Post B2OGEL2Y49uiyuHHgO by msh@coales.co
 (DIR) More posts by msh@coales.co
 (DIR) Post #B2OGEFUggcrDmROfi4 by msh@coales.co
       2026-01-16T02:02:42Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       So I have long suspected Big Tech to be "reactionary wolves in visionary sheep's clothing"...ever since Larry Ellison* declared "the network is the computer" and my assessment was basically that he was trying to bring back pre-1975 mainframe and minicomputer timeshare systems to reestablish the Old Computing Hegemony, but I didn't really talk about that much because even mildly suggesting this in the late 1990s make me sound like a paranoid crank.Anyways in 2026 you have to be completely deluded to think anything else. Big Tech has been on a decades long mission with #CloudComputing to kill personal computing and reestablish the old order of a small number of Big Tech companies having complete control of the world's IT, and the #GenAI grift is part of their efforts to ensure people remain captive users who can only afford to rent "dumb terminals" (ie. "Smart" phones and tablets) to access and use their information.This is NOT inevitable and it is NOT normal and it is NOT progress.https://www.windowscentral.com/artificial-intelligence/jeff-bezos-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud-bezos-envisions-that-youll-give-up-your-pc-for-an-ai-cloud-version
       
 (DIR) Post #B2OGEKv6VpxWbonL4y by msh@coales.co
       2026-01-17T16:29:14Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       * correction/clarification for the benefit of those not exposed to the entire conversation thread who keep correcting me :blobcheeky: https://coales.co/@msh/115906178186111753The term was coined in the 1980s by a Sun employee but resurfaced on the press during the launch marketing of the "Network Computer" initiative in the late 1990s, of which Oracle was a part before it acquired Sun outright
       
 (DIR) Post #B2OGEL2Y49uiyuHHgO by msh@coales.co
       2026-01-17T05:39:42Z
       
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       You know what? The techbro mindset of "the network is the computer" is really the origin of everything that has gone wrong with the internet. Placing the network at the centre was a big mistake. Huge data centres were a mistake. Big locked in platforms ruined the internet. Cloudflare sucks so bad. The Internet of Brainless Things is garbage. Putting all our data in the #cloud to be exploited, hacked and leaked has killed our faith in technology.The only way out of this mess is to recognise that we have had it upside down for all these decades. In actuality.. THE COMPUTERS ARE THE NETWORKWhere are the computers? Who owns them? What are they being used for and why?The resilience of our networks, both technically and socially, depend critically on the proper ownership, distribution and stewardship of our computers, and we continue hurtling towards oblivion!
       
 (DIR) Post #B2OH7t6t61kWZgnNaq by Rom13AncapHypoc
       2026-01-17T23:02:14.182762Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @msh So owning your own computer will become as illegal as collecting rainwater.
       
 (DIR) Post #B2OHtqK8l5r3pirRVQ by Rom13AncapHypoc
       2026-01-17T23:10:54.187246Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @msh "It's not SUPPOSED to be fun! It's WORK!" - Kirby in "The Brave Little Toaster"