I go to make him his own Google account. I can't because he doesn't have a phone number.

I go to make him a child Google account. It wants to have a parent to associate the child with. Fair enough. I use my old Google Apps for My Domain account, which it tells me is ineligible to manage a family group.

Fuck all of this.

The internet has given me my livelihood, and the overwhelming majority of my career. It is probably the most influential invention of my lifetime.

It also sucks ass.

[2/3]

It was so much easier to *tinker* when I was a kid. I didn't need to ask permission. None of