• KomfortablesKissen@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 months ago

    All power to the users. And I do mean ALL. Complete control over cellular modems for one. Control over every little bit of hardware in the consumers hands.

    That includes warranty promises, that includes schematics, source code for firmware, everything. For all current, past and future devices.

      • interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml
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        2 months ago

        Yes, even if you try to use the controls we have left, you will discover that they always clip out one little obscure but critical detail that means you can’t actually use your device your way.

        Example, starting ADB at boot in tcpip 5555 mode when your bootloader is locked

    • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      I respect the sentiment, but most users neither know nor care about that. They want to take their new device out of it’s box, power it on, log in to whatever accounts they have, and carry on with their day.

      The number of people who actually care about that is very small.

    • Cringe2793@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You’re not wrong, but users should then be held accountable if they fuck up their device. For example, if you decide to force companies to allow unlocking of bootloaders, and the user decides to flash something that they shouldn’t, and the device bricks, whose fault is it?

      • Postcard64@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Then they can just get it repaired, at a shop that has the flasher to re-flash the device. Cuz it’s open source

        • Cringe2793@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          And pay a shop to do it? Do you realistically think the average person is gonna be willing to do that? I think it’s more likely they’ll complain to the phone company about their bricked phone.

          I also don’t know enough, but is a bricked phone “fixable”? If it is, the person could do it themselves. But that’s just one example. Other examples include installing unsafe OSes because social media said so. I don’t think the average person is tech savvy enough to give them this kind of freedom.

    • DMBFFF@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The users already have a lot of control; many just don’t use it.

      Can any of you live without Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for one calendar month? 25 years ago, millions of Americans did, and their lives were hardly the poorer for it. 25 years before that it was over 150 million Americans, including the 12 who walked the Moon.

      • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
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        2 months ago

        I’ve been living without the first two for years now. I could live without youtube if I really needed to, though I do watch a lot of stuff about farming that is really helpful. Most of my youtube watching is educational with a slight smattering of games and entertainment and a tiny bit of news.

      • KomfortablesKissen@discuss.tchncs.de
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        2 months ago

        The kind of control we are talking about are different. You look at the law, in which I have only little trust, while I look at the ability to manipulate the hardware.

        So no, they do not have control over the hardware, they just don’t care that much. They do care if they are inconvenienced in any way, say by a service that disallows some parts that were previously offered. They don’t understand and don’t care, but they do win from some more control over their stuff.

        I already live without any of the services you mentioned, I suspect most of Lemmy do. Well, not without YouTube (for me), I guess, but that gets more and more replaced by stuff like peertube.

        Millions of Americans would still only occasionally visit those things if they had more options to plan their recreational time. Those options are mostly limited by less free time available while also having less money available. In that regard, and mostly limited to that regard, was then better than now.

    • weew@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      That just makes it even easier for Wall St to enshittify whatever comes after

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Ugh I hate that you’re right. Until we figure out capitalism we’re fucked.

    • DMBFFF@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      No: the bad guys will build another one.

      However if 250 million Americans each spent 400 hours less on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in the next 12 months, the shareholders might have the heads of many members of those corporate boards on pikes.

    • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Anti monopoly and regulations against anti competitive practices are cornerstones of capitalism ensuring free and fair competition.
      So no, what we need is a return back to when these practices weren’t allowed, away from allowing these things more than ever as we do now.
      It’s easy to see Russia has become an oligarchy, why can’t we see it’s happening to us too?
      But we can’t dismantle capitalism altogether, without creating an even bigger monopoly problem, the monopoly being corrupt governments like the soviet union and their 5 year plan economy, that very obviously wasn’t a very good concept.

      Maybe that’s what you meant, I’d just not call it anti-capitalism, when regulations are for the purpose of making capitalism work better.
      So just “regulation” is better.

        • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Repubtard: HEY THAT’S SOCIALISM!!!

          Except Scandinavians have more freedom, and better free market than USA.

          Repubtard: BUT IT’S SOCIALISM!!!

          Ehrm, they also have better freedom of speech.

          Repubtard: WHAT? ARE YOU A FUCKING COMMIE?

          Actually they also rank way higher on democracy.

          Repubtard: WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA?

          I don’t, but wouldn’t it be nice if everybody had healthcare, free education and social security so you didn’t have to fear to starve if you got ill and lost yopur job?

          Repubtard: HEY THAT’S SOCIALISM!!!

          • QuarterSwede@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Ugh, my elderly neighbor was going on about how Harris was going to take away this and that, most of which I’d never heard her say or even read about her plans doing, and I said, “where did you hear that? It was Fox News wasn’t it?” He replied with, “well, what news do you watch?” I said, “it sure isn’t Fox where they lie constantly. Harris hasn’t said any of that crap … you need to get your news from multiple sources.”

