Thank you for this eye opening piece.

I don't follow tech news but I'm interested in consumer trends. I've felt the same way for a while but reading this piece and esp the examples you've given, has turned me around.

I recently launched my website. And honestly, I feel like why websites look the same is because everyone has the ability to make a website these days. And when you make it easy for everyone to do something, you have to give them a template. Therefore, all websites end up looking the same.

It's like me driving 20 km to my old neighborhood grocery store because I know what aisle holds what. It's just much harder to go to a new grocery store (a km away) because it makes me feel dumb and also wants me to use my brain. All my instincts are for preserving precious brain energy so I can use it for dopamine inducing stuff like checking how many likes my reel got.

The joke is no longer on me. I am the joke.

Haah.