bad they may do down the line.

I canceled before this, but I definitely can’t see myself renewing chatgpt because of this and so much other shadiness.

I just don’t want them to succeed anymore, and I don’t think there’s really any world where they regain my trust.

And to be clear I don’t expect my actions do make a difference, I just would feel dirty now that they have gotten into bed with this administration. Plus I should probably assume I’d have zero privacy now too…

All the more reason for us to get out an actual implementation of age verification that IS anonymous first, so that when a law is pushed for or passed, companies can adopt the anonymous implementation.