Conscious Technology

Mark Zuckerberg appeared in a video referenced in the tweet I mentioned saying that smart glasses will replace cell phones by 2030. He couldn’t be more wrong (and at the same time, I hope he is).

The mainstream tech industry is not the way to go. They just want more of your time and attention.

Fortunately, there are other tech companies working in a better direction, like @daylightco or @thelightphone.

Either way, you already have the best technology ever invented: your… https://t.co/EvqMMzrDMY

— Alberto Gallego (@albertogalca) September 30, 2024

This is exactly great for me to explain an idea that I had approximately one year ago and that I wrote down in my notebook.

What is clear about this type of people is that they have lost their way. They are very comfortable in their own bubble of madness, without realizing that people out there want to live better, not dwell in their damn virtual worlds.

Neither he, nor Bill Gates, and if you allow me, nor Elon Musk are contributing anything directly to society, nor making life easier for any of the people who inhabit this planet.

After all, they are politicians and have their own interests, which of course are not aligned with yours. Technology per se is good; I don’t think otherwise. Thanks to the advances we have had throughout history, we live much more comfortably, safely, and I think happier (I cannot guarantee this).

The one to blame in the first instance is not technology. That would be like blaming a screwdriver for being a bad tool. You really have to look at the people behind that technology, as they have been abusing the power that has been granted to them for years, and their incentives have mainly been two: to make more money and to do so at the expense of your attention. And they do not hesitate to apply manipulative techniques to achieve it.

The modern problem of this century is clearly mobile phone addiction. It is not unusual to see that in recent years, the numbers of people experiencing depression, anxiety, or feelings of loneliness have grown exponentially. How can this happen if we are more connected than ever?

Partly because we spend less time outside and more time in front of a screen every day. Life does not happen on a screen, nor will it ever happen there. This is where I introduce the two concepts that I mentioned above:

The distinction between conscious and unconscious technology.

When you think of technology, you think of something that makes your life easier. For example, when you meet your friends in a place you don’t know how to get to, you open Google Maps and follow the route it provides. You will almost certainly arrive at your destination. This is how all technology should be: with a specific utility

One tool, one purpose.

Conscious technologies all operate in a similar manner, and since they seek utility as their primary goal, we can also refer to them as technologies of utility.

Almost all of them function in the following way:

• They aim to make your life easier.
• A key metric is how quickly it can assist you with one specific action.
• They only contact you if you want them to. You have ownership of that action.
• You pay to use them, and that’s how they make money.
• They are created by individuals (probably a group of them).
• They don’t care how you live your life, but they don’t want you to live at double the pace, either. All their features are designed for a normal pace of life.

Some examples of applications of this type that I use daily include Halide, NetNewsWire, Liftin, Wikipedia, Bear, Obsidian, and Google Maps.

On the other hand, there is unconscious technology. As I said before, technology is neither good nor bad; it is the people behind it that determine its nature. Their incentives are clear: seek your attention at all costs. That is why we can refer to this type of technology of attention.

Like utility technology, they follow a fairly clear pattern:

• They seek your time.
• The key metric is the time you spend inside the app.
• They try to contact you through various channels: email, push notifications, WhatsApp, SMS, etc.
• They make money by advertising or selling you seasonal products. That’s why they constantly need your attention.
• They are created by big companies. They pursue growth at all costs.
• They want you to consume content at 2x speed (you can use 2x in audios, podcasts, videos, music, etc.).

Some of these could be Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Tinder, Booking or most e-commerce sites.

Like everything in life, nothing is black and white. This distinction is simply one of identification.

There are people who can make a living through social networks and create their art.

There are e-commerce businesses where it makes sense to be seasonal.

There are great companies that do good for the world (like Patagonia).

There are couples who met on a dating app and are very happy.

But that does not mean that the model is corrupt at its core, or that the incentives are not bad from the start. This model is causing health problems in the population, and for most people it is detrimental to their well-being.

So we need to be critical of it and look for models where people can prosper without compromising their health.

It is important to reduce the use of this technology and to prioritise the use of alternatives - technology that supports your life, not technology that bombards it.

Even in a field full of weeds, a beautiful flower can still grow. But that does not mean that the weeds have not to be removed.

Organizations like HumanaTech and companies like Daylight or The Light Phone are promoting and creating technology that doesn’t fight for your attention.

In a few years, this type of technology may be considered a health hazard and subject to special regulations.

Until that day comes, I would love to discover more companies like these around the planet. If you know of any, please let me know. I have a similar project in mind.

Today's recommendations

• Good Taste. “For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you.”
• Dead Simple Sites. I love directories and this one in particular is so beautiful. I’m very minimalistic with my project, and this is a huge inspiration when you want to design that way.
• Coming home. “I’m less interested in ownership than I am in context. Writing on my own site has very different affordances: I’m not typing into a little box, but writing in a text file. I’m not surrounded by other people’s thinking, but located within my own body of work.”

natural.fm is out

The modern world pulls us toward cities, with their constant noise and rush. We often don’t notice how wildlife changes around us, how plants grow, or how the seasons pass. This disconnect makes us a little less like animals and a bit more like robots.

However, since I know the modern world has its good sides too, I’ve created one more small thing I’d like to share with you. It’s called natural.fm, and it’s simply a radio of natural sounds for those days when nature feels far from home.

Is it ideal? Of course not. Nothing replaces spending time in nature, just like a vitamin D pill can’t replace soaking up the sun.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not sometimes helpful to play natural sounds in the background, relax while reading, or just escape the noise of cars outside your apartment window.

And with this project I close a block of several projects related to silence. It all started with Kalm, which is open to everyone if you are traveling and want to discover a quiet place around the world.

The adventure continued with the Silencezzz newsletter and finally ended with Natural FM. From now on, I will take some time off from creating new projects. I have many ideas, but I want to take some time to share these projects and others like Creare before adding more to my list.