About 20 Minutes into the Future

“Now, I'm no librarian, in fact, I don't know what star sign I am. But, as a famous person once said, ‘You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.’ And as I - another more famous person - once said, ‘If you don't teach them to read, you can fool them whenever you like.’“ — Max Headroom

Fight for a better tomorrow today

20 Minutes Into The Future is a critical look at how technology is shaping our lives today and what actions we can take for a better tomorrow. It is written by Daniel Harvey, a digital product designer currently based in London. But he lived in NYC for 20 years so expect him to say “fuck” an awful lot.

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If you're pissed about big tech behaving badly and want to see us do better than you’ve found a kindred spirit. Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update.

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What people are saying about 20 Minutes into the Future

Before the launch

Alice More O'Ferrall 🐼 @alicemof

I just subscribed to 20 Minutes into the Future and encourage you to do the same. 🙏 @dancharvey 20minutesintothefuture.substack.com/?utm_medium=we…

20minutesintothefuture.substack.com20 Minutes into the FutureA critical look at how technology is shaping our lives today and what actions we can take for a better tomorrow.

Mike Wamungu @MikeWamungu

I just subscribed to 20 Minutes into the Future. Join me and others passionate about how we craft a more ethical, humane tomorrow. @dancharvey

20minutesintothefuture.substack.com20 Minutes into the FutureA critical look at how technology is shaping our lives today and what actions we can take for a better tomorrow.

and kind words after the launch

Derek Powazek 🌿 @fraying

This is a very good overview of what we’re up against.

20minutesintothefuture.substack.comFrom Brexit to Christchurch(Thanks again to Tash Wilcocks for this amazing illustration) Derision of Experts was at the heart of Karl Rove’s “reality-based communities” concept. It’s become a key component of modern propaganda since. “People in this country have had enough of experts

John Rogers @jonrog1

Important work. The individualism fetish of US culture, and tech, is doing untold damage, and we need to move to a more society-centered approach in so many different fields. @dancharvey

20minutesintothefuture.substack.comA manifesto on society centered designOur old frameworks no longer work. They pit individuals against the collective. We demand better.

monika bielskyte @monikabielskyte

Gray’s Law suggests in special cases intentionality is beyond the point. It goes: “Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice." ⁦@dancharvey⁩ on Google’s endless issues with #racistbias

20minutesintothefuture.substack.comGoogle vs. black people: Gorillas in the algorithmIn this 20 Minutes into the Future we take a critical look at Google’s terrible history with image classification and black people.

Cathy Reisenwitz 🏗🌐🥑 @CathyReisenwitz

uhhh wtf "Ring, Amazon's home surveillance company, has extensive contracts with many police departments. These contracts allow officers to request footage without obtaining a warrant or consent from home owners." @dancharvey

20minutesintothefuture.substack.comHow big tech empowers racist police surveillanceHow Silicon Valley surveillance is racist by default and other stories from the battle lines in the war with big tech

Lennie: always Antifa @drgs100

What do you do when companies help run concentration camps? You stop giving them money

20minutesintothefuture.substack.comHow the world’s richest man helps run America’s concentration campsIn this 20 Minutes into The Future we look at how Amazon enables the corrupt mission of ICE. Maybe same day shipping isn’t worth all those dead kids?

Jocelyne Allen @brainvsbook

This series taking down Uber is excellent, but especially the latest piece. This company’s basically making everything worse for everyone, but at least you get a (maybe) cheaper, (maybe) faster ride than a taxi.

20minutesintothefuture.substack.comUber’s war on people of color & the poorIn this 20 Minutes into The Future we take a critical look at Uber’s negative impact on the poor, people of color, and the climate.

Sean Matthew Ritchie @seanmritchie

Just because you can store it, doesn't mean you should. Time to do a data springclean.

20minutesintothefuture.substack.comSoftware is polluting the worldFrom data landfills to the carbon cost of AI to misinformation, big tech has a big impact on the climate. And it’s really bad. Worse than you think.

Chris Adams @CKelAdams

A good (by “good” I mean “depressing”) look at where the major players from Cambridge Analytica have ended up at. I highly recommend subscribing too.

20minutesintothefuture.substack.comWhatever happened to Cambridge Analytica?Almost two years on and the bastards are still out there. And they’re still a threat to Democracy.

Manuela Bellipanni 🇮🇹 🇪🇺 TWITTAROLA #ioVotoNO @ManuelaBellipan

Un ottima analisi di @dancharvey su come stia cambiando la propaganda della #Russia negli USA, che non si è arrestata con le elezioni di #Trump, ma che anzi è aumentata, sviluppando nuove tecniche per aggirare gli algoritmi dei social #GuerraIbrida

20minutesintothefuture.substack.comThe then and now of the Russian Internet Research AgencyThe evolving tactics and campaigns of the IRA. Plus other stories of big tech behaving badly.

About Daniel

Designer, Writer, Provocateur. I'm currently consulting with startups in London. Before that I was Head of Product Design & Brand at The Dots which TechCrunch has called the "LinkedIn for Creatives." Prior to working in startups, I held executive roles at R/GA, SapientNitro, and Zone. In those roles I've worked with major tech companies like Google, Twitter, Apple, and more.

I write and speak about design and tech at Fast Company, The Drum, SXSW, and IxDA. I am a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in the creative industries and sit on the board for Creative Equals. I’m committed to building a better tomorrow today.

I've worked in tech and online communities for over 20 years. I'm using that experience to write a newsletter that is worth your time and attention. Thank you for your consideration.

To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.

Subscribe to 20 Minutes into the Future

A critical look at how technology is shaping our lives today and what actions we can take for a better tomorrow.

People

Daniel Harvey

@20minutesintothefuture

Designer, Writer, Provocateur. I write #20MinutesintotheFuture, a critical look at how tech is shaping our lives & what we can do for a better tomorrow.