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People at large don't want to pay for software and would much rather take ads instead. Not a lot of people care that much about privacy either, so unless data c

People at large don't want to pay for software and would much rather take ads instead. Not a lot of people care that much about privacy either, so unless data collection has a direct consequence --that they are made aware of-- on something impactful like being rejected when trying to take out a loan or insurance because of it, they don't mind either. So yes, you would have to look at laws to "fix" this, but you will find out that there is no way you will be able to get it passed in a democracy because almost no one wants to have to pay for social media, a web browser, search engines or other such commodity software.

the_other 5y ago
> People at large don't want to pay for software and would much rather take ads instead. But that’s not been the deal since the mid ‘00s. The deal is “ads, plus we build a model of you and rent access to that model for anyone who’ll pay, allowing them to manipulate your politics and world-view”. That’s the deal. But they just call it “ads”. > but you will find out that there is no way you will be able to get it passed in a democracy because almost no one wants to have to pay for social media, a web browser, search engines or other such commodity software. I suspect that people do care about their data, their privacy and such. But tech is so hard, the effects so distant and the public’s ability to affect change so minimal that people guve in to the privacy breach. That’s quite different from “not caring”. I admit, this is a hunch.
zozbot234 5y ago
> People at large don't want to pay for software and would much rather take ads instead. What the point of paying, when even a retail copy of the most common commercial OS still has ads for frickin' Candy Crush in the start menu? Not to mention an amount of telemetry that dwarfs what's described in OP's comic by multiple orders of magnitude? The best software is for free these days, any paid support is completely voluntary. Commercial software should be treated as abusive spyware unless it can prove otherwise.
- nine_k 5y ago
  (Writing this from a Linux laptop:) If you pay for Win10 enough, you get a Pro version without all this baloney, without forced updates and reboots, etc. An extra expense comparable to buying two or three large pizzas. Still this extra expense turns away a huge number of customers :(
  - zozbot234 5y ago
    The telemetry is still there. And it's still a lot more pervasive than whatever Chrome does. (So, if you're running Firefox in Windows 10 or 11 and think you're preserving your privacy, think again.)
nine_k 5y ago
Paying for software used to be high-friction 20 years ago. By now, I can pay for software in multiple ways, with near-zero friction. Equally easily I can pay (and do pay) for software-based services, like Youtube, and a number of others. But of course an ad-supported "free tier" is an easy way to try a service with zero obligations, and it will remain popular. Also, if for me $10/mo is not a big deal, for other folks this may be not so. Those who can't pay with money pay with what they've got, with attention and privacy. They might like to pay with money, but sometimes can't afford that. Count all the ad-supported free services you likely use (e.g. Google search, Twitter, Facebook,..), and at the rate at $10/mo they'd add up to a noticeable sum.

the_other 5y ago

> People at large don't want to pay for software and would much rather take ads instead. But that’s not been the deal since the mid ‘00s. The deal is “ads, plus we build a model of you and rent access to that model for anyone who’ll pay, allowing them to manipulate your politics and world-view”. That’s the deal. But they just call it “ads”. > but you will find out that there is no way you will be able to get it passed in a democracy because almost no one wants to have to pay for social media, a web browser, search engines or other such commodity software. I suspect that people do care about their data, their privacy and such. But tech is so hard, the effects so distant and the public’s ability to affect change so minimal that people guve in to the privacy breach. That’s quite different from “not caring”. I admit, this is a hunch.

zozbot234 5y ago

> People at large don't want to pay for software and would much rather take ads instead. What the point of paying, when even a retail copy of the most common commercial OS still has ads for frickin' Candy Crush in the start menu? Not to mention an amount of telemetry that dwarfs what's described in OP's comic by multiple orders of magnitude? The best software is for free these days, any paid support is completely voluntary. Commercial software should be treated as abusive spyware unless it can prove otherwise.

nine_k 5y ago
(Writing this from a Linux laptop:) If you pay for Win10 enough, you get a Pro version without all this baloney, without forced updates and reboots, etc. An extra expense comparable to buying two or three large pizzas. Still this extra expense turns away a huge number of customers :(
- zozbot234 5y ago
  The telemetry is still there. And it's still a lot more pervasive than whatever Chrome does. (So, if you're running Firefox in Windows 10 or 11 and think you're preserving your privacy, think again.)

nine_k 5y ago

Paying for software used to be high-friction 20 years ago. By now, I can pay for software in multiple ways, with near-zero friction. Equally easily I can pay (and do pay) for software-based services, like Youtube, and a number of others. But of course an ad-supported "free tier" is an easy way to try a service with zero obligations, and it will remain popular. Also, if for me $10/mo is not a big deal, for other folks this may be not so. Those who can't pay with money pay with what they've got, with attention and privacy. They might like to pay with money, but sometimes can't afford that. Count all the ad-supported free services you likely use (e.g. Google search, Twitter, Facebook,..), and at the rate at $10/mo they'd add up to a noticeable sum.