Embracing Tech in 2026

Looking around the web — on social media, blogs, etc. — I see a common refrain around the start of every new year to be “less online”, or “escape big tech”.

In 2026, I’m going to double-down on using technology.

I think the instinct to be more grounded in the real world makes sense. Striving for agency is good. But, the loudest voices about extracting themselves from “the algorithm” nevertheless continue to seem very engaged with it.

I’m increasingly convinced that our fraught and ambivalent relationship to technology does not rely in the tech itself, but in our posture towards it; we allow technology to shape our habits to conform to the designer’s desired outcomes, rather than leveraging it to produce the outcomes we want.

The problem with primarily being a consumer of software is that consumption is largely passive. We take in what is pushed to us via feeds and recommendations. The passive disposition is the root of these woes.

My goal this year is to take an active disposition toward life, and, in turn, strive for mastery of the technologies at my disposal. Some examples:

• Rather than buy a “dumb phone”, install the Kindle app on my smartphone and have it ready on the home screen. Default to reading a book in the day’s interstices instead of scrolling Instagram.
• Set up a home media server with Jellyfin. Instead of succumbing to the decision paralysis and precarious availability of music and movies on streaming services, purchase mp3s (available from Qobuz, Amazon Music, elsewhere), rip my blu-rays, and upload them. Run the server with Docker and host it on a Hetzner server. Cancel Netflix, HBO, Spotify, and the rest.
• Leverage AI (specifically Claude) to learn and automate. I had never set up a home media server before, and didn’t want to go through the toil of configuring it all myself. Claude Opus 4.5 held my hand through the setup and nearly one-shot the configuration files to get it running. If I encountered an error, I pasted it back in and continued. I’ll share my setup here sometime.

There’s a lot of FUD out there right now, and getting off screens, or doing anything to be more present with your family, friends, God, and self, is a good thing. But striving to master the tools at your disposal is an equally good way to conquer the fear and enable the life you want to live.