That's an unnecessarily cynical generalization. Sure, maybe the leaders of the companies creating these things are profit-motivated, but is that really true of the individual engineers and designers who created it?
Both of what you said can be true at the same time (not mutually exclusive of each other) while OP’s assertions may still be true for certain individuals if I’m thinking logically.
We are talking about what motivates humans as human behavior, which tends to be varied, nuanced, and hard to reduce to mutually exclusive categories like being only profit driven or only driven by intellectual curiosity.
I think you can be both motivated by money and intellectual curiosity. If you are an engineer turned founder, you can be both?
No, that is a very accurate description. The engineers willing to work on those things and suppressing deeper thoughts for the money and kick off new tech are part of the equation and the problem.
A manager I had once had a postcard in his office "The engineer is the camel on whos back the merchand rides to his success."
You are a lever and even provide the excuse for being one yourself.
