Hi everyone,
This is a bit of a ramble, but I was thinking about this a lot recently and would love to hear from others if they are having a similar experience. I grew up with the internet. I was born in 1998, and I took an interest in computers at a very young age. My dad would bring home old surplus computers for me to tinker with starting at age 4. I remember being filled with wonder when I connected my computer to the internet (my guess was this was around 2005), my family didn't own a WiFi router, I just had a 100ft ethernet cable I would take across the house and plug into my Pentium 3 Dell's network jack. I remember being amazed by MSN Messenger for video calls and the funky Logitech webcams from the mid-2000's that doubled as early digital cameras. Another thing I remember being floored by was Skype and how I could use it to call landlines over VoIP (and the free minutes they gave everyone until the end of 2006). Of course, moving to a laptop around 2007 was also mind blowing to me as I could bring the computer all around the house, I remember bringing my bargain bin Acer laptop to different places and connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots in public locations.
I was a little late to the iPhone train, as I only took an interest in Apple in 2008, and since I wasn't old enough to have a phone, I saved up money to buy an iPod touch. Now all of a sudden the internet could fit in my pocket! The web could be taken with me. I didn't have social media, but I would visit all sorts of tech blogs and continue learning about technology wherever I was. The app store was in its infancy and I would just scroll through the categories looking for new apps to try out. I distinctly remember an app that would tap into any public IP camera feed and I could look at live video from anywhere in the world.
For the next decade or so, technology continued to amaze me, and I couldn't wait to see what was next. Retina Displays, the beginning of social media and the ability to chat with friends anywhere I was, FaceTime, 4G, etc, etc. It was this whole new world and I was determined to figure out how it worked. I got a degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering, and honestly, even though I know the fundamentals now, I now know how little I know and how you need to specialize to not go insane. I chose to work in semiconductors because they are the building blocks of everything else, plus the manufacturing process is probably one of the most technologically advanced invention of the current era.
These days, I don't feel impressed by most new consumer technology. We've hit a wall with a lot of the new "innovative" things coming out, at least that I would be interested in. EV's are definitely a cool new thing, but I don't want to go out and buy one because my 10 year old Mazda works great. Generative AI looked promising at the beginning (I would say that's the closest I've been to recreating that child like feeling of being amazed in the past few years), but now it seems every single company is shoving it into their product whether it makes sense or not. It's also actively ruining the internet because more and more of it is being churned out as a replacement for "real content". Dead Internet theory is beginning to seem more and more real.
Social Media has become a toxic hellscape where everyone is living in their own bubble because the all knowing "algorithm" throws up content it thinks you might like. Twitter used to be a "town square" before Musk bought it, but I had to leave because it got BAD. Now I can choose between scrolling through the most infuriating clickbait on Threads where people act like idiots to drive engagement, or trying to tune a feed on BlueSky. Other social media platforms really propagate the "look at me" attitude that older generations like to poke fun at GenZ/Alpha for (because honestly there's truth to it!). However, these massive companies have designed these sites to be addictive, and I know I get sucked into it like everyone else. I miss the days where there were random forums for any topic under the sun, but it seems like all of that has sort of collapsed into Reddit, which has a lot of the same issues as other "social media". I still find myself bouncing from app to app, missing the early days of iOS and remembering when I used to be so inspired by the different apps I would download and test. I have visited Macrumors almost daily for over 15 years, it feels like home on the internet because it hasn't changed as much as the world around it.
Obviously there is life outside of technology and the internet. I have an amazing fiancée and 2 adorable cats. I have friends and I disconnect while I am spending time with them. My family is healthy. I used the Apple Watch to begin an exercise routine that got me to lose 80lbs and keep it off for almost 8 years! I have hobbies (photography, 3D printing, electronics repair). I have an excellent job where I get to work on interesting semiconductor testing projects. I spent the better part of a year developing software to help automate a lot of manual processes at my job, so recently I have had a lot of "free" time at work, but I don't really feel inspired by anything right now. Even with all these amazing things I have in life, in my down time, I can't help but feel there is something missing that I used to have and got me to where I am now. Maybe that is just part of growing up, but I sure do miss that feeling.
Kudos if you got to the end of my word vomit, but one of the things I love about forums is you get outside perspective and community, all built around a common interest. I would love to hear from others if this sounds familiar.
