Dependencies and Control

As part of my Sovereignty experiment I’m looking at my dependencies.

I’m not going to get rid of all my dependencies. That would be highly unpractical (if not outright impossible). But I do want to consider who and what I depend on — and take some time to reflect on whether these are the correct dependencies to have.

I’m especially interested in my digital life.

One area I have started taking back control has been with music and podcasts.

We used to own our music. Then came streaming and suddenly we were all dependent on Spotify or YouTube Music. I’m trying to reverse some of that for myself.

A similar story goes for podcasts. Podcasts are built on open technology: the RSS feed. You can go download an open source podcast player and subscribe to most podcasts via RSS right now. But what happened? Video podcasts started gaining traction and suddenly you had to subscribe via YouTube or Spotify to get the full experience.

YouTube and Spotify are wonderful services. I have used both for many years. And I may still continue to use them in the future.

But it’s important we have alternatives. Good alternatives.

Alternatives. Escape routes. Off ramps.

These help us maintain balance. They keep our dependencies in check.

Often the alternatives won’t be as polished or as convenient. But they will give you something the dependencies can never offer: a sense of control.

Maybe the alternatives aren’t as convenient, but they may actually offer a better experience. If you take the time to get around the inconveniences. Truth is many of our dependencies are deeply ensh*ttificated. My new music player is snappy, plays higher quality music, free of bloat, and always works — even when offline.

I have now have music on my phone I can listen to without any account, subscription, or internet connection.

That’s a tiny thing. But despite the tininess I love the sense of control it brings.