3 ms·

I don't like this kind of "smart" technology, technology should help people not make their lives hard. Richard Stallman is right, we should all oppose DRM, is

by givan 14y ago

I don't like this kind of "smart" technology, technology should help people not make their lives hard. Richard Stallman is right, we should all oppose DRM, is unacceptable where all this DRM is headed for. People camouflaging in their living rooms so that the whole family can watch a movie?

meaty 14y ago
True advances in technology i.e. the ones which free us from slavery and stop us from risking our physical selves are pretty much suppressed by the promise of financial gain by using technology to leverage cash generation only. It's all about growth and profit, not improving quality of life or reducing risk. It is, incidentally, the opposite reason to why I ended up writing software for a living. My objective was to ease the physical toil of people by automating the work that can be done by machine, freeing them to do more important and rewarding things. Unfortunately, the increase in leisure time that this creates opens a big hole for consumption which is where these vultures swoop in and enslave us again via pay-per-breath DRM. Stallman is a prophet of human nature more than technolgy.
- TeMPOraL 14y ago
  > It's all about growth and profit, not improving quality of life or reducing risk. And sadly, it would seem to be the attitude of SV as well. From all the discussions and submissions here I get the impression that the concept of earning money by actually helping people and/or giving them real value is slowly getting forgotten, drowned by A/B tests, ad-revenue, eyeballs & stuff.
  - meaty 14y ago
    A million times this. Real value and percieved value have diverged so much now that only percieved value matters.
TallGuyShort 14y ago
>> People camouflaging in their living rooms so that the whole family can watch a movie? The attitude that it would be okay to accept the license agreement with no intention of abiding by it's terms is just as bad IMO as the attitude that it's okay to market this technology in the first place.
- givan 14y ago
  People usually don't read those 50 page license agreements, even if they did, they have all those legal terms that make it hard to spot all the inconveniences and everybody should need a lawyer to understand all the risks, and hiring a lawyer for buying a TV is too much. And there is also another problem, if all the vendors adopt this technology then you can only choose to not have a TV at all. I expect things I buy to adhere to common sense rules without reading license agreements before buying, I don't like having surprises like big brother watching me or things like movie stopped because grandma entered the room and she is looking at the TV.
  - gregsq 14y ago
    They could make terms and conditions plain by prefacing the movie with a big banner saying 'YOU ARE BEING WATCHED'. I'm sure the EU would enforce such a notion, just as they do cookies now.
  - TallGuyShort 14y ago
    Bull. The license agreement is an overt part of their pricing scheme. If you don't like, don't buy the service and encourage your friends to do the same. This isn't a 50-page document you have to accept before you can get back to using your software. What was suggested above is on par with pirating music and then complaining about DRM. Sure it's ridiculous and unethical, but are you any better if you don't pay the asked price and take it anyway?

by givan 14y ago

meaty 14y ago

True advances in technology i.e. the ones which free us from slavery and stop us from risking our physical selves are pretty much suppressed by the promise of financial gain by using technology to leverage cash generation only. It's all about growth and profit, not improving quality of life or reducing risk. It is, incidentally, the opposite reason to why I ended up writing software for a living. My objective was to ease the physical toil of people by automating the work that can be done by machine, freeing them to do more important and rewarding things. Unfortunately, the increase in leisure time that this creates opens a big hole for consumption which is where these vultures swoop in and enslave us again via pay-per-breath DRM. Stallman is a prophet of human nature more than technolgy.

TeMPOraL 14y ago
> It's all about growth and profit, not improving quality of life or reducing risk. And sadly, it would seem to be the attitude of SV as well. From all the discussions and submissions here I get the impression that the concept of earning money by actually helping people and/or giving them real value is slowly getting forgotten, drowned by A/B tests, ad-revenue, eyeballs & stuff.
- meaty 14y ago
  A million times this. Real value and percieved value have diverged so much now that only percieved value matters.

TallGuyShort 14y ago

>> People camouflaging in their living rooms so that the whole family can watch a movie? The attitude that it would be okay to accept the license agreement with no intention of abiding by it's terms is just as bad IMO as the attitude that it's okay to market this technology in the first place.

givan 14y ago
People usually don't read those 50 page license agreements, even if they did, they have all those legal terms that make it hard to spot all the inconveniences and everybody should need a lawyer to understand all the risks, and hiring a lawyer for buying a TV is too much. And there is also another problem, if all the vendors adopt this technology then you can only choose to not have a TV at all. I expect things I buy to adhere to common sense rules without reading license agreements before buying, I don't like having surprises like big brother watching me or things like movie stopped because grandma entered the room and she is looking at the TV.
- gregsq 14y ago
  They could make terms and conditions plain by prefacing the movie with a big banner saying 'YOU ARE BEING WATCHED'. I'm sure the EU would enforce such a notion, just as they do cookies now.
- TallGuyShort 14y ago
  Bull. The license agreement is an overt part of their pricing scheme. If you don't like, don't buy the service and encourage your friends to do the same. This isn't a 50-page document you have to accept before you can get back to using your software. What was suggested above is on par with pirating music and then complaining about DRM. Sure it's ridiculous and unethical, but are you any better if you don't pay the asked price and take it anyway?