This is a bit of a ramble, but I was thinking about this a lot recently and would love to hear from others if they are having a similar experience. I grew up with the internet. I was born in 1998, and I took an interest in computers at a very young age. My dad would bring home old surplus computers for me to tinker with starting at age 4. I remember being filled with wonder when I connected my computer to the internet (my guess was this was around 2005), my family didn't own a WiFi router, I just had a 100ft ethernet cable I would take across the house and plug into my Pentium 3 Dell's network jack. I remember being amazed by MSN Messenger for video calls and the funky Logitech webcams from the mid-2000's that doubled as early digital cameras. Another thing I remember being floored by was Skype and how I could use it to call landlines over VoIP (and the free minutes they gave everyone until the end of 2006). Of course, moving to a laptop around 2007 was also mind blowing to me as I could bring the computer all around the house, I remember bringing my bargain bin Acer laptop to different places and connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots in public locations.
I was a little late to the iPhone train, as I only took an interest in Apple in 2008, and since I wasn't old enough to have a phone, I saved up money to buy an iPod touch. Now all of a sudden the internet could fit in my pocket! The web could be taken with me. I didn't have social media, but I would visit all sorts of tech blogs and continue learning about technology wherever I was. The app store was in its infancy and I would just scroll through the categories looking for new apps to try out. I distinctly remember an app that would tap into any public IP camera feed and I could look at live video from anywhere in the world.
For the next decade or so, technology continued to amaze me, and I couldn't wait to see what was next. Retina Displays, the beginning of social media and the ability to chat with friends anywhere I was, FaceTime, 4G, etc, etc. It was this whole new world and I was determined to figure out how it worked. I got a degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering, and honestly, even though I know the fundamentals now, I now know how little I know and how you need to specialize to not go insane. I chose to work in semiconductors because they are the building blocks of everything else, plus the manufacturing process is probably one of the most technologically advanced invention of the current era.
These days, I don't feel impressed by most new consumer technology. We've hit a wall with a lot of the new "innovative" things coming out, at least that I would be interested in. EV's are definitely a cool new thing, but I don't want to go out and buy one because my 10 year old Mazda works great. Generative AI looked promising at the beginning (I would say that's the closest I've been to recreating that child like feeling of being amazed in the past few years), but now it seems every single company is shoving it into their product whether it makes sense or not. It's also actively ruining the internet because more and more of it is being churned out as a replacement for "real content". Dead Internet theory is beginning to seem more and more real.
Social Media has become a toxic hellscape where everyone is living in their own bubble because the all knowing "algorithm" throws up content it thinks you might like. Twitter used to be a "town square" before Musk bought it, but I had to leave because it got BAD. Now I can choose between scrolling through the most infuriating clickbait on Threads where people act like idiots to drive engagement, or trying to tune a feed on BlueSky. Other social media platforms really propagate the "look at me" attitude that older generations like to poke fun at GenZ/Alpha for (because honestly there's truth to it!). However, these massive companies have designed these sites to be addictive, and I know I get sucked into it like everyone else. I miss the days where there were random forums for any topic under the sun, but it seems like all of that has sort of collapsed into Reddit, which has a lot of the same issues as other "social media". I still find myself bouncing from app to app, missing the early days of iOS and remembering when I used to be so inspired by the different apps I would download and test. I have visited Macrumors almost daily for over 15 years, it feels like home on the internet because it hasn't changed as much as the world around it.
Obviously there is life outside of technology and the internet. I have an amazing fiancée and 2 adorable cats. I have friends and I disconnect while I am spending time with them. My family is healthy. I used the Apple Watch to begin an exercise routine that got me to lose 80lbs and keep it off for almost 8 years! I have hobbies (photography, 3D printing, electronics repair). I have an excellent job where I get to work on interesting semiconductor testing projects. I spent the better part of a year developing software to help automate a lot of manual processes at my job, so recently I have had a lot of "free" time at work, but I don't really feel inspired by anything right now. Even with all these amazing things I have in life, in my down time, I can't help but feel there is something missing that I used to have and got me to where I am now. Maybe that is just part of growing up, but I sure do miss that feeling.
Kudos if you got to the end of my word vomit, but one of the things I love about forums is you get outside perspective and community, all built around a common interest. I would love to hear from others if this sounds familiar.
