Tech that isn't shitty
The missing piece today isn’t infrastructure or capital. It’s belief. Belief that the future doesn’t have to suck.
It genuinely doesn’t.
In the 2000s, there was a brief window of technical optimism. Then the ad-supported model (Facebook, et al.) won. Tech stopped building and started harvesting—optimizing for engagement, addiction, surveillance.
Open source alone won't undo that. Idealism without incentives is just a hobby. I could be wrong, but I doubt the shift will come from unpaid labor.
What might help: business models where the user is the customer, not the product. Or models that aren't chasing 100x exits just to survive. VC isn't evil, but its incentives are.
The real shift is cultural. We need to believe again that these alternative models are viable—and talk about the ones that work. Plenty do.
Examples: Obsidian. Jomo. Quiet, profitable, non-cynical tech by amazing small teams. Proof of another path.