3 ms·

I'm increasingly getting irritated by the feeling that I don't actually own or control the hardware I purchase.

amelius 5y ago
That's why I buy hardware that starts with "i" in its name. That way, I know that "I" am the owner and "I" am in complete control.
- sahkopoyta 5y ago
  have you tried fixing your i-devices? I would not call it complete control if seemingly unrelated parts stop working after replacing some part yourself
  - amenod 5y ago
    I think GP was being sarcastic.
- jonnycomputer 5y ago
  So this morning I noticed that the LEDs were on on the computer I built even after I shut it down. That's how it works by default, but I didn't like it, so changed the setting in the BIOS. I have to think that something reset back to the defaults, and I'm guessing Windows 10? I built it so I know it, but I guess I still don't own it. And don't get me started on how Windows 10 never goes to sleep like it should. Maybe I'm curmudgeonly, but I'm tired of things I choose being changed on me, things I own be used to profit on me, things I use to spy on me. And its not just software and hardware. For example, I bank at X, but they've merged with another bank and are becoming Y. So now different website, different checks, different name, etc. and for what? for a line on some CEOs resume. Similar when I make a loan and the loan is sold to someone else, and my payment processing routine has to change to accommodate someone else's profit-making deal.
  - JasonFruit 5y ago
    Well, if you built it, it was you who put Windows 10 on it. I'm not convinced this is an example of you not owning the hardware so much as not realizing that the software was going to turn on you.
  - sdflhasjd 5y ago
    I don't think I've seen Windows touch any BIOS settings with the exception of the boot order (which it only does during install). It's more likely the CMOS battery is duff or some other issue
matheusmoreira 5y ago
It's not just a feeling. You really don't own or control the hardware. It's controlled by the proprietary firmware running in the computer embedded in it. This firmware controlled by the corporation. It will prevent you from doing anything that harms their business interests.
JustAnonymous 5y ago
This is actually about software more than hardware. Richard Stallman's spark for founding the free software movement was being unable to modify his lab printer's source code to do what he wanted it to do. A lot of us have been conditioned to think you "just can't" modify things like firmware, or OSes, (or increasingly in phones/tablets, user-space). But for Stallman's generation, hardware devices were 100% owned, repairable and hackable by their owners. Only software and the abuse of it could so comprehensively change a hardware device from something you obviously own, to something which in a real sense you don't control or even realistically own anymore. Apple is leading the charge in this as other companies itch to pile in.
jacquesm 5y ago
You're late to that particular party. This has been a trend that started somewhere in the mid-90's and it's getting worse every day. Every manufacturer the world over is right now wondering how they can turn their one-time sales into a recurring revenue stream. Case in point: the Bosch e-bikes now offer a 'Bosch account' to supposedly access premium features on the bikes which in a sane world would be included in the purchase price and which really do not require an online account or service to begin with.

That's why I buy hardware that starts with "i" in its name. That way, I know that "I" am the owner and "I" am in complete control.

sahkopoyta 5y ago
have you tried fixing your i-devices? I would not call it complete control if seemingly unrelated parts stop working after replacing some part yourself
- amenod 5y ago
  I think GP was being sarcastic.
jonnycomputer 5y ago
So this morning I noticed that the LEDs were on on the computer I built even after I shut it down. That's how it works by default, but I didn't like it, so changed the setting in the BIOS. I have to think that something reset back to the defaults, and I'm guessing Windows 10? I built it so I know it, but I guess I still don't own it. And don't get me started on how Windows 10 never goes to sleep like it should. Maybe I'm curmudgeonly, but I'm tired of things I choose being changed on me, things I own be used to profit on me, things I use to spy on me. And its not just software and hardware. For example, I bank at X, but they've merged with another bank and are becoming Y. So now different website, different checks, different name, etc. and for what? for a line on some CEOs resume. Similar when I make a loan and the loan is sold to someone else, and my payment processing routine has to change to accommodate someone else's profit-making deal.
- JasonFruit 5y ago
  Well, if you built it, it was you who put Windows 10 on it. I'm not convinced this is an example of you not owning the hardware so much as not realizing that the software was going to turn on you.
- sdflhasjd 5y ago
  I don't think I've seen Windows touch any BIOS settings with the exception of the boot order (which it only does during install). It's more likely the CMOS battery is duff or some other issue

matheusmoreira 5y ago

It's not just a feeling. You really don't own or control the hardware. It's controlled by the proprietary firmware running in the computer embedded in it. This firmware controlled by the corporation. It will prevent you from doing anything that harms their business interests.

JustAnonymous 5y ago

This is actually about software more than hardware. Richard Stallman's spark for founding the free software movement was being unable to modify his lab printer's source code to do what he wanted it to do. A lot of us have been conditioned to think you "just can't" modify things like firmware, or OSes, (or increasingly in phones/tablets, user-space). But for Stallman's generation, hardware devices were 100% owned, repairable and hackable by their owners. Only software and the abuse of it could so comprehensively change a hardware device from something you obviously own, to something which in a real sense you don't control or even realistically own anymore. Apple is leading the charge in this as other companies itch to pile in.

jacquesm 5y ago

You're late to that particular party. This has been a trend that started somewhere in the mid-90's and it's getting worse every day. Every manufacturer the world over is right now wondering how they can turn their one-time sales into a recurring revenue stream. Case in point: the Bosch e-bikes now offer a 'Bosch account' to supposedly access premium features on the bikes which in a sane world would be included in the purchase price and which really do not require an online account or service to begin with.