5 ms·

Genuinely curious: What are those nice things Europe cannot have?

DocTomoe 2y ago
For starters, I am still waiting for Apple Intelligence to arrive on my phone. Reason given is "EU legislative concerns". Then there's the nontrivial number of especially local US news sources which now give me a cheerful "451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons" error code. Then there's the outright stupid stuff - like lightbulbs that do not cost 15 euros a piece (to save 'energy'), or drinking straws that do not dissolve in my coke within the first minute (to avoid 'disposable plastics'). There are hundreds of examples like that. The EU is a regulation juggernaut, and is making the world an actively worse place for everyone globally. See "Cookie Banners".
- robin_reala 2y ago
  What are you talking about? Leaving aside your other random complaints that I don’t recognise, but can’t immediately link to, a basic lightbulb is less than €3 for a two-pack: https://www.ikea.com/de/en/p/solhetta-led-bulb-e14-250-lumen-chandelier-opal-white-30584034/ https://www.ikea.com/de/en/p/solhetta-led-bulb-e14-250-lumen...
  - cmenge 2y ago
    That's an LED though. I understood he was referring to incandescent light bulbs, which have been largely regulated out of the market. So you now need to get an "Edison light bulb" which circumvenes regulation but costs significantly more.
    - naabb 2y ago
      Good, that's the point. Price out the products that are bad for the environment. They are still there if you want to contribute to the degradation of the environment
      - cmenge 2y ago
        "Bad for the environment" is relative. The problem here is that they tell you: - We're building renewables which deliver super clean and cheap energy - CO2 is the root of all evil Then, they force you to use an LED which uses less energy (which is clean and cheap, no?) but contains a lot more chemicals and rare earths, so in a number of ways seems less "environmentally friendly". This seems contradictory and half-assed.
    - jillyboel 2y ago
      I'm confused. The US also banned incandescent lamps? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_incandescent_light_bulbs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_incandescent_ligh... > A ban covering most general service incandescent lamps took effect in the United States in 2023 So you can't even buy them in the US anymore, either. And cheap LEDs are available everywhere, with many color temperatures to choose from.
      - cmenge 2y ago
        I wasn't aware of that, interesting, thanks. Light temperature is one thing, but the spectrum is very different (which is essentially how it saves energy, almost all radiation emitted is a narrow band of visible light whereas an incandescent lamp produces a blackbody spectrum with a lot of radiation emitted in the infrared). Also I notice a lot of color banding (not sure if that's the right term) with many cheap LEDs. I observe the same or at least a very similar phenomenon when watching DLP cinema projections.
- chgs 2y ago
  Those are corporations causing the problems, not the eu.
- fredoliveira 2y ago
  > For starters, I am still waiting for Apple Intelligence to arrive on my phone. Reason given is "EU legislative concerns". So the EU should not control where your data is processed? You can't claim in one comment to be bummed about data exchanges between the EU and the US (which you do), and then not understand why there are regulations in place that are slowing down the roll-out of things like Apple Intelligence, for your benefit.
  - DocTomoe 2y ago
    There is a qualitative difference between 1. I am giving my data freely and because of my own decision to an organization I trust and 2. The state is taking my data by force of law to share it with an inherently untrustworthy organization.
profeatur 2y ago
Well, most things, considering the absolutely pathetic average salary, the rising cost of living, and the ever-increasing tax burden.
- theyinwhy 2y ago
  The US average is absolutely distorted. You should definitely compare the median. In terms of cost of living I very much doubt US is less expensive, especially when including health care in the equation. Additionally, there is a huge difference depending which european countries you are comparing to.
- naabb 2y ago
  Most things? Like vacation days? Like healthcare? Like the safety of not being murdered by a maniac with a gun? I'll take my lower salary thank you very much. Nevermind the fact that you obviously come from a previliged position if you think that money is all that's important. You're blinded.

For starters, I am still waiting for Apple Intelligence to arrive on my phone. Reason given is "EU legislative concerns". Then there's the nontrivial number of especially local US news sources which now give me a cheerful "451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons" error code. Then there's the outright stupid stuff - like lightbulbs that do not cost 15 euros a piece (to save 'energy'), or drinking straws that do not dissolve in my coke within the first minute (to avoid 'disposable plastics'). There are hundreds of examples like that. The EU is a regulation juggernaut, and is making the world an actively worse place for everyone globally. See "Cookie Banners".

robin_reala 2y ago
What are you talking about? Leaving aside your other random complaints that I don’t recognise, but can’t immediately link to, a basic lightbulb is less than €3 for a two-pack: https://www.ikea.com/de/en/p/solhetta-led-bulb-e14-250-lumen-chandelier-opal-white-30584034/ https://www.ikea.com/de/en/p/solhetta-led-bulb-e14-250-lumen...
- cmenge 2y ago
  That's an LED though. I understood he was referring to incandescent light bulbs, which have been largely regulated out of the market. So you now need to get an "Edison light bulb" which circumvenes regulation but costs significantly more.
  - naabb 2y ago
    Good, that's the point. Price out the products that are bad for the environment. They are still there if you want to contribute to the degradation of the environment
    - cmenge 2y ago
      "Bad for the environment" is relative. The problem here is that they tell you: - We're building renewables which deliver super clean and cheap energy - CO2 is the root of all evil Then, they force you to use an LED which uses less energy (which is clean and cheap, no?) but contains a lot more chemicals and rare earths, so in a number of ways seems less "environmentally friendly". This seems contradictory and half-assed.
  - jillyboel 2y ago
    I'm confused. The US also banned incandescent lamps? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_incandescent_light_bulbs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_incandescent_ligh... > A ban covering most general service incandescent lamps took effect in the United States in 2023 So you can't even buy them in the US anymore, either. And cheap LEDs are available everywhere, with many color temperatures to choose from.
    - cmenge 2y ago
      I wasn't aware of that, interesting, thanks. Light temperature is one thing, but the spectrum is very different (which is essentially how it saves energy, almost all radiation emitted is a narrow band of visible light whereas an incandescent lamp produces a blackbody spectrum with a lot of radiation emitted in the infrared). Also I notice a lot of color banding (not sure if that's the right term) with many cheap LEDs. I observe the same or at least a very similar phenomenon when watching DLP cinema projections.
chgs 2y ago
Those are corporations causing the problems, not the eu.
fredoliveira 2y ago
> For starters, I am still waiting for Apple Intelligence to arrive on my phone. Reason given is "EU legislative concerns". So the EU should not control where your data is processed? You can't claim in one comment to be bummed about data exchanges between the EU and the US (which you do), and then not understand why there are regulations in place that are slowing down the roll-out of things like Apple Intelligence, for your benefit.
- DocTomoe 2y ago
  There is a qualitative difference between 1. I am giving my data freely and because of my own decision to an organization I trust and 2. The state is taking my data by force of law to share it with an inherently untrustworthy organization.

profeatur 2y ago

Well, most things, considering the absolutely pathetic average salary, the rising cost of living, and the ever-increasing tax burden.

theyinwhy 2y ago
The US average is absolutely distorted. You should definitely compare the median. In terms of cost of living I very much doubt US is less expensive, especially when including health care in the equation. Additionally, there is a huge difference depending which european countries you are comparing to.
naabb 2y ago
Most things? Like vacation days? Like healthcare? Like the safety of not being murdered by a maniac with a gun? I'll take my lower salary thank you very much. Nevermind the fact that you obviously come from a previliged position if you think that money is all that's important. You're blinded.