Technology

You did so well until the last few sentences. Casually throwing everyone under the bus as idiots isn't a great move.

To be blunt, there's a lot of tech noobs out there that have always been, and will always be, fairly bad with technology. There's an even larger number that can't be bothered to pay attention or care about it. And finally, there's the enthusiasts and the tech savvy, most of whom are working in a tech related field (or want to). Special shout out to the enthusiasts who don't work in a tech field who are still quite savvy. But let's face it, the enthusiasts and the tech savvy are a minority. We are not their targets. Fact is, even if you're using Google's various services or Chrome or whatever, the tech literate are at least aware of what's happening, and a nontrivial number of them are here. Including you and I.

It then becomes our job to save others from themselves and get them away from the products looking to harm them. Throwing in the towel and calling everyone neaderthals isn't the way to accomplish this. If we all do our part, we can save those we care about from becoming yet another battery in the machine, with all their data flowing through one company. It's our duty.

For those that REALLY want to help, get involved in local politics and be the change. Help push regulation on the corporate shills that want it all. Whether that's running for office, or contacting your local representative or whatever, it's something that should be done. They shouldn't be allowed to just implement, what is essentially mass surveillance on the world without someone doing something about it. That's what the government is supposed to be there to do. I'll reserve my comments about how effective they've been in the past or how corrupt the whole system is, because that will vary from country to country. But bluntly, you can be that change by getting involved.

As to the comments about the general idiocy of the population of earth, I say this: do you know it all? Well, neither do they. Nobody does. Can you fix your car and then turn around and frame a shed from scratch? Me neither. Can you perform experiments to discover new and exciting things in quantum physics, then build a toaster from raw materials? Me neither. Can you fix your plumbing, then create a program in Pascal that does your taxes for you? Me neither. Everyone has their skills, talents and expertise. Simply because there is a large percentage of people whose expertise is not tech, doesn't, and shouldn't, invalidate their intelligence as an individual.

Check yourself, or the next time you have a problem you don't know how to fix, people might just throw in the towel on helping you.