Nick Lockwood

I can't get over how fractally bad a take this is. Like, aside from the obvious.

"Most fun product of the year" - it's a Twitter clone. That launched yesterday.

"Because their own elected officials…" - so basically if we accept the premise that this law is bad, it's cool to collectively blame all EU citizens for laws their leaders pass and mock them for any harm it causes them? This is coming from a *fucking American*?!

"Have fun in the library" - WHO DOESN'T WANT TO HANG OUT IN A LIBRARY?

Jul 7, 2023 at 9:28amIceCubesApp
Show threadJohn McLearJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood imagine being a shill for meta. Mega cringe.
Show threadArkadiusz MateckiJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood as a bonus - lawmakers in EU aren’t elected 🙂
Show threadFlorian IdelbergerJul 7, 2023
@Danteusz @nicklockwood they are (as in parliament). Government (commission) are chosen by member countries.
Show threadArkadiusz MateckiJul 7, 2023
@fl0_id @nicklockwood I know it’s a bit more complex in EU, my point is that Gruber’s take is bad from every possible angle
Show threadFlorian IdelbergerJul 7, 2023
@Danteusz @nicklockwood Right, agreed!
Show threadStrumJul 7, 2023
@Danteusz @nicklockwood
"lawmakers in EU aren’t elected"
Not true. The Council of Ministers consists of elected officials. The Parliament is all elected.
Anti-EU propagandists pretend that the EU Commission is the lawmaker - but it's just the Civil Service, putting political decisions into practice.
Show threadArkadiusz MateckiJul 7, 2023
@strum @nicklockwood See my other answer
Show threadIanJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood hear hear. It's also rather aggressively smug? (And also maybe this? 🤷🏻‍♂️ https://mastodon.social/@PadraigOCinneide/110669607312106229)
Show threadStéphane LizerayJul 7, 2023

@nicklockwood John Gruber is giving lessons about democracy 😂😂😂

the United States where obesity, drugs, structural racism, the wealth gap, the weight of finance and very rich people are reducing democracy to a farce.
https://www.attali.com/en/prospective-en/sound-the-alarm/

Sound the alarm - Jacques Attali

I have been called the “bearer of bad news” far too often for me not to be on my guard about risks and opportunities. That being said, I am convinced that opportunities can only be seized once risks have been...

Jacques Attali
Show threadaardvarkJul 7, 2023
@slizeray @nicklockwood don’t forget the obsession with guns
Show threadAmonTheMetalHeadJul 7, 2023
@aardvark @slizeray @nicklockwood And nearly daily shootings
Show threadAndrew EadesJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood I’m fed up to the back teeth of American crap now. It’s a corrupt fascist-lite country that arms its psychopath citizens to the teeth and cannot even provide basic healthcare to the people being gunned down on a daily basis. FFS. We need non-US takes on tech more than ever.
Show threadGuillermo FerreroJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood I am happy the product is not yet available in EU (although if you have an iTunes account from any of those countries where available, you can create an account).
I am happy EU looks for our rights and I think what is sad is that it comes to so many countries where there is not so good regulation on how your private data is used.
And I love libraries here in Finland. We have 3D printers, playwood laser printers, sewing machines, music instruments, recording rooms, etc. all free
Show threadMark SmithJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Last month it was Bluesky, this month it’s Threads. Maybe he’s gonna keep doing this until those ungrateful Euros at Mastodon gGmbH start taking his advice.
Show threadAustin TooleyJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood the guy has had backwards takes for a while.
Show threadNick LockwoodJul 7, 2023
@AustinTooley ugh. Wonder when he last set foot in an office.
Show threadStephen DarlingtonJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Totally anecdotal, but from what I’ve seen most Europeans seem to think the EU did the right thing here. It’s Americans being sad on our behalf.
Show threadNick LockwoodJul 7, 2023
@sdarlington I don't know the specifics in this case, but yes, in general I trust the EU's motives over those of Big Tech.
Show threadacute_distressJul 8, 2023
@sdarlington @nicklockwood his problem is that the EU is pushing around a US company
Show threadIoneJul 10, 2023
@sdarlington @nicklockwood as an EU person, yeah; they can keep Threads all for themselves
Show threadEniko (moved ➡ gamedev.place)Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood how does this guy have almost 50k followers with takes this bad
Show threadAmonTheMetalHeadJul 7, 2023
@eniko @nicklockwood I followed him because I thought it was satire
Show threadInternet Hedgehog 🦔Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood i can't believe i'm being called a nerd by somebody who blogs about a tech company for a living
Show threadJocelynephiliac Jul 7, 2023

@nicklockwood I assume the law he’s referring to is about privacy?

Weird hill to climb, John

Show threadIan Douglas ScottJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Actually he makes a good point. It would be better to spend time in the library instead of desperately trying any Twitter alternative you can find. Maybe we should give that a try.
Show threadPunnO)))Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Gruber and Threads deserve each other.
Show threadFlorian IdelbergerJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood I’m not surprised about this from gruber tbh
Show threadPiotr SzpetkowskiJul 7, 2023

@nicklockwood

Yes, I confirm that I've cried so hard last night, because I couldn't sign-up for yet another data-mining crap that provides zero benefit and zero knowledge.

Smh at corporate zealots.

