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> So why all the pearl clutching? Because it's part of a trend of our possessions turning hostile to us. It's hardware that you pay for and supposedly own, tha

> So why all the pearl clutching? Because it's part of a trend of our possessions turning hostile to us. It's hardware that you pay for and supposedly own, that betrays you, spies on you and acts against your interest, covertly or at least discreetly. That you are for now able to prevent it is besides the point. An implementation detail, that will change as soon as our corporate masters want it to.

gorjusborg 4y ago
This sort of business relies on the normalization of these practices through slow, incremental, change. Unfortunately, it seems to be working. Younger people see being measured, tracked, and advertised to as table stakes for having access to anything. I don't blame the younger folks for this, as much of the motivation for acceptance is the economics involved. They may not be able to afford all the 'requirements' of modern living if they had to pay the 'i am not the product' premium.
yamtaddle 4y ago
I once worked on part of a project for a certain kind of set-top streaming box (no, not one you've likely ever heard of). In discussions with the client they explained that it was impossible to get lower than about double the cost of a comparably-powerful Roku and still turn a profit, without supplementing with income from spyware, advertising, and various "partner programs" on the box. Which makes it damn hard to sell the things unless you've got some other angle to work (so, Apple can pull off $250 streaming boxes, but some new company? They better have a really good pitch, and they're gonna struggle more than they otherwise might to get on store shelves, which is a whole other thing). In our case they did have a niche they were targeting that meant they didn't want or need advertising and such, but the price point still hurt, and they couldn't do better without getting into adware and spyware.

gorjusborg 4y ago

This sort of business relies on the normalization of these practices through slow, incremental, change. Unfortunately, it seems to be working. Younger people see being measured, tracked, and advertised to as table stakes for having access to anything. I don't blame the younger folks for this, as much of the motivation for acceptance is the economics involved. They may not be able to afford all the 'requirements' of modern living if they had to pay the 'i am not the product' premium.

yamtaddle 4y ago

I once worked on part of a project for a certain kind of set-top streaming box (no, not one you've likely ever heard of). In discussions with the client they explained that it was impossible to get lower than about double the cost of a comparably-powerful Roku and still turn a profit, without supplementing with income from spyware, advertising, and various "partner programs" on the box. Which makes it damn hard to sell the things unless you've got some other angle to work (so, Apple can pull off $250 streaming boxes, but some new company? They better have a really good pitch, and they're gonna struggle more than they otherwise might to get on store shelves, which is a whole other thing). In our case they did have a niche they were targeting that meant they didn't want or need advertising and such, but the price point still hurt, and they couldn't do better without getting into adware and spyware.