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Jen Sorensen
@jensorensen@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

Recent comic: Cutting out the Middleman

I suspect that some readers might interpret this cartoon as a call for Luddism, but mostly it's a reflection of thoughts I've been having lately about out-of-control data harvesting and a growing surveillance state.

#tech #technology #privacy #data #comic #cartoon #surveillance #consumers #corporations


Cutting Out the Middleman

SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING YOU DO NOW, THERE'S SOME TECH BRO TRYING TO GET INVOLVED.
Tech bro: HEL-LO! I CAN HELP YOU WRITE THAT LETTER!

AND THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.
CARS REPORT EVERYTHING YOU DO
Phone showing DoorDump app - FOOD DELIVERED THROUGH APP
Amazon Echo device - BIG BEZOS IS LISTENING


MAYBE IT'S TIME TO CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMEN.
HANDWRITTEN LETTERS
PRINT MEDIA - Newspaper called The Actually Edited News
FLIP PHONES
PRE-COMPUTERIZED CARS


THEY WOULDN'T LIKE IT.
Tech bro: HEY, I'LL DRAW CARTOONS FOR YOU, MAKE DECISIONS, PRETEND I'M YOUR BEST FRIEND--ANYTHING YOU WANT!
Woman listening to Sony WALKMAN: AH, PEACE AT LAST.

©2025 Jen Sorensen - Be a subscriber! jensorensen.com/subscribe
Cutting Out the Middleman SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING YOU DO NOW, THERE'S SOME TECH BRO TRYING TO GET INVOLVED. Tech bro: HEL-LO! I CAN HELP YOU WRITE THAT LETTER! AND THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. CARS REPORT EVERYTHING YOU DO Phone showing DoorDump app - FOOD DELIVERED THROUGH APP Amazon Echo device - BIG BEZOS IS LISTENING MAYBE IT'S TIME TO CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMEN. HANDWRITTEN LETTERS PRINT MEDIA - Newspaper called The Actually Edited News FLIP PHONES PRE-COMPUTERIZED CARS THEY WOULDN'T LIKE IT. Tech bro: HEY, I'LL DRAW CARTOONS FOR YOU, MAKE DECISIONS, PRETEND I'M YOUR BEST FRIEND--ANYTHING YOU WANT! Woman listening to Sony WALKMAN: AH, PEACE AT LAST. ©2025 Jen Sorensen - Be a subscriber! jensorensen.com/subscribe
Cutting Out the Middleman SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING YOU DO NOW, THERE'S SOME TECH BRO TRYING TO GET INVOLVED. Tech bro: HEL-LO! I CAN HELP YOU WRITE THAT LETTER! AND THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. CARS REPORT EVERYTHING YOU DO Phone showing DoorDump app - FOOD DELIVERED THROUGH APP Amazon Echo device - BIG BEZOS IS LISTENING MAYBE IT'S TIME TO CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMEN. HANDWRITTEN LETTERS PRINT MEDIA - Newspaper called The Actually Edited News FLIP PHONES PRE-COMPUTERIZED CARS THEY WOULDN'T LIKE IT. Tech bro: HEY, I'LL DRAW CARTOONS FOR YOU, MAKE DECISIONS, PRETEND I'M YOUR BEST FRIEND--ANYTHING YOU WANT! Woman listening to Sony WALKMAN: AH, PEACE AT LAST. ©2025 Jen Sorensen - Be a subscriber! jensorensen.com/subscribe
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Hypolite Petovan
@hypolite@friendica.mrpetovan.com replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago
@jensorensen When I recently learned more about Luddism, I found out it wasn’t a stubborn boycott of all technology, but a labor movement putting workers at the center of their preoccupations. I assume that’s how they ended up getting bad press because in the US labor movements/organizations have always been slandered.

So these days I’m very much in favor of Luddism making a comeback the same way you describe in your comic.

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Diane
@alienghic@timeloop.cafe replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago
@jensorensen

Using technology popular in the 1980s and 1990s would certainly be the easiest way for most people to disconnect from today's big tech's surveillance empire.

It'd certainly be possible to build things off-line first, but big tech really loves its behavioral targeting data.

As an example some geeks recently built something roughly equivalent to an original iPod

https://www.crowdsupply.com/cool-tech-zone/tangara

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