We operate under the assumption that we have a decent grasp of concepts. ‘Consumer’ and ‘labor’ being two concepts that we have a general understanding of. Often terms change slightly in meaning with the passing of time, but for the most part, they hold solid, so we view these terms in the same light as that of yesteryear.

In general, a consumer is the last purchaser in the supply chain and the end user of a product or service. Take for instance a box of cereal. A manufacturer makes the cereal, then sells it to a distributor. The distributor then sells the cereal to supermarkets. You get hungry, buy the cereal at the supermarket, take it home and eat it. Simple enough to understand. Then broadcast media happens, and now, the consumer is not the last purchaser in the supply chain, as the last purchaser in the supply chain is the advertiser buying ad time/space within the broadcast. You, however, are still the end user. So we still view the consumer in the broadcast media model as an end user, and thus still a consumer.

We also have a general grasp for labor. There is unpaid labor, like volunteers, slaves, and family. There is paid labor, individuals that are compensated financially through salary, wage, tips, commissions, etc. We understand what labor is. Whether it is paid or not, we still equate to it being work with an expectation of compensation or lack thereof.

But what happens when you break the mold?

There’s that conservative talking point of “nobody wants to work anymore,” but I think it is more like “nobody wants to work more than they already do.”

You look at tech companies and what you would consider their users, and it is a wild reimagining of labor. Silicon Valley sneakily challenged the notion of consumerism. They present their users as consumers despite the fact that they are neither the last purchaser or the end user of their services. They provide lip service about privacy, as though the data is yours, and then you get people like Senator Elizabeth Warren getting young people fired up about privacy rights. Except it’s not the users’ data. And the users are not customers. And they are not end users.

Much like the broadcast media model, the last purchaser in the tech model is the advertiser buying ad time/space. Unlike the broadcast media model, the end user in the tech model is also the advertiser buying ad time/space. The advertiser is not buying ad time/space willy nilly; tech companies leverage their data sets to get advertisers that want to advertise to a specific clientele. The advertisers want access to clientele that most likely will respond to their advertisements. Online advertisement is not the predictable one-size-fits-all truck ads during a football game. Silicon Valley created software portals, and dropped consumers into their production environments, and collected their users’ continuously expanding data sets in their data warehouses to attract ad revenue. Whether it’s simple GPS tracking or straight up “NetSuite for Marks,” tech is putting you to work. You might as well put on a sandwich board with a sign saying “Will Work for Ads.”

And it’s not like tech is paying you for your labor, or trying to suggest that you are working for free; rather, you get pimp tactics. And the Silicon Valley pimp game is strong. Tech companies try to get you to love them. They use peer pressure from their users to get more users. They get you addicted to the dopamine from using their portals. And you turn digital tricks and keep turning digital tricks for them. And they receive all the financial gain while they smile at you disingenuously and pretend they love you.

But we really should know better. We know about free software. Forget the tech analysts on the news broadcasts warning you about when you get something for free, you are not the customer, you are the product. That’s silly. We all have received free access to software. Whether it was on the company laptop at your remote job, the tower in your cubicle, the headset at your retailer, or the POS system at your bar, you’ve had access to free software before to get you through your day. And you knew where you were.

You were at work.

Soundtrack for the day on Spotify, 08062024:

1. Becoming – Pantera
2. Insane in the Brain – Cypress Hill
3. Keeping the Motion – DJ Krush
4. A Bright New Life – Escort
5. Unfinished Symphony – Massive Attack
6. Simon Says – Pharoah Monch
7. St. James’ Infirmary – Cab Calloway
8. No One Knows – Queens of the Stone Age
9. Beggin’ (Pilooski Re-Edit) – Remix – Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons
10. 硝子坂 – 高田 みづえ
11. Jolene – Dolly Parton
12. Stolen Car – Beth Orton
13. Bola de Meia – Seu Jorge
14. Je suis venu te dire que je m-en vais – Serge Gainsbourg
15. Take Your Mamma – Scissor Sisters
16. Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie
17. Far Behind – Candlebox
18. Pusherman – Curtis Mayfield
19. Aquele Abraço – Gilberto Gil
20. ZOOM UP! – Kahimi Karie