You’re right that technology isn’t going to save us though. You can just, you know, not use Alexa. Normal light switches continue to work. Windows still exist for checking the local weather and are probably more reliable than Alexa is.
I don't have any kind of smart speakers or camera at home.
The problem is that many other people I visit do.
It's the same issue with Google products in general: I don't have a gmail address. My phone don't even have an email tied to it and I don't use the official store. But because my contacts mostly do those things, google still has a log of all my conversations, my face in pictures, my positions, etc.
But even then it's not just about me: people take bad decisions all the time, companies as well. We don't let people own a radioactive materials, we have laws for that. We don't allow companies to sell radioactive materials to the public, we have laws for that.
Yeah but <insert jingoistic hopeful statement about the future that completely ignores how dystopian the technology these companies build is increasingly becoming>!!!!1111eleventyomgz
"Just don't buy it hahahaha checkmate" completely ignores the fact that even though I now choose not to do business with Google, I am still many times a day forced to use their Captcha or visit sites that host their ads (which I block, btw).
Saying "we don't need that you just need not to buy it" is exactly the same situation. All we are asking for is a reasonable way to opt out - and actually opt out. These technologies are made viral by design to collect maximally valuable data from their users, and the very idea that someone might want to opt out is totally ignored.
I personally don't own any of these devices and will never allow one in my home. I feel sorry for my kids that they will grow up with all their friends talking about them and not be able to share in it - and I will explain to them why.
You’re right that technology isn’t going to save us though. You can just, you know, not use Alexa. Normal light switches continue to work. Windows still exist for checking the local weather and are probably more reliable than Alexa is.