Gadgets
Tech platforms hijacking minds: Early Facebook, Google employees
San Francisco, Feb 5 (IANS) In their race to monetise our attention, technology platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google are hijacking our minds and society, says a group of technologists who were early employees at some of these companies.
The cohort is creating a union of concerned experts called the Center for Humane Technology, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
The big technology platforms have produced amazing products that have benefited the world enormously, but with their use increasingly persuasive techniques to keep us glued, these companies are now adversely affecting our mental health, social relationship and democracy, according to the Center for Humane Technology.
Designed on the model of anti-smoking drives, the group, along with the nonprofit media watchdog group Common Sense Media, is also planning an anti-tech addiction lobbying effort and an ad campaign, titled The Truth About Tech, the report said.
Reflections on the ill effects of technology are now coming from different quarters at increasing frequency.
Delivering his remarks at the annual World Economic Forum at Davos in January, billionaire investor George Soros called Internet “monopolies” such as Google and Facebook an obstacle to innovation and a menace to society.
“Social media companies influence how people think and behave without them even being aware of it. This has far-reaching adverse consequences on the functioning of democracy, particularly on the integrity of elections,” Soros said.
Soros, who created the Open Society Foundations to support democracy and human rights in countries around the world, said that social media companies deliberately engineer addiction to the services they provide.
“This can be very harmful, particularly for adolescents,” he said.
Warning of the dangers of social media for kids, more than 100 child health experts on January 30 urged Facebook to halt Messenger Kids, a video calling and messaging app designed for the under 13s.
In an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the experts said that the “younger children are simply not ready to have social media accounts”.
The The Truth About Tech campaign by Center for Humane Technology will be aimed at educating students, parents and teachers about the dangers of technology, including the depression that can come from heavy use of social media.
“We were on the inside,” Tristan Harris, a former in-house ethicist at Google who is heading the new group, was quoted as saying.
“We know what the companies measure. We know how they talk, and we know how the engineering works,” Harris said.
Apart from Harris, the centre includes Sandy Parakilas, a former Facebook operations manager; Lynn Fox, a former Apple and Google communications executive; Dave Morin, a former Facebook executive; Justin Rosenstein, who created Facebook’s Like button and is a co-founder of Asana; Roger McNamee, an early investor in Facebook; and Renee DiResta, a technologist who studies bots.
The group says it wants to create humane design standards, policy, and business models “that more deeply align with our humanity and how we want to live”.
Its first project to reform the industry will be to introduce a Ledger of Harms ? a website aimed at guiding rank-and-file engineers who are concerned about what they are being asked to build.
The site will include data on the health effects of different technologies and ways to make products that are healthier, The New York Times report said.
–IANS
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Business
Apple is giving a huge discount on its gadgets: Details inside
If you want to buy an iPhone and were waiting for a nice offer, then we have a piece of good news for you! Amazon Summer Sale May 2022 has begun and they are offering major discounts on various smartphones, laptops, and smart TVs, among others.
The sale is live now on the e-commerce platform with no-cost EMI options and exchange discounts on various products. In addition to this, Amazon has also partnered with several banks including ICICI, Kotak Bank, and RBL so that customers get instant discounts of up to 10% using their cards and EMI transactions.
Customers can easily enjoy this summer sale and get massive discounts on iPhones. They can also compare prices on Flipkart Big Saving Days Sale 2022 before making a purchase.
Amazon Summer Sale May 2022: Discount offer on iPhone 13
Apple’s coveted phone model iPhone 13 in the 128 GB storage model will be available during the Amazon Summer Sale May 2022 for Rs 64,900. The MRP of the phone is Rs 79,900. This means that the customers will be able to enjoy a discount of up to Rs 15,000 on the purchase of the iPhone 13.
If you have an old iPhone in working condition then you will also be eligible to receive another additional discount worth up to Rs 17,000 on the iPhone 13.
Buy at Rs. 64,900 (MRP – Rs. 79,900)
Features of Apple iPhone 13
The iPhone is powered by an A15 Bionic processor with 6 core CPU. Apart from this, it has 16 core neural engines. With the iPhone 13, up to 512 GB of storage will be available. The iPhone 13 has a 6.1-inch Retina XDR display with 1000 nits brightness.
The iPhone 13 has a 12-megapixel dual rear camera setup. This time a new wide-angle camera has been given, whose aperture is f/1.6. With this, there is support for sensor optical stabilisation. Night mode has been made better than before. The second lens is also 12 megapixels ultra-wide and has an aperture of f/2.4.