Tech as a bubble
In this blogpost, tech = software tech, often cloud providers, developers, dev advocates, etc
It's undeniable that technology has imprinted its mark on the modern world. With every waking day, new innovations are born, each one boasting features that outdo the previous. The more I participate in tech communities, the more I notice a gap.
Be it participating into tech forums, Conferences, or casual conversations, I often find myself surrounded by debates of "Product A vs Product B". These debates, while animated, frequently sidestep the essential question: "For this particular task or objective, which product serves better?" Instead, it seems the community is often enraptured by the tech itself rather than what it can achieve.
I've always believed that technology should be a medium, a bridge to achieve something greater, and not the destination. When we place technology on a pedestal, making it the end goal, we lose sight of its purpose – to make human lives better, more comfortable, and more connected. Tech should be all about being a "solution" to a problem.. it seems we got side stepped into solving the problems tech has.
Instead of debating whether iOS or Android is superior, we started our conversations with, "For creating accessible apps for visually impaired users, which platform offers better tools?" or "Considering environmental sustainability, which phone manufacturer has a more eco-friendly production process?" By re-framing these conversations, we shift the focus from mere tech worship to meaningful, purposeful discourse.
It seems a bubble; and there is a bubble nature of tech communities. In these bubbles, ideas, products, or methods can become echo chambers, drowning out external perspectives and innovative solutions. By continually reinforcing the same ideas, we stifle creativity and hinder the progression of technology in ways that can benefit all of humanity.
At my guest lecture at Saint Louis University, someone asked what immediate action can I take to help or work with either UNICEF, or Digital Public Goods. After telling a few things, I couldn't stop pleading to students to think of Sustainable Development Goods and how anything they work on is advancing that. Is it following the 9 indicators of DPGs? if what you build solves a critical problem, can it solve it for those who need it the most? Can the most vulnerable use it without seeing the darkness of new age tech?
Anyway, random ramble came after joining a "Tech community hang out" Twitter space, and I was thinking, what's even a tech community? I can see a Fedora Project Community, a container community, a Kubernetes community, but in general tech community? Becase people working on software tech are so highly privileged now, it's high time we change our approach. Technology is incredible, but it's what we do with it that defines its true value. Let's shift from a myopic view, from treating technology as an end goal, and instead embrace it as a versatile tool. Let's steer our "tech community" conversations towards sustainability, inclusivity, and real-world impact. After all, isn't that what technology's promise was all about?