So let’s talk about the internet. Actually wait, let’s start with an anecdote of little Scary when I was still in middle school. My brother and I had saved up money, and pooled it to buy a laptop with help from our grandparents. We used it to write papers and play games. I often turned off the WiFi adapter because I rarely need to use the internet on that computer. I didn’t often browse reddit or watch youtube videos. My laptop was a versatile tool that didn’t require the internet to make it better.
Sometime after then, but before now, my mindset changed. Now my computer needs to be constantly connected to the internet, not just for the aforementioned reddit browsing, but also to do things like SSH into my pi or the school servers for schoolwork, or to save data for the steam games that I play. I now see a computer without the internet as a limited, weak tool. Almost all of the activities that I perform now require an internet connection (meta: including this blog post, obviously). So what changed?
Well first of all, I started using more features on my computer, but I don’t think that’s everything. The games I used to buy were discs that I would put into my computer’s disc reader, which would allow me to play. Now very few laptops have disc readers. Before, I Had the storage space to put everything I ever wanted on my computer, with no worries about size constraints. Now I have to choose between files to save locally on my computer while the rest of my files are saved to whichever cloud service is easiest. I think that as new devices come out, they are designed with cloud services in mind, which in turn makes us more reliant on cloud services.
Take my surface for example. The ports on it include microSD, thunderbolt, a usb port, and a headphone jack. This is more than enough for me, and I’ve actually never felt too strained by the lack of ports on my computer. Even though I love wiring up a second screen or additional keyboard to my device, the truth is I very rarely need to connect a cable other than a charger to it. I access my homework files from online repositories, or by accessing the school servers themselves. In other words, my computer is really just an efficient portal for accessing other computers. Very little important computing is done on my machine, rather, it is just used to instruct other machines in what to do. And smartphones are extremely guilty of being portals to access as opposed to doing things themselves. So what does this mean?
The Microsoft Article, by Brad Smith, talks about how their goal is to empower people to do more, but they realize that with this power, there is also a need to protect people. The truth is that in today’s world, the most important thing a tech company can produce is trust. No large tech company would be able to survive if they lost the trust of their users, and companies are constantly trying to ensure that their users are protected so that they do not lose that trust. I think that the best way to keep this system in check is to keep track of how large companies like Microsoft are using our information. If they are selling it to the highest bidder for advertisements, that may be a problem. But the best security against these processes is knowing that if a lot of people find out Microsoft has not protected their privacy, they will have the opportunity to switch to a new company. This way, Microsoft must keep trust because it is good for business, and what’s good for business is what will happen.
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