The comic is hyperbolic and not in a good way. "They wouldn't like it" - yeah, if millions of Americans did the same. And it isn't even necessary to go pre-digital or pre-internet to "cut out the middleman".

I agree with you on most, but this:

which includes driving a gas guzzler from the 70s, apparently?

is hyperbole on your part.

First of all, by-default internet connected cars haven't been a thing until relatively recently (10 years max I guess). And then, gas guzzling does not necessarily correlate with age. Cars consuming less than, say, 5l/100km have existed since at least the 80s (1st hand experience, and the car was already 20 years old at that point).

telemetry ... cell connection

When did this start to be a standard feature anyhow, and how does adoption track across brands & timeline?

Same here, mine is 2006 and already quite computerized for my taste.

But recently I did a trip in a 2020s car and it was ... disconcerting. First of all it was automatic which I'm not used to. Unable to get it in gear, the 9yo boy in the backseat said: look at the screen, it's telling you what to do!. He was right. Even so the car would not let me back into a patch of high grass, kept blocking the wheels. Jarringly.

In the EU, cars have to be equipped with automatic emergency call systems since 2018. So probably since then most brands will have had it, as they are required to have cell connection hardware anyway.

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We don't need to go back to handwritten mail, FOSS is the way to go.

Writing someone a letter is a very personal thing and you're creating a memory. Something tangible, concrete, also weighs in on reality. Looking at a piece of paper with your handwrite makes you understand you're commiting to something.

I'm a FOSS loon but the craze of making everything digital is absurd. I've listened to people criticizing others for using paper and a pencil to take down a memo, note or even journaling, when they can do it on their phone.

Is existing so dreadful nowadays? Does the notion of leaving proof of existence scares?

This is why I never gave up on DVDs, even though people would laugh. As soon as Prime shoehorned ads in the middle of a show or movie, that's when I cancelled. I'll have to do the same with music and get my iPod battery fixed up if I can.

Its nothing to do with contempt for the media, or not wanting to leave evidence of my existence or anything like that, its just that I got shit to do.

Those are terribly inconvenient things IMO. We shouldn’t become Amish to reject tech bros, because tech makes life easier. There’s enough talent to make these same services in a non-exploitable way, but the incentives are misaligned with the common good.

That’s why I love the Fediverse, proof that tech can be used without tech bros.

ordering food by phone call, going to the store when you want every small thing, buying your groceries in person,

Talking on the phone, actually buying everything you need when you go shopping, interacting with a cashier...

It says a lot about you that you think these are terrible things, rather than things people do every day and don't think much about.

Yeah, handwriting sucks. I used to type my homework in a mechanical typewriter, holy cow even that sucked. Going from that to an electrical typewriter that could hold a line in memory was amazing, but still nothing compared to a proper word processor. Wordstar in MS-DOS anyone?

I still like to sketch my ideas from time to time, but all my permanent notes are stored in Joplin, encrypted, in local backup, and synced to the cloud. I can’t afford to lose them, and I can’t afford to lug around with me a heavy suitcase of papers.

I’ve seen young people wishing for simpler times, kids using Polaroid cameras, hunting retro consoles that were already ancient when they were born, longing for music that was way before their time, etc. I get they’re disillusioned with the current state of things, but romanticizing the past is not a healthy way to cope with the horrible today.

Would you care to complete your statement? What exactly does it say about me?

Your comment made me remember how 25 years ago it was unthinkable, even illegal, for a company to spy on you without consent. Tech isn’t the problem, regulation has also become a joke, that’s what gave tech bros free reign, as long as they make loads of money fast so rich investors can concentrate even more wealth.

I don't doubt you have a busy life. And that is not the subject at hand here.

What should concern us, collectively, is that we are constantly being pushed the notion that we do not have enough time and that tech is always the solution, when it is not.

I'm going to take a risk and say you write faster than you type and reaching for a pencil is quicker than launching a program.

It's not that they're inserting themselves everywhere it's this right here: "shoehorned ads". On top of extracting as much data from you that they know more about you than almost you do yourself. dystopia authors couldn't have written it better.

I’m going to take a risk and say you write faster than you type and reaching for a pencil is quicker than launching a program.

Maybe for you, but opening KWrite takes only 5-6 key presses and I type much faster than I write

Not to mention the fact theyd be expecting me to write well enough to be able to reread it later. Even if I wrote it at half my typing speed I still would not be able to make that shit out.