I've been noticing a trend lately: the number of people who are getting sick and tired of technology.

Consider this article in the Washington Post in December entitled Techno-skeptics’ objection growing louder. Apparently the new "counterculture" movement involves tuning out, literally. The article profiled a woman named Astra Taylor who "objects to the planned obsolescence of today’s gadgetry, and to the way the big tech companies pressure customers to upgrade." She joins a growing group of "tech dissenters" who don't like what high technology is turning into: a surveillance state and government-corporate partnerships.

"Of the myriad critiques of the computer culture," notes the article, "one of the most common is that companies are getting rich off our personal data. Our thoughts, friendships and basic urges are processed by computer algorithms and sold to advertisers. The machines may soon know more about us than we know about ourselves. That information is valuable. A frequent gibe is that on Facebook, we’re not the customers, we’re the merchandise. Or to put it another way: If the service is free, you’re the product."

Of course I'm keenly aware that I, too, am caught up in this techno-world. And since Blogger (the platform which hosts Rural Revolution) is free, that makes me the product. Wheee.

article: http://www.rural-revolution.com/2016/01/if-service-is-free-youre-product.html