            We’d be a heck of a lot better off if the news agencies were held accountable for telling lies and making up stories. Yeah, I know it’s a fine line but it’s one I’m willing to walk at this point.

            • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              We’d be a heck of a lot better off if the news agencies were held accountable for telling lies

              Yes, other countries have that, it’s called responsible journalism.
              You can’t just parrot some source, and claim it’s reporting. You need to check your sources.
              When they help spread lies, they are part of the problem.

      • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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        2 months ago

        Anti monopoly and regulations against anti competitive practices are cornerstones of capitalism ensuring free and fair competition.

        No, that’s the opposite of capitalism.

        • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          No unregulated capitalism is super capitalism.
          Regulated capitalism is capitalism we actually try to get to work as intended or “normal” capitalism.
          Social democracy is “Caring” capitalism. Where free markets and capitalism still exist, but is regulated to prevent exploitation of ordinary people.

          • Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works
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            2 months ago

            Normal capitalism has a drive to become super capitalism. You can try to stop it, maybe you’ll succeed, but it will always strive to turn itself into super capitalism.

      • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        That’s why they do regulatory capture to prevent that from happening. It all starts with money being equal to influence. This can temporarily be reset after a big crash of the system but sooner or later they start again.

  • chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Repairable technology with encouragement to repair things that break by designing them to be fixable.

    Open source technologies becoming the rule, rather than the exception (this is already the case in some ways, but I truly mean EVERYTHING).

    Open Standards that make interoperability easier by removing walled gardens (iMessage, G-Sync, etc).

  • DarkCloud@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Automate terra forming against climate change. I want big machines and swarms of drones doing 24/7 regreening and planting forests in the desert.

  • KingOfTheCouch@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    Break up the mega corps. Enact user privacy-by-default laws. Market dominance via “free product” followed up by bait and switch tactics should be outlawed.

  • DMBFFF@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Taking patent, trademark, and copyright laws to what they were in, say, 1790, might be a good start.

    Regard today’s billionaires with the same contempt that one does of criminals.

    Wait at least 5 years before buying a new computer.

    Don’t pay by credit card.

    • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Don’t pay by credit card.

      This is bad advice for anyone with good credit and spending habits. A credit card with rewards is just free money if you’re responsible with it. I haven’t paid interest in over a decade and have made thousands from rewards.

      • QuarterSwede@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Yep, the rich are rich because they borrow other peoples money. 0% free interest lines are about the best discount you can get on anything. I get to make the interest while you hold the loan? Sign me up! Siri, remind me in 11 months to pay off the X loan.

        • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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          2 months ago

          Surely you know that’s too good to be true. The card issuer charges fees to the merchant and then throws a portion of the money you just gave them back to you. But the prices of products are being driven up and the merchants aren’t eating them.

          • QuarterSwede@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Depends on the situation honestly. We offer financing through my work for our clients and the 0% option is still a good deal. Not all of them are designed to screw people.

      • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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        2 months ago

        You pay with your data lol

        The reason why corpos been able to price gouge the peasants is particulaly to tp them having access to data this granular. Same reason why they want dynamic pricing schemes.

      • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Not to mention the security that comes from being able to not pay if you get scammed for whatever reason. I paid for a course at a community college with a credit card, but then my schedule changed so I tried to cancel the class before it even started. The college gave me a whole runaround, and whether it was willful or just simple incompetence, I wasn’t able to get a refund. So I called my credit card company and explained the situation to them, and they resolved the whole thing for me. Sometimes even mentioning that you’ll refer such a problem to the fraud department at your credit card company is enough to get someone to back down and give you a refund.

        Credit cards have issues, especially if you have problems with using them responsibly, but that’s one particular way in which they can save you a lot of headache.

      • ALostInquirer@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        I haven’t paid interest in over a decade and have made thousands from rewards.

        I’m not too familiar with credit cards, do you mean this in a literal money sense or something more complex, i.e. the value of rewards & money?

        • Zak@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          One of the better credit card rewards is a small percentage cash back, so literally free money. Money is fungible though, so any discounts on things you were going to buy anyway are effectively the same thing.

        • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 months ago

          We pay for EVERYTHING on our credit card, shared account with my partner. 2% money back. Pay it off in full every month. Zero interest paid, thousands of monies back.

      • andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        There are no free money. These are loans. And making them attractive with cashbacks and rewards is done to trap unresponsible spenders. 95% of the time you don’t need to borrow money from the bank, unless you are in emergency or you are to invest these to achieve some payback (e.g. a loan to open your business).

        • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          These are loans. And making them attractive with cashbacks and rewards is done to trap unresponsible spenders

          I am aware, which is why I specifically said

          This is bad advice for anyone with good credit and spending habits.

          For people who aren’t irresponsible spenders, it’s a bad financial decision not to take the short term bank loan. Sure, I don’t need to spend the banks money because I have enough in my checking account to cover it. But by not doing so, I lose money on any transactions that don’t charge me a fee to run my card.

          If you’re not responsible enough to use a credit card and not destroy your finances, absolutely do not use them. But for those of us who are, it’s a dumb idea to eschew it just because you have the money on hand. Like I said, I haven’t paid interest in a decade and have made thousands from my normal spending habits.

          If I followed your advice, I would be objectively worse off, because I’d be losing money from my rewards for no benefit whatsoever. And I can guarantee I’d be materially worse off, since my credit card is the reason my credit is as good as it is, and that bullshit has a pervasive and perverse effect on your life. It’s not only loans that are impacted, but insurance, housing and employment can be as well. So maybe I should have left good credit off, since responsible spending will build your credit up even if it is bad currently.

          TL;DR - responsible credit card use is a good thing, and foregoing it just because you have money on hand is a bad financial decision. Pay that shit off immediately and there’s no material downside and you still get all the benefits.

          • zbyte64@awful.systems
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            2 months ago

            Irresponsible vs responsible is how the credit card companies frame it, but I think most of the time it’s about luck. The kind of luck where the primary income gets hit by a car or someone in the family gets cancer.

        • magnetosphere@fedia.io
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          2 months ago

          Yes, but you can also do a chargeback if the company you purchased from sold you a lousy product and isn’t being reasonable about returning it. If you had paid with cash, that cash is GONE.

          Each method has its pros and cons.

    • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 months ago

      My almost six year old 9900k machine is still playing everything amazingly, with a video card update being my only change. I love it so much.

      My iPhone is also six years old and the only reason I’m upgrading this month is to get 120hz, USB-C, and a better low light camera for cat pictures. A terabyte would be nice, too.

  • barsquid@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    We cannot even play music from a device without needing some sort of patent license, usually paid by the hardware vendor.

    • Ghostface@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Not an issue when you pirate 🤔

      100% capitalism is part of the blame, why isnt there a public option for music? Promoting local artists that are in the public domain and can tour and make a living in public venues. Instead we have ticket master and other such big music. Companies, now this is applied to music but really can be applied to every sector.

      Elect local politicians who can make change for the people on the local level.

    • DMBFFF@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yes you can. I often ignore copyright with impunity. I’ve been doing it since the days of home-taping.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YejbpHA9Yo

      2:37

      wp:C·30 C·60 C·90 Go

      EMI refused to promote the cassingle due to lyrics (“Off the radio I get constant flow/Hit it, pause it, record and play/Turn it, rewind and rub it away”) that promoted home taping[7] during an era when music piracy was a hot-button issue.[8]

  • SorteKanin@feddit.dk
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    2 months ago

    The use of open, decentralized platforms such as the fediverse is one small step in the right direction at least.

  • linearchaos@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    We stop the acquisitions. We work out ways to foster innovation and protect patents only in the short term.

    We need more than a couple phone manufacturers, we need more than a couple of food producers. All of these monolith mega corporations keep smaller upstarts from coming up and competing.

  • RamblingPanda@lemmynsfw.com
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    2 months ago

    “AI will make all of your work obsolete, there’s nothing we can do about it. Shame…”

    I’m fine with losing my job, it’s tedious anyway. I’m not with losing my income though. Let automation and programs do the work and share the fruit of their labor to the people. Get rid of CEOs.

    Then we can talk about optimism.

  • Baggie@lemmy.zip
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    2 months ago

    Concrete goals, and reasonable steps to achieve them.

    I feel like lately we’ve hit a weird speculative investment period in tech, where we have a bunch of tech that’s created because it can be, but not because it’s needed. Do LLMs, crypto currency, or NFTs have actual uses? Very possibly, but nothing concrete enough to satisfy the bubble that formed from them.

    We live in an age of unreality. Give us something achievable and genuine, we get excited. It doesn’t have to be complicated, just real. Hell, I’m excited as fuck over solid sodium batteries, and that’s boring as shit.

    • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The tech sector is right now just running in hype and jumping from one hype to the next. It’s a race to keep that investors throwing money at them with providing new targets to keep investors from realizing the stuff isn’t that useful.