The Cost of Selfishness

Ever since Manuel Moreale contacted me and asked me for an interview for his People & Blogs series (it’s here, if you want to read it), I’ve followed his blog with interest and pleasure. From what I’ve read so far, we share similar views on technology and related matters, and reading his posts has me nodding along most of the time. 

One of his recent pieces, On using Apple products, hit differently. It’s not that I disagree with him, but I feel it’s worth building on it and looking at it from a broader perspective. I very much sympathise with the general sentiment when — after explaining that he is an Apple customer and uses Apple products — he writes:

Because all these I listed are tools, tools that I replace if and when I have to upgrade, either because they break down or because they no longer do what I need them to do. I don’t give a shit about Apple the company, the same way I don’t give a shit about any other company. Most of my time in front of this screen is spent using software not built by Apple, often by independent developers and small studios. I care about them. But Apple? Nah. 

I also agree with this, which he writes in the next paragraph:

Tools are tools; they either do the job you need them to do or they don’t.

In fact, I’d say this is the central point of the post. We choose and use the tools that are most suitable for us and for what we have to do (work) and what we like to do (leisure and personal projects) — it doesn’t mean we have to care about the companies that make them, right? Manuel says so himself immediately after:

And the sad reality of this world we live in is that most big companies out there are awful. If you spend some time digging, you’ll find despicable things done by probably 99% of CEOs of big companies.

If I find out that the Volvo CEO is eating babies in their spare time, what should I do? Sell my car? Do I need to check if the Suunto CEO is a piece of shit to make sure I can wear this watch on my wrist and still feel at peace with myself? Frankly, I think it’s an exhausting way to live a life, and I’d be better off focusing all those energies somewhere else, trying to make something good, something that has a positive impact on the people around me. 

I’ve joked about this kind of frustration myself on Mastodon, even before Manuel published his piece:

“Don’t use this company’s services, the company gives money to right-wing morons.”

“Don’t use that company’s product, the company doesn’t support clean energy.”

“Don’t subscribe to that! It’s a centralised solution and who knows what’s gonna happen to your data!”

“Don’t download that app! The company’s CEO is an AI worshipper and backed a memecoin!”

“Don’t—“

Me: “You know what? I’ll just switch back to this:”

[Picture of an old Nokia 3310 dumbphone]

“Digital minimalism is not the answer!”

Me: I’m tired. 

Here’s where things gets complicated for me. A lot of people share Manuel’s sentiments and attitude. Myself included — to an extent. And the problem is that if we want things to change in technology, it’s necessary to start reflecting on our attitude and considering whether perhaps we should care a bit more about the companies that make the products we use.

That’s why I always chuckle bitterly when I hear people say We should vote with our wallet, meaning we can sort of change the course of a company’s success by refusing to buy whatever said company shoves in our faces. It’s not going to happen. Because, deep down, we don’t care. When we take the stance of I only care about what are the best tools for me, I don’t care about the companies that make them, it’s this not caring and this selfishness what makes these companies ‘win’, and what makes these companies too big to fail. And ultimately what makes the status quo so hard to change.

Even our selfishness as users and customers — what makes us feel better about the choices we make or the choices we don’t make — is turned against us, in a sense.

Changing things is hard, requires time and energy to do our homework before purchasing a product or subscribing to a service, and often requires introducing friction in our lives — because we have to learn to use a different tool, a different operating system; we have to create new habits and different workflows, even. And tech companies know people hate friction. Everything I’ve seen in tech for the past 25 years or so has been aimed at eliminating friction in a way or another. The more convenience you give people, the more change-averse you make them.

Before saying that Tools are tools; they either do the job you need them to do or they don’t, Manuel writes:

Could I switch away from Apple? Sure, I could ditch my iPhone and buy another phone, and I could ditch my Mac and buy a laptop with Linux, I guess. But the only thing I’d be accomplishing is to make life easier for myself, and I’d also stop using software developed by those developers I care about. And also, nobody would care. Because nobody should. 

