The concept of a series of gadgets that provide countermeasures to surveillance capitalism got me thinking about superheros. If someone were to adopt all of the devices that I’ve been imagining, they would look like a costumed crusader.
It kind of makes sense to imagine the centerpiece of my project would be a NEW superhero (COUNTERMEASURE). In addition to the tech-laden gear, they would have a sidekick (robot dog), a car (electric w/ lots of onboard compute), supervillain enemies (Zuckerberg, Bezos, etc) and a mission: to free the masses from tech platform neofeudal capitalism!
After running this idea by a few folks, I realized that the idea of a superhero, besides being pretty passé, didn’t do justice (groan) to the seriousness of my concept. Also, superheroes tend to be loners. They right the wrongs and ride off into the sunset.
The battle against surveillance capitalism can’t be won and it can’t be fought with a single person. While the devices that I ultimately produce may not be totally practical, the plans and concepts will be far more real than any imaginary comic book character!