Alt-Tech

I am always open to try new technology trends. Enjoy reading on the new technologies that are emerging.  There have been many companies that were pioneers and had cornered the market.  Many decades pass and now they are a brand that no one recognizes or is out of business.  A few companies that come to mind are Kodak, RCA, MySpace.  Kodak had Digital Photography Technology about 2 decades before it caught on in the late 90s early 2000’s.  RCA had Flat Screen Display LCD Technology since the 1960s.  But shelved the idea.  Japanese firms paid to have the license the firms developed the technology and now who doesn’t have a Flat Screen TV today?  People today watch more streaming media than regular over the air content.  People today pay for a service to stream music and who buys physical music now a days?  Currently, as of 2020 the biggest technology firms are Google, Facebook/Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, Spotify, Apple, and Microsoft.  There are a few more but I will focus on these companies for this post.  No one knows what the technology will be like in 1 year, 5 years let alone in 6 months.

Currently, there are many reports on various Tech Websites reporting on these big companies censoring people.  One website that has the latest news on internet censorship.  The U.S. Constitution grants “Free Speech” to every Citizen.  Many Soldiers/Law Enforcement have died defending our rights and liberties.  There have been many people regardless of their political party affiliation, religious views, sexual orientation and etc that have gotten banned or de-platformed from many services due to their opinions.  How can views be expressed if not freely.  To accept Free Speech, there maybe speech that you or I may not agree with.  The U.S. Constitution grants people to be able to express themselves freely and pray freely and etc.

There are new companies that are emerging and are addressing this censorship problem.  These companies below believe in “Free Speech” and promote it.  No one thought that MySpace would be dethroned by Facebook.  What would it take to replace today’s social media platforms?  Cancel Culture? Politics?  After watching a Joe Rogan episode with the owner of Twitter Jack Dorsey.  It started to make me question and look for alternatives.  Technology always has alternatives.  Reminds me of the ole saying “The mother of all inventions is necessity”

• Google Search Engine: Many people have written articles on how Google monetizes your data. There is no free lunch as the saying goes.  Google loves to collect where you go, what you search, what is in your email and target advertisements towards what you searched.  Now web browsers such as Firefox lets users switch their default Google Search to DuckDuckGo.  DuckDuckgo plainly states they do not track what you search.  Sounds like a great deal.
• Google YouTube: I understand Google is a private company and has the right to kick people out for behavior that violates their Terms of Service.  Currently, their Terms of Service is very vague and not concrete.  There have been content creators getting strikes on their channel for fair use.  We are talking about fair use for discussion like a news channel for reports.  In the past I had connected this website to YouTube to potentially live stream and show uploaded content to play on the front page.  One has to go through YouTube and obtain a API key to allow this to happen.  Time ago, I received an email from YouTube stating they were doing an Audit on my API key.  YouTube had requested that in order to complete my Audit.  I must give them access with a non-administrator account to see how their API was being used.  YouTube stated I had 7 days to comply.  I deleted my entire Google Account that included YouTube and videos that I uploaded.  I have been looking at other YouTube Alternatives.  Two that come to mind are Bitchute and LBRY whose owners have expressed they are for Freedom of Speech.
• Twitter: Twitter is a cesspool of misinformation from “activists”.  Anyone who does not agree, has a different opinion, or views things differently gets shut down on Twitter.  A few new competitors have emerged and are growing fast.  Parler, Mastodon, GAB, and Minds.  One of the founders of Minds is Daryl Davis.  A gentleman who converted several KKK Members to leave through conversation. Talk about winning over your enemies.
• Facebook: Facebook has information on everyone through their users contacts on their phone, email or computer.  There was a report written about shadow profiles.  A Facebook alternatives would be MeWe.
• Microsoft/Apple/Google:  Microsoft has a big size of the computer market. Apple has a good portion of mobile devices.  Google with its Chromebook and Android operating systems made its own market niche.  Computer Operating systems are getting more information from your searches including Cortana/Siri/Google inquiries.  In the last year I have seen more coverage on Linux Operating Systems and how they are more friendly gamers.  Linux has come a long way with enticing gamers to try it out.  Linux is secure, open source and free.  I use a lot of open source software such as Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, KDEN Live, Syncthing, OBS, to name a few.  With time I can see myself migrating my systems over to Linux.  As for phones, Android is made by Google keeping tabs on its users.  Now Linux is starting to develop on cell phones with a company named Pine64.

Does anyone know what the future looks like? No.  It is not about Politics but the overall culture that stifles freedom of speech.  I am all for personal freedoms.  What is currently popular today may not be trendy in the future.  The currently technology companies started out as pioneers or alternatives many years ago.   When it comes to technology there are alternatives to fill in the gap when others ignore their users.  It has happened in the past, continues in the current and will happen again in the future.  It will be a journey to see how things turn out.  We live history everyday.