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Enough of the billionaires and their big tech. ‘Frugal tech’ will build us all a better world
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2025
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Love how it highlights that big tech (much to capitalism's fault, TBH) can only drive innovation if the tech has a moat around it, if no one else can, or would, copy it and deploy it at a lower cost.
Which is... the argument that people use to defend capitalism? That capitalism drives innovation and makes it accessible to everyone at the lowest possible price.
I like the frugal tech idea as much as I like degrowth.
That's basically saying that "big tech" (as we know it today) and competition-friendly capitalism just cannot coexist. Which I'm inclined to agree with.
There's no reason you couldn't have people grow a new Internet that isn't reliant on AWS and cloud flare and other big tech stuff, it's just that it's much easier to do that since it's already there. And you still have the problems with spammers even if you try to move away from capitalism.
Is that really true though? Like there’s no reason I could be president except for the massive amount of connections and funding is need that effectively means it is not possible for me to be effective. (Nussbaum or Sen would say this is not about actual capability.)
I certainly think we could grow a new internet, but there is so much culture and forces pushing against this, that it may not be actually possible with addressing the systemic forces first.
Not to say we should do nothing (similar to recycling — we should do what we can as individuals, but it’s somewhat moot as long as industrial processes continue as they are now). We should do what we can and work toward a better vision.
(Edit: I think I was responding to only the first part of your comment because when I re-read it, I think I’m actually saying something similar to you)
Frugal tech idea and degrowth are more capitalist than a handful of monopolies owning you in every orifice and billing you for it.
If by "capitalism" we don't mean paleo-industrialism of XIX-century aristocrats with monocles and child labor. If we do mean the "free market with protections for property, rights, safety and anti-monopoly regulations yadda-yadda" moderate-normal-classical model.
“Capitalism creates innovation!”
The innovation:
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