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Anyone else disillusioned with technology / turning into a luddite?

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I think those of us still building our own desktop PCs are the luddites now. Building, upgrading and maintaining my PC is about the one aspect of technology that I’m not disillusioned with. The world would be better if it stopped there about 20 years ago, also if no one ever developed social media.
 
I don't get as excited as I used to, over upgrading or building a PC or server, but tbh I kinda miss that excitement. Same with games, I used to get so excited over getting a new console or new game and now it's like meh. But also, it's just so much harder to get parts here now so I've mostly just given up. Everything is so expensive too. Tigerdirect and NCIX were great and nothing really replaced them and there's really not much competition anymore for computer parts. Barely anywhere to buy server parts either. Server stuff I actually get a little more excited over than PC now, but it's so hard to get anything. Like if one of the power supplies in my NAS fails I have no idea where to even get a replacement. I looked around before and never found anywhere to buy one. Ebay is about the only option for server stuff now but the shipping is rediculous.

I seem to have moved more towards supporting infrastructure projects now, like my latest project has been to finish working on my actual server room, like actually turning it into a room and enclosing it. It's been studs for like 10 years now and finally I started to do the drywall and insulation. Goal is to insulate it and make it as airtight as I can. Then add hvac which involve just forcing air into it, and the hot air will exit through a vent and to the next room over which is where wood stove is going. Also planing power plant upgrades, already bought the rectifier and fully tested it and upgraded firmware. I seem to get more excited over that stuff than the actual hardware itself now.

Although I have been itching to build a Proxmox cluster, probably try to find some cheap used SFF machines or something to do it with, since actual server stuff is just too hard to get now. But money is really the issue now days due to inflation. Just don't have much left over by the time the bills are paid and the hardware itself costs more now too. My NAS cost around 3k to build 10 years ago, if I wanted to build another like it, I'd be spending closer to 5k. That's without drives.
 
VirtualLarry said:
I still visit Newegg from time to time, but I no longer spend any money there. My PC building days are over...
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I don't build much these days. My go-to DCC box is this $2,100 shoebox:


24-core CPU & 8GB Quadro GPU. Optionally up to 64GB RAM & up to 2x 8TB NVMe drives. If they need a bit more graphical power, this $1,700 model has a 12GB RTX:


For an extra grand, you can get a laptop with a 4090 in it if you want to do some gaming:


Kind of bonkers what we have available these days lol.
 
Woah how do they manage to cram an i9 in something like that without it overheating? That's pretty impressive. And fairly cheap. Would not be able to build an equivalent system for that cheap. Just the processor alone is like $800+ upon quick glance.
 
I still like PCs but so much technology is devoted to rent seeking, DRMing stuff we used to just own and use outright and force inserting advertisements into everything it definitely has turned me pessimistic about anything new.

I sort or revitalized my love of PCs with virtualization and linux. Hardware was just a lot more fun and wild west in the late 90s and oughts and it started to get boring after the market kind of solidified and a lot of different players went bankrupt. There's still a lot of cool stuff though.
 
I've left a lot of the tweaking and OCing behind as I've gotten older, not just because it's just not that relevant anymore but as time is at so much more of a premium, just getting stuff that works is so much more important to me than squeezing out a few extra Hz here or there.

Also, now that I actually have money to buy that top of the line rig, it just doesn't interest me in the same way. I get my kicks from deal hunting and putting together to most powerful machine for the least amount of money that I can (see sig rig). Also get a kick out of building things for friends when they'd let me.

But a lot of "convenient" new tech isn't really convenient at all. By making everything "easy" to use together, I find stuff desyncing or working incorrectly with every other software update (glares at fire stick and Alexa wireless sound system, and Mesh Network, and smart TV crap).

Just burning out on that silicon valley BS stuff.
 
