Tech needs to get worse so it can get better

To make technology less dangerous, make it one-dimensional

Simpler tech.
(Image credit: iStock)

Connecting the world didn't come cheap. In a remarkable turn of events, Roger McNamee, an early investor in Facebook, published a long piece in Washington Monthly essentially warning that the social network is a threat to both democracy and the well-being of its users.

It's a stark change from the utopian excitement of only a few years ago in which so many of us believed tech would usher in a newer, better age. And it isn't just Facebook either. Recently, two Apple investors published an open letter saying the phone maker had to do more to combat addiction to technology. There is a change afoot: Suddenly, people are very worried about what tech is doing to us, both as individuals and as societies.

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Navneet Alang

Navneet Alang is a technology and culture writer based out of Toronto. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, New Republic, Globe and Mail, and Hazlitt.