When Did Technology Stop Serving Us?
What we used to call “tools” are now attention traps dressed as software
I never thought I’d say this, but I hate technology people. Full stop.
And to be fair—I’m one of them. So there’s a healthy dose of self-loathing baked into that line. But I’ve been around long enough to watch the shift firsthand: from backroom technologists dying to help people and build cool things… to product teams that optimize for attention, addiction, and monetization.
We used to build tools that helped people do more with less. Now? We build features that add friction, reduce control, and trap users inside bloated ecosystems. We call it “productivity,” but it’s anything but.
LinkedIn Is Not a Tool Anymore—It’s a Trap
I joined LinkedIn in 2006. Yes, I’m that old.
I bought into the business networking idea—and somehow, without ever chasing it, I managed to connect with nearly 8,800 real human beings organically. I’m not an influencer. Never tried to be. But I did take the “digital connections” idea seriously.
When I started my business, I figured this network would be an asset.
A warm list of 8,800 people who knew me—or at least chose to connect.
Turns out? Not even close.
Despite showing up regularly and posting content with intent, my average impression rate is about 60. As in: LinkedIn surfaces my posts to ~60 people out of 8,800.
That’s not signal loss. That’s a blackout.
And as a technologist, I get it: LinkedIn uses a recommendation engine. The system is designed to prioritize what users engage with—not who they chose to connect with. It uses embeddings, behavior loops, and preference modeling to surface “relevant” content.
From a machine-learning standpoint, it probably makes sense.
From a business networking standpoint? It’s broken.
It quietly replaced connection-based reach with engagement-based filtering.
And most users never noticed.
You think everyone sees your posts. You think your network still works like a network.
But that’s a mathematical impossibility.
The reality is: what we built—our connections, our reach, our digital reputation—is rented space. Controlled by an algorithm that serves a very different customer.
The result?
Articles with links get penalized.
External content is downranked.
Native content wins, but only if it matches the model.
Want visibility? You need to post frequently, engage often, and game the system.
Which raises the obvious question:
Who has time to work and network and be a full-time content creator… for free?
This was supposed to be a professional tool.
Now it’s a closed-loop engagement engine.
Built not to help you connect—but to keep you clicking.
Productivity Tools That Punish You for Being Productive
The same thing is happening across the board.
Email platforms that require sign-ins just to view a file.
Cloud apps that default to link-sharing instead of simple attachments.
Tools that bloat your workflow with collaboration layers you didn’t ask for.
AI copilots replacing simple apps that worked fine, just to justify an LLM investment.
These tools don’t respect your time. They monetize it.
And when they can’t extract more time, they extract more data.
They interrupt, confuse, and complicate—not to help you work better, but to keep you dependent.
We used to call that bad UX. Now it’s called “activation.”
Your Time Is the Product
Let’s not sugarcoat this.
Every change you’re seeing is incentive-driven.
Add a sign-up wall → Increase user retention
Hide outbound links → Decrease platform exit rate
Force native content → Increase session time
Launch AI tools → Create usage metrics to feed back to investors
It’s not just annoying. It’s structural.
Because the customer isn’t always you.
Sometimes the customer is the advertiser.
Sometimes it’s the investor.
Sometimes it’s just the next funding round.
And you? You’re just the product.
So What Now?
We can’t fix the entire system. But we can stop feeding it.
You don’t need to “play the game” if the game was rigged to begin with.
You can:
Choose tools that value clarity over control.
Set boundaries around platforms that demand too much.
Stop performing for metrics that aren’t even yours.
Because here’s the thing:
Technology is supposed to serve us.
If your tools feel like a tax on your time, your energy, or your attention—
It’s worth asking: who’s really benefiting?
We were supposed to be masters of our tools.
Now we serve them.
And their corporate masters.
That’s not progress.
That’s just digital feudalism in a SaaS interface.
PS – We see this a lot at Ytechnology. Clients come in thinking they need “more tech.” What they really need is less noise—and systems that serve the business, not the other way around. Quietly, and effectively, we help them rebuild from that principle.