Brian Merchant hails the worst tech of 2023, an anti-gift guide for the holiday season that "sits atop an intersection of so many discouraging trendlines that I can't help but get depressed by them." The authority-friendly Amazon Ring doorbell, which looks out but sees within, is a solid pick—as is well-hacked ethnicity-testing site 23andMe, also authority-friendly. Other selections include as "Uber" and "the concentration of power in big tech."
A world where the Ring surveillance camera never existed bears a closer resemblance to the world the company claims to be working toward. Amazon (and the police departments to which it offers Ring surveillance cameras for free) have deputized denizens of America's already paranoid cities and towns to discipline underpaid and overworked delivery workers, suspect every neighbor or pedestrian of the most heinous of crimes (beginning with package theft), and give the delivery empire greater insight into the rhythm of the lives of its customers and their neighborhoods.
I'm a simple man, though, so my selection is the Male-to-Male Extension Cord offered at online merchants you're all familiar with (and to its credit, Amazon isn't among them). They're back in abundance after years of sensible absense, perhaps because everyone bought generators during the pandemic and it's the easiest way to get a cheap portable one powering all the stuff in your house. I shan't be linking.
