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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/russianireland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/20241114_123855-766x1024.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nIt’s good! I chat with a few people, including a 20 year veteran of the games industry. The meetup could stand to be longer – they kick us all out of the cattle pen after twenty minutes.
\nThat said, conversations start quickly here – we all have plenty of shared cultural reference points we can make smalltalk about.
\nI beat some more techbros at chess, including a self-described \u201cweb3 guy\u201d, and then get lunch at media catering. Today’s vegan offerings include rolls, olives, and garlic hummus.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/russianireland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/20241114_140224-766x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
I miss an interesting-sounding talk by Ed Zitrone but watch it on YouTube from a desk in the Media Village.
\nZitrone gives us some much-needed criticism of the current tech industry. Social media platforms, SAAS companies, and GenAI are the targets.
\nAt the heart of it all is a criticism of the drive for endless growth. The only thing that grows forever is \u201ccancer\u201d.
\nZitrone highlights the environmental cost. Microsoft is \u201c600% over its emissions goals\u201d so \u201cwe can have a thing that generates a busty Garfield\u201d.
\nZitrone talks about how startups have to tape AI to the side to secure investment, something evidenced in startup stalls all around Web Summit this year.
\nEverything Zitrone says is basically correct but it doesn’t matter.
\nThe talks aren’t the point of Web Summit. We\u2019re all very enlightened and environmentally conscious (aside, presumably, from that \u201cweb3 guy\u201d i beat at chess earlier) but there’s no democracy here.
\nIf one alpha startup proposes an idea and one investor likes it, the idea will be implemented. If everyone else at Web Summit looks on in horror, what of it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I attend a \u201cgamers\u201d meetup, which takes place in what feels like a cattle pen. It’s good! I chat with a few people, including a 20 year veteran of the games industry. The meetup could stand to be longer – they kick us all out of the cattle pen after twenty minutes. That said, conversations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3857,"featured_media":360915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9350],"tags":[11814],"class_list":["post-361044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","tag-websummit"],"yoast_head":"\n