5 ms·

If that house or car provides sufficiently compelling features or other benefits then, yeah, I would totally buy one. Should it be legal? I mean, why not? If y

If that house or car provides sufficiently compelling features or other benefits then, yeah, I would totally buy one. Should it be legal? I mean, why not? If you don’t want one, just don’t buy one. There are plenty of other houses and cars out there!

dx87 6y ago
Sounds like a similar situation to buying a house that belongs to a HOA. You pay extra to give up freedoms, but have the peace of mind that you won't have obnoxious neighbors that make your house difficult to sell.
- darksaints 6y ago
  Are you serious? HOAs not only do not prevent obnoxious neighbors, they virtually guarantee it.
- Reelin 6y ago
  The difference being that (in all cases I'm aware of) you get some sort of representation in the HOA (ie voting on things). Also there are almost certainly limits in any given jurisdiction on the sort of rules an HOA can impose.
  - iguy 6y ago
    One reason for this difference is that HOAs are kind-of eternal. They need some way to adapt to changing circumstances. Whereas things you will only use for a few years, you get to vote with your wallet. (As you do when booking a hotel, or renting an apartment.)
- kevingadd 6y ago
  So when I buy an iPhone I get a seat on Apple's board like I do when I join an HOA, right? I can vote on whether they should change these policies?
  - krab 6y ago
    In practice, it doesn't matter. Your share would be so tiny that voting with your wallet is equivalent. After all, people usually renew their phones every few years.
    - anoncake 6y ago
      By that logic let's get back to monarchy.
- _qulr 6y ago
  HOAs are becoming ubiquitous. In my area, nearly every home built in the past 20 years is under a HOA, and of course there are older HOAs too. They're generally created by the home builder, not the home buyer. When I was buying a house, I didn't want an HOA. I hate them. But the options were extremely limited, and it was a seller's market. I think local governments like HOAs because they pay to maintain certain common areas, so the cities don't have to spend tax money on that. Also, local politicians are all on the take with... surprise, surprise... the home builders.
Aeolun 6y ago
So now all housing companies start doing that, and we’re living in some unauthorized bread dystopia. That doesn’t sound like a world I want to live in.
- romski 6y ago
  Not necessarily - ideally if you don’t want to live in that kind of a house then someone will want your business and cater to you.
  - _qulr 6y ago
    I don't want Apple's dictatorial control or Google's privacy invasion. Yet the market is not catering to me.
    - colejohnson66 6y ago
      Or more accurately: the market is reacting to what consumers want. Librem phones exist; they’re just not popular because most people don’t care about privacy.
      - _qulr 6y ago
        > Librem phones exist; they’re just not popular because What's the marketing budget of Purism? What's the total budget of Purism? In which stores are these phones available? Consumers can't buy what they don't even know about. Popularity requires availability. It requires awareness. These things are very costly. There are huge barriers to entry, especially in the smartphone market.
        tpmoney 6y ago
        Marketing budgets are a function of sales too. If even the people that know about them (such as yourself) aren't buying them, they're not going to have a lot of money to pour into marketing.
michaeldorian 6y ago
Exactly. Folks are acting as if the iPhone is the only phone.
eertami 6y ago
>Should it be legal? I mean, why not? If you don’t want one, just don’t buy one. There are plenty of other houses and cars out there! Easy to say as an end-user, but what if you were a furniture maker by trade? You've been selling furniture for years and then houses start being built that can't use your furniture. Eventually these houses become the largest segment of the house market. Your furniture business goes bust.

dx87 6y ago

Sounds like a similar situation to buying a house that belongs to a HOA. You pay extra to give up freedoms, but have the peace of mind that you won't have obnoxious neighbors that make your house difficult to sell.

darksaints 6y ago
Are you serious? HOAs not only do not prevent obnoxious neighbors, they virtually guarantee it.
Reelin 6y ago
The difference being that (in all cases I'm aware of) you get some sort of representation in the HOA (ie voting on things). Also there are almost certainly limits in any given jurisdiction on the sort of rules an HOA can impose.
- iguy 6y ago
  One reason for this difference is that HOAs are kind-of eternal. They need some way to adapt to changing circumstances. Whereas things you will only use for a few years, you get to vote with your wallet. (As you do when booking a hotel, or renting an apartment.)
kevingadd 6y ago
So when I buy an iPhone I get a seat on Apple's board like I do when I join an HOA, right? I can vote on whether they should change these policies?
- krab 6y ago
  In practice, it doesn't matter. Your share would be so tiny that voting with your wallet is equivalent. After all, people usually renew their phones every few years.
  - anoncake 6y ago
    By that logic let's get back to monarchy.
_qulr 6y ago
HOAs are becoming ubiquitous. In my area, nearly every home built in the past 20 years is under a HOA, and of course there are older HOAs too. They're generally created by the home builder, not the home buyer. When I was buying a house, I didn't want an HOA. I hate them. But the options were extremely limited, and it was a seller's market. I think local governments like HOAs because they pay to maintain certain common areas, so the cities don't have to spend tax money on that. Also, local politicians are all on the take with... surprise, surprise... the home builders.

Aeolun 6y ago

So now all housing companies start doing that, and we’re living in some unauthorized bread dystopia. That doesn’t sound like a world I want to live in.

romski 6y ago
Not necessarily - ideally if you don’t want to live in that kind of a house then someone will want your business and cater to you.
- _qulr 6y ago
  I don't want Apple's dictatorial control or Google's privacy invasion. Yet the market is not catering to me.
  - colejohnson66 6y ago
    Or more accurately: the market is reacting to what consumers want. Librem phones exist; they’re just not popular because most people don’t care about privacy.
    - _qulr 6y ago
      > Librem phones exist; they’re just not popular because What's the marketing budget of Purism? What's the total budget of Purism? In which stores are these phones available? Consumers can't buy what they don't even know about. Popularity requires availability. It requires awareness. These things are very costly. There are huge barriers to entry, especially in the smartphone market.
      - tpmoney 6y ago
        Marketing budgets are a function of sales too. If even the people that know about them (such as yourself) aren't buying them, they're not going to have a lot of money to pour into marketing.

michaeldorian 6y ago

Exactly. Folks are acting as if the iPhone is the only phone.

eertami 6y ago

>Should it be legal? I mean, why not? If you don’t want one, just don’t buy one. There are plenty of other houses and cars out there! Easy to say as an end-user, but what if you were a furniture maker by trade? You've been selling furniture for years and then houses start being built that can't use your furniture. Eventually these houses become the largest segment of the house market. Your furniture business goes bust.