The title is "Big Tech killed the Golden Age of Programming"

But the author spends zero time explaining why he thinks internet-based data collection and surveillance is the "Golden Age" of programming.

A golden age, according to one definition, is a period of "peak achievement"

What exactly is the author's concept of achievement

Perhaps it is financial (not programming)

For example, the period may have been noteworthy for the so-called "tech" industry's ability to pay so many salaries from zero interest loans

Historically, data shows that interest rates fluctuate over time (Can we blame Big Tech for an increase in interest rates)

With respect to _programming_ some agree that innovation, improvement, progress, was actually stalled during this period (and still is) due to Big Tech's anti-competitive practices

From this end user's perspective the software created during this period, what the author calls a period of "fake jobs", is not the pinnacle of achievement in programming

To me, software quality is at an all-time low, and this "Big Tech" period does not stand as a "Golden Age of Programming"

Compared to the software I am using originally created in the 1970s it stinks

But opinions may differ