Putting The Internet Back In Its Place
Inspired by a video by Sarah Davis Baker talking about how the internet used to be a place I had an idea. What would happen if I put the internet back in its place?
I’m not shy about the fact that my internet use is a little higher than I would like, but curing it sounds like an interesting challenge.
The idea
The basic idea behind this is that back in the dial-up days, the internet lived wherever the phone line came into the house. Laptops were still massive; we still paid by the minute to access the internet –it was essentially a really long, screechy conversation with a remote server and the whole family would share the one PC.
So, for a month (to begin with), I would put the laptop away and only use the internet on my desktop –a self-built machine currently running Kubuntu. Last weekend I decided to try to smooth some of the rough edges in my linux experience by trading in the Nvidia GPU I’ve been using since 2022 in favour of an AMD one. For the uninitiated, Nvidia insists on keeping its driver proprietary rather than as part of the mainline linux kernel. As a result, any slight issue and you’re greeted with a black screen of doom. No command line, just a whole lot of nothing. AMD’s driver is built into the linux kernel and is neatly integrated. There should be far less funnybusiness to deal with.
So, I’ve swapped a Nvidia RTX 4080 for an AMD RX9070 XT. It’s a sideways move rather than an upgrade, but should give me the stability I’ve been craving. I’m going to try to just use this computer now, putting the Macbook away for as long as I can.
Truth be told, there’s a part of me that is uncomfortable with the idea of a sealed box that can’t be repaired (or tinkered with). My desktop was built by me, using parts I chose. If it breaks, I can fix it. I can install whatever software I want on it. My laptop and many others like it uses weird screws and everything is glued together with parts you are not allowed to buy. Crucially, I decide when it is time to upgrade.
I have all the software I need on Linux so there’s no real excuse for going back to another system. There’s a great Qobuz client for linux now called QBZ, I have Obsidian or Ghostwriter for writing blog posts, I have Plex, LibreOffice, Signal’s desktop app, my emails and a web browser. I’m pretty much sorted.
This does mean I’m sticking with Qobuz. I did try to quit using it, but missed it too much. Plus, Apple Music doesn’t play well outside Apple’s ecosystem. If I want to escape, it makes sense to keep Qobuz. More to the point, it’s a great service.
The Plan
So, my idea was to stick to just my desktop. If I can get through the month without needing to dig out the laptop, maybe I’ll see what price I can get for it.
My other motivation for moving away from Apple is, well, I watched their recent WWDC with all the AI crap and it made me rather uneasy. I know they’ll let you keep it turned off, but whether it is Apple Intelligence or Microsoft CoPilot, I don’t like the idea of something trying to interpret what I am doing with my computer. I wouldn’t want someone standing over me while I’m working, nor would I want to be watched from afar, while my machine collects behavioural surplus to make the ads more effective.
I’m so tired of this AI crap. Even if you can separate the innate creepiness of these tools big tech is trying to force on us, LLMs are only ever correct accidentally and are therefore of negligible real-world use. Stop forcing it onto people; stop ransacking the computing hardware supply chain; stop trying to make AI happen.
If it was that good, we would all use it willingly, but sorry big tech, the trust is gone. AI has destroyed any love I once had for new technology. If it was that good, you wouldn’t need to pass around the same $30bn in a strangely circular motion to make it look more legitimate than it really is.
Anyway, I’m a few weeks into this experiment and it hasn’t been flawless. That’s not a Linux problem, but a me problem. I still reach for my iPad more than I would like when I’m not sat in the room with the desktop, so I think the next step is to remove most of the apps from the iPad and just leave the books.
I feel like I’m making steady progress though.