One thing I have ZERO interest in is all the "connected" and "smart" stuff. I like the idea but I hate the way most of it is implemented. Relying on servers you have no control over, and highly proprietary software and apps and overall lot of planned obsolescence built in. When the concept of smart stuff first came out the idea I had is that it would use a web interface, SNMP, Telnet, that sort of thing, but that's far from the truth. I've even seen ISP routers that require an app now, there's no web interface. 😱
 
I feel I should point out the definition of luddite (from google):

a person opposed to new technology or ways of working.
"a small-minded Luddite resisting progress"

I should also point out that we're spending our time on a tech forum talking about how technologically backward we are.

IMO if you're saying no to some particular tech, examine your reasons why. If they boil down to a sullen, arms-folded "I don't wanna", then maybe you're being a bit of a luddite. However if your reasons are logically sound, you're making a choice based on your needs.

For example, like Red Squirrel I don't do "smart" tech, IoT stuff because it has a rep for being poorly secured and reporting marketable data back to the manufacturer. For example, I'd consider the possibility of say CCTV for my home if they would offer the kind of features I want but with a rep for security. The design for this era of tech though is like, "how can we make this report back more and do stuff on the Internet more, even if it makes things more awkward for the end user?", for example many HP all-in-one printers (regarding scanning) are only offered with the option to scan and put the file in your HP cloud account. Windows nags users if the setup isn't cloud connected enough in Microsoft's opinion.

When my customers express concerns about "being left behind", I advise them to have a look around and see what's available from time to time and have a play with it if possible, and if it looks like it might be useful then consider giving it a try. The fact of the matter is we're talking about tools whose functions may not be that useful to many people, or how they function might not work too well for some people. I don't have a tablet because I have a decent desktop PC and a decent phone, and getting a tablet simply means making less use of those other devices which I do need, or not using the tablet. I also have a laptop which I need for occasional mobile use but the desktop is a far more comfortable choice for everyday usage IMO.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Woah how do they manage to cram an i9 in something like that without it overheating? That's pretty impressive. And fairly cheap. Would not be able to build an equivalent system for that cheap. Just the processor alone is like $800+ upon quick glance.
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Spoiler: it overheats. I've never seen a laptop with any capacity for long term work, gaming or otherwise, that didn't get throttled. There's just isn't enough cooling capacity to keep it in check for substantial amounts of time.

Gaming laptops aren't.
 
I've definitely changed the way I upgrade.
I went from a 2700x and 1080gtx to a 5800x3d and a 6950xt. When I did that I also changed my monitor and desk setup so I think that was the biggest change for me. Being able to drive a much bigger monitor at better fidelity levels was definitely an upgrade I'll remember.
Also added some RGB!

20231024_042657-ANIMATION.gif
 
WelshBloke said:
I've definitely changed the way I upgrade.
I went from a 2700x and 1080gtx to a 5800x3d and a 6950xt. When I did that I also changed my monitor and desk setup so I think that was the biggest change for me. Being able to drive a much bigger monitor at better fidelity levels was definitely an upgrade I'll remember.
Also added some RGB!

View attachment 89362
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Half an hour of those lights would put me into a killing rage.
 
Greenman said:
Half an hour of those lights would put me into a killing rage.
Click to expand...
That's without the keyboard, mouse and mouse mat joining in!

Meh, they have a bunch of settings. That was just on that for the picture.
My favourite setting is where they kind of sample the colours on the screen and extend them out from the screen. It's pretty subtle but amazing for movies!
So if it's dark on screen the backlights will be of but if someone lights a torch then you'd get an orange glow extending from that bit of screen. It's hard to describe but looks pretty funky!
And obviously full RGB chaos when there's a Spotify session on the speakers!
 
While not yet a luddite, I'm definitely in the "tech is just a tool" camp. It's not exciting, the shine wore off years back and I doubt anything new will make me say wow.
 
Greenman said:
Half an hour of those lights would put me into a killing rage.
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I am so glad that my latest desktop build has white LED fans against the front grille and that is it. Even then I was considering that swapping out a couple of fans for non-LED fans would hardly be a big deal.

I didn't even have to switch off "LED breathing mode" on the board!
 