Show threadGabriel PettierJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood lol, no lie here, this is such a bad take you’d be excused to think it’s blatant parody. 😆
Show threadThom HolwerdaJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood He also happens to live in Philadelphia, one of the US cities hit hardest by drug abuse and the resulting problems. He sees these problems every day, and yet, thinks simping for Zuck and hating on the EU for protecting privacy is the hill to die on.
Show threadLirodon🦇Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood all it's missing is a blue checkmark (paid)
Show threadMudkipJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood From the same guy who agrees with Trump's idea of banning certain social apps in the US.
Show threadFrost, wolf of winter 🐺🎄Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood personally the libraries around here all have cops in them (literally, stationed at the front door) and we don't feel safe in them... I guess that's the kind of library people like this want.
Show threadKRSXJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood My presumption is many think GDPR == "The law that forces you to have cookie banners". But that's way too simple. You can easily collect data even without extra consent if it's needed for the service you provide. You can also run websites without them. apple.de has none.
Show threadSebastian PeitschJul 7, 2023
@karsten Meta has apparently already commented that they don't publish Threads in the EU because of an upcoming (2024) law, not GDPR so John is talking out of his a** in yet another way
Show threadNic Lake Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Really wondering if he got paid to shill.
Show threadLesbineer ​Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Based GDPR tbh
Show threadRiccardo MoriJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood @cdfinder Yours is one of the best takes commenting JG’s egregiously stupid take.
Show threadStrumJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood
No-one mentioning *why* EU regulation stops Threads from exploiting its users' medical data?
Perhaps Americans could question why their legislators don't.
Show threadMoritz DietzJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Yeah I can't agree with you more on this. Grubers takes on Europe or anything which he can't really grasp have been so backwards and super close minded for a long time now. Stopped listening to him a long time ago… has been rather healthy not getting wound up to his bs.
Show threadIrinaJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Extroverted people?
Show threadoisinJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood ugh that guy has been end to end bad takes for ever
Show threadÓscar Morales VivóJul 7, 2023

@nicklockwood Is John Gruber the Matt Yglesias of tech commentary or is Matt Yglesias the John Gruber of political commentary?

Yes.

Show threadPiškvor🇨🇿 🇺🇦Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood ...and that's a rather massive IF. Moreover, the app is not banned, it didn't even launch here because *Meta* chose the modus operandi "surrender every scrap of private data and bend over"; that is not *quite* the unavoidable necessity the OP presents it to be.
Show threadPenguinJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood @thomholwerda Few people under a certain age would hang out in a library 🙂 Lived 5 years in Europe, very comfortable but very different from the US. People often asked about the freewheeling ways of the US, which did not appeal to them. I just said we’re an immigrant country & people are expected to make their own way in life.
Show threadMandrake 🐎Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Seems like the exact kind of mark Zuck is targeting with Threads, hope he has fun in Torment Nexus 2.0
Show threadChris WagnerJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood the attempted dig on libraries is just gross
Show threadLuca CampeloJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood @schwa It was a incredibly surreal take. I checked thinking it was a fake account impersonating Gruber. It was this level of comical.
Show threadMark LynchJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood the “library” snark is a fine example of “the strain of anti-intellectualism” in American culture called out by Asimov
Show threadMatthew SheffieldJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Pretty typical level of insight from this guy. He's an orbiter, not a thinker.
Show threadLazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood I enjoy how spectacularly bad is take is and how most of Mastodon is laughing at him right now, it's a Moment for sure!
Show threadMike KnellJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Does he think data protection laws are unpopular in Europe?
Show threadOktawian ChojnackiJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood better late than never to internalize that reading Gruber’s takes is a waste of time more often than not
Show threadbenschwarzJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood oh boy, this is quite a take from Gruber. American capitalism is quite the drug
Show threadDavid Crooks 🏳️‍🌈Jul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood @lisamelton Libraries are rad.
Show threadLeftsaidtimJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood absolutely unhinged take. I’m over here in EU having a GRAND TIME ignoring threads
Show thread@cundravyJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood Guess it's time to blame Gruber for Trump!
Show threadSeanJul 7, 2023
@nicklockwood The library is the best - last visit I saw some teens playing Fortnite next to a stack of graphic novels, my toddler was jumping around the kids area while we picked some new books for bed time, some adults were applying for jobs on the computers, and a bunch of students were just studying. We could exist and enjoy the space without having to worry about spending money
Show threadcat://Katze  Jul 7, 2023

@nicklockwood Would you please use content warnings on that post? You are dabbling in both politics, as well as Facebook matters, and whatnot with this.

Some people just do not want to see this and what's more important you did not ask anyone about consent before shoving this potentially harmful content down our throats.

If you feel the need to discuss Facebook's endeavors then please do so under the mantle of a content warnings because some of us are here because we don't want that shit on our timelines.
There may be a large overlap with the people who do like the EU legislation on this matter and who strongly support privacy laws in the set of people who do not want to hear about your whining about bad takes on other platforms, and I assure you, a large chunk of those people just don't want that harmful content.

Use. Fucking. Content warnings. It's not that hard. And if you don't you're reducing the quality of your takes to the quality of the take in your screenshot.
One does not inflict harm of any kind upon ones environment.