When it’s virtue-signalling, I agree, nobody should care. But the more time passes, the more I’m convinced that people should start caring more about this stuff. Especially those who routinely moan and complain about Big Tech while also continuing to use Big Tech products because [insert reasons/excuses here].

If you think I’m taking the high moral ground here, I’m not. I’ve been gradually disappointed and dissatisfied with technology in general, and Apple in particular, for the past decade or so. I’ve been more and more critical about Apple’s design choices and general direction. Cook’s $1M donation to Donald Trump angered me immensely, and I decided right then and there to stop giving my money to this company for the foreseeable future unless something radically changes at Apple’s executive level (I doubt it).

At the same time, I’m not in a position to exit the Apple ecosystem on a whim. Most of my work consists of localising Mac OS and iOS/iPadOS apps. Often, after an app has been localised in the target language, I’m asked to test the app to see if the translated interface is fine or if some strings need adjusting. This requires having around at least one Mac and one iOS device that are reasonably updated. On a personal level, I’ve been using Macs for decades. I have different projects and materials scattered across a variety of Macs. Fortunately I can still work on those projects using older Macs and older versions of Mac OS I actually enjoy using.

But I’m trying to change my attitude towards this stuff, even if it means introducing more friction in my workflows. I’m trying to focus on companies that seem genuinely interested in going against the big players and in providing users with alternatives that are more environmentally conscious and more on the customer’s side when it comes to warranties, sustainability and repairability. In this regard, companies like Framework and Fairphone look like very good candidates to me. It’s in this direction I would like to move in my future tech purchases, and if I must buy an upgraded Mac or iOS device for work, it’s going to be a second-hand machine. Less e‑waste, and one fewer unit sold by Apple. 

And the sad reality of this world we live in is that most big companies out there are awful. 

The sad reality is that these companies will keep being relevant and awful as long as people maintain this shrugging Watcha gonna do? attitude. It’s an extremely hard battle — the good, uncorrupted alternatives are few and may look a bit arcane or abstruse. Choosing Linux, for example, looks daunting to a lot of people, especially those who are not tech-savvy. And even those who are tech-savvy aren’t thrilled to start anew with a different operating system; they don’t particularly like to be novices again. This is the friction. Hopefully, however, it’s friction that hits the hardest only at the beginning of the journey. I didn’t think I could switch to an Android phone as primary phone, but the discomfort only lasted so much. I didn’t think I could ‘get’ Linux, now I think I ‘get’ it more than five years ago. (My Linux journey is still in the first stages, mind you, but it has begun).

Just like Manuel doesn’t judge those who do differently than he does, I’m not really passing judgment here either. I’m not criticising Manuel specifically. I’m simply observing that, at the individual level, this kind of selfish pragmatism (I care for the tools and focus on them, I don’t care for Apple or Microsoft or Google or Meta, etc.) is undoubtedly understandable. And for some people it isn’t even a matter of being selfish, as they may not have the luxury of cherry-picking the software or the hardware manufacturer of the tools they use or have to use. 

At the same time, though, whether people care or not about tech companies, they end up purchasing their products, and perpetuate a vicious circle at the macro level: these companies remain in business, thrive, and grow. And keep being bad actors. That’s why I’m always glad when there’s governmental regulation aimed at protecting the citizens and customers. But that’s not enough. 

I’m perfectly aware that today it feels that our choices — especially the ‘good’ ones, the responsible ones — don’t seem to matter. I understand my friend who tells me, Oh, I’d love to ditch WhatsApp and switch to Signal, or get a Linux laptop, but in the grand scheme of things, what difference does it make? But then don’t be surprised if, say, Apple keeps making billions of dollars despite their design blunders or mediocre software. Or don’t be angry that 90% of technology today is shaped and controlled by a handful of stupidly rich and powerful companies. Change — if that’s what you want — isn’t coming from the top. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, are not going to fail on their own. It’s a matter of tough personal decisions and it’s a matter of evangelising such decisions — constantly. All while these companies count on our natural selfishness and love of convenience as their life support.