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Heard an interesting show about the root of the word Luddite, really they were militant trade unionists before that was a thing, people who's livelihoods were being threatened by the invention of the automated loom so they would go to any business in London that had converted over, smash all their automated looms, and then let the owner know the next time it won't just be the machines that get smashed.

Naturally, like any time labor flexes even a bit of muscle, the troops got sent in, bunch of folks got killed and the "rebellion" was crushed by the crown.

Ned Lud was a caricature British papers came up with to describe these militant unionists, hence "Ludites".

The term has come to suggest "people that dislike tech" but it more accurately means "people who are against the unregulated distribution and societal upheaval rapid changes in tech inevitably cause" which sounds like a lot of people today regarding social media and AI.

Just a fun spot of morning history for ya
 
VirtualLarry said:
I still visit Newegg from time to time, but I no longer spend any money there. My PC building days are over...
Click to expand...
desktop is amd athlon II from like 2010 but i upgraded to ssd and win7 years ago.
dont plan on doing any further piecemeal upgrades.

if my tax program requires win10 to work in the near future, i'll but a new win 11 desktop.

I don't see myself dabbling in AI where as my younger self would have devoted hundreds of hrs already.

Guess I've become a luddy
 
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GodisanAtheist said:
Heard an interesting show about the root of the word Luddite, really they were militant trade unionists before that was a thing, people who's livelihoods were being threatened by the invention of the automated loom so they would go to any business in London that had converted over, smash all their automated looms, and then let the owner know the next time it won't just be the machines that get smashed.

Naturally, like any time labor flexes even a bit of muscle, the troops got sent in, bunch of folks got killed and the "rebellion" was crushed by the crown.

Ned Lud was a caricature British papers came up with to describe these militant unionists, hence "Ludites".

The term has come to suggest "people that dislike tech" but it more accurately means "people who are against the unregulated distribution and societal upheaval rapid changes in tech inevitably cause" which sounds like a lot of people today regarding social media and AI.

Just a fun spot of morning history for ya
Click to expand...

Further reading: Animal Farm by George Orwell

And related:


🙂
 
I simply don't have the same time or desire to use with my computer now with wife and three kids as when I was living on my own. I'm still fascinated by technologic progress, and have computer hardware as a hobby, but gaming is not that interesting anymore.
 
It's a very cheap hobby. I could be into boats or cars or Harley-Davidson or some other expensive time sink. Part of it is I haven't lost my desire to play and have fun. Once you just see something as a tool, you've lost that.
 
biostud said:
I simply don't have the same time or desire to use with my computer now with wife and three kids as when I was living on my own. I'm still fascinated by technologic progress, and have computer hardware as a hobby, but gaming is not that interesting anymore.
Click to expand...
Gaming with my son was one of the ways we bonded as he was growing up. Albeit on console. You don't sit and game with the kids?
 
DAPUNISHER said:
Gaming with my son was one of the ways we bonded as he was growing up. Albeit on console. You don't sit and game with the kids?
Click to expand...

-Couch co-op is such an easy way to "do something shoulder to shoulder" with your kids after a day of work or on a weekend afternoon, I love it. Kids will play co-op with each other too.

Just have to meter the time to 1hr on weekends (+1hr during the week if it's a break or vacation) to keep screen time under control and bingo bango you're creating trust and communication skills on the comfort of your couch.
 
DAPUNISHER said:
Gaming with my son was one of the ways we bonded as he was growing up. Albeit on console. You don't sit and game with the kids?
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3,4 and 6 years old, so we try to keep screen time to a minimum. Even though the eldest play Playstation in her after school center once a week, and wants one, we are probably going to wait a couple of years before buying controllers for my computer.
 
DAPUNISHER said:
It's a very cheap hobby. I could be into boats or cars or Harley-Davidson or some other expensive time sink. Part of it is I haven't lost my desire to play and have fun. Once you just see something as a tool, you've lost that.
Click to expand...
High end audio is something I could easily use a lot of money on...
 
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