Originally published at: Staying the Course After 35 Years of TidBITS - TidBITS
As TidBITS marks its 35th anniversary, I find myself reflecting on our core mission of explaining technology in an increasingly fractured and fractious world. We live in an era of remarkable technological capability, with artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and autonomous vehicles promising to reshape how we live and work.
For the most part, I celebrate these advances, just as TidBITS has celebrated and attempted to contextualize past innovations that have resulted in the astonishing devices we use today. When we were zapping PRAM and rebuilding desktops on our Macs in the 1990s, an iPhone that combined always-on Internet access, a professional-quality digital camera, and satellite messaging would have seemed like science fiction.
But I have two concerns. First, and closer to home, recent advances largely arenāt coming from Apple. While the likes of ChatGPT and Claude dramatically expand individualsā capabilities in writing, art, analysis, and even coding, Apple Intelligence feels more like Fisher-Priceās My First AI. The Vision Pro may be a technological tour de force, but itās hindered by a stratospheric price tag and awkward ergonomics. Metaās cheaper and less ambitious Ray-Ban smart glasses, which add a camera, open-ear speakers, and voice assistant to ordinary-looking sunglasses, are more compelling to consumers. And while Waymo continues to expand its robotaxi service areas, Apple abandoned its electric car project last year.
In the larger scheme of things, perhaps thatās OK. Maybe Apple should limit itself to developing the devices that provide the technological foundation on which others can buildāmany TidBITS readers would certainly applaud a thrust by Apple to refine existing features over adding new ones. But tech companies must continually innovate to stay relevant and competitive, so Apple will keep swinging even if it misses more frequently than weād like.
Second, at a broader level, these advances come at a time when our society seems to have lost sight of technologyās fundamental purpose: to improve the human condition. This loss of focus on human wellbeing feels even more stark outside the tech world. Weāre seeing the weaponization of government institutions against perceived enemies, attacks on science through funding cuts and xenophobic policies, the dismantling of environmental protections, and thinly disguised political retribution, alongside sweeping government job cuts driven by uninformed notions of āefficiency.ā The social fabric that once encouraged cooperation and mutual respect continues to unravel, replaced by a winner-take-all mentality that values power over people.
Like many, I find it difficult not to obsess about current events, and I encourage you to align your actions with your values in a way that feels right to you. When the path forward seems unclear, I believe we can best contribute by modeling the behavior we want to see in the world. How we conduct business on an everyday basis matters. For TidBITS, that means writing clearly and accurately, prioritizing thoughtfulness and depth over speed, acknowledging our mistakes, and engaging with readers on a personal level. It means practicing kindness, decency, and respect whenever possible.
This approach may seem quaint in an era of clickbait headlines, AI-generated content, and YouTube bro-casting. But its value remains undiminished. Nowhere is that more evident than in TidBITS Talk, where discussions remain constructive and civil because weāve created an environment where helpful discourse is the norm and where readers help one another with kindness and patience, purely out of a spirit of generosity.
We canāt fix societyās problems through thoughtful tech writing or helpful support. But we can continue to show, in our tiny corner of the Internet, that itās possible to create an organization that prioritizes helping people over exploiting their eyeballs, that values substance over speed, and that values community over controversy. This mission feels more vital now than ever.
None of this would be possible without our TidBITS members, whose financial support makes our work sustainable. If you value what we do and arenāt yet a member, we would welcome your support.
