Tron Legacy might not be the most well received of films. The legacy (pun intended) of Tron has been one that has never quite lived up to expectations, especially at the box office as is currently the case with Tron Ares. Whilst I am yet to see Ares - haven't had the time - I am hoping to either today or in the coming days.
I did manage to rewatch Legacy last night (rewatched the original a couple of months ago). Legacy was one that I always looked back to fondly, unsurprisingly Daft Punk's soundtrack being a big contributor. But, what I was reminded of with this recent viewing is the underlying message of software freedom. Part of that is that software should be free in terms of price, which in essence I agree with, but there are caveats to that. The other, which is particularly important, is freedom of control for users over their software.
Contemplating how to escape the confines of big tech.
Freedom from big tech that increasingly decide what we can and can't do with the software we use. This is a power play that not only assumes that users don't know what is best for them, but also more damaging as time goes on, the more these systems are locked down the less users will know how to do different things with software. We are already seeing this with the "ipad generation". Apple will claim that they did so to make their tablets (and by extension phones) easy to use, but with everything locked down you can only do what Apple allows you to do. Plus, software can only be added via its monopolistic app store. It has been one thing seeing pensioners struggle to use anything other than an IOS device, but it is deeply concerning watching 20 somethings use a web browser just as slowly! Especially those on a tech related module.
In national law I see the value of "freedom in the box", that you are free to do want you want within those confines. It's also how the logic of many videogames work in terms of their rules. Yet, when it comes to technology, software, internet, and the web my views shift. I have long been a strong proponent of freedom online. Yes, there are areas where people rightly should be prosecuted, and these are for actions where what takes place online have very direct and damaging impacts on the offline world, where very clear laws and rules exist.
I have previously talked here about my concerns about the UK Online Safety Act. It is a hammer against nut approach. That's not to belittle the importance of the nut. As taking such a wide approach not only harms normal use of the web, but it also further drives bad actors into hiding. If you want to catch and stop these people, good old fashioned police and detective work still applies.
I will be very interested to see what technology themes Tron Ares addresses. I assume AI will be a big part, which is an issue we need to deal with. This is one where "free" software is a big part, freedom for users to decide for themselves whether or not they use AI.
