Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Tech, you were my brother, and I loved you

But the future doesn't look bright for us

Big Tech went from "Don't be evil" to "We are evil."
Big Tech went from "Don't be evil" to "We are evil."

Dear Hipster:

What was your favorite hipster moment during the royal wedding?

— Erin

Not watching it.

Dear Hipster:

Sponsored
Sponsored

Did you hear Yanny or Laurel?

— Derek

I don’t get what all the fuss is about. Like many people, I heard only a soft voice singing Cat Stevens’s “Morning has Broken” to the tune of Elliot Smith’s “Pictures of Me” in the voice of Steven Tyler from early Aerosmith songs.

Dear Hipster:

What’s one thing we need a word for?

— Dana

The pain of realizing something you love about the world — like malls or books on paper — is inevitably doomed to obsolescence. I’ll be taking suggestions at [email protected].

Dear Hipster:

Why so hard on Facebook and Silicon Valley the other week? I thought hipsters were all about their iPhones and Instagrams.

— Seth D.

The relationship between hipsters and tech, once pure puppy love, is these days getting rocky. In the twenty-aughts, the first iterations of the modern hipster evolved from the emo scene kids of the Y2K era at the same time as the industrial giants of Silicon Valley made their first strides towards future world dominance. It seemed a match made in heaven. The hipsters were doing themselves quite the concern vis-a-vis the intersection of ethos and commerce, with sustainability, fair trade, artisan everything, and buying local being the ways and means of sociocultural revolution. Tech companies wooed the hipsters with whispered sweet nothings about “bringing people together,” and “sharing.” Look no further than Google’s unofficial motto, “Don’t be evil,” for the perfect expression of Silicon Valley’s purported nobility.

But now, Google has officially axed the motto, and we in-the-know types have long suspected they and their tech giant brethren put on the proverbial Black Hat some time ago. Step by step, it seems like Silicon Valley is going all Skynet on us, and there appears to be no going back.

More than anything it feels like a betrayal. This must be how Obi Wan Kenobi felt at the end of Episode III. You were supposed to bring balance to the world, Silicon Valley, not meddle in its affairs for your own dark gains so you could monetize humanity and auction it off to the highest bidder. You could have used your powers for good. You could have made more stuff like Beat Saber — the new VR game where the only objective is to hit floating blocks with a virtual lightsaber in time to heavy dubstep rhythms. I am not kidding, that’s an actual game, and it looks awesome. Instead, we got spyware, data collection, unecological shopping regimes, and TVs that listen to our conversations.

You were my brother, tech, and I loved you, but the future doesn’t look bright for us.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Half Hour Late lives up to their name at the Template

Deadhead-inflected band right at home in Ocean Beach
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Big Tech went from "Don't be evil" to "We are evil."
Big Tech went from "Don't be evil" to "We are evil."

Dear Hipster:

What was your favorite hipster moment during the royal wedding?

— Erin

Not watching it.

Dear Hipster:

Sponsored
Sponsored

Did you hear Yanny or Laurel?

— Derek

I don’t get what all the fuss is about. Like many people, I heard only a soft voice singing Cat Stevens’s “Morning has Broken” to the tune of Elliot Smith’s “Pictures of Me” in the voice of Steven Tyler from early Aerosmith songs.

Dear Hipster:

What’s one thing we need a word for?

— Dana

The pain of realizing something you love about the world — like malls or books on paper — is inevitably doomed to obsolescence. I’ll be taking suggestions at [email protected].

Dear Hipster:

Why so hard on Facebook and Silicon Valley the other week? I thought hipsters were all about their iPhones and Instagrams.

— Seth D.

The relationship between hipsters and tech, once pure puppy love, is these days getting rocky. In the twenty-aughts, the first iterations of the modern hipster evolved from the emo scene kids of the Y2K era at the same time as the industrial giants of Silicon Valley made their first strides towards future world dominance. It seemed a match made in heaven. The hipsters were doing themselves quite the concern vis-a-vis the intersection of ethos and commerce, with sustainability, fair trade, artisan everything, and buying local being the ways and means of sociocultural revolution. Tech companies wooed the hipsters with whispered sweet nothings about “bringing people together,” and “sharing.” Look no further than Google’s unofficial motto, “Don’t be evil,” for the perfect expression of Silicon Valley’s purported nobility.

But now, Google has officially axed the motto, and we in-the-know types have long suspected they and their tech giant brethren put on the proverbial Black Hat some time ago. Step by step, it seems like Silicon Valley is going all Skynet on us, and there appears to be no going back.

More than anything it feels like a betrayal. This must be how Obi Wan Kenobi felt at the end of Episode III. You were supposed to bring balance to the world, Silicon Valley, not meddle in its affairs for your own dark gains so you could monetize humanity and auction it off to the highest bidder. You could have used your powers for good. You could have made more stuff like Beat Saber — the new VR game where the only objective is to hit floating blocks with a virtual lightsaber in time to heavy dubstep rhythms. I am not kidding, that’s an actual game, and it looks awesome. Instead, we got spyware, data collection, unecological shopping regimes, and TVs that listen to our conversations.

You were my brother, tech, and I loved you, but the future doesn’t look bright for us.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Next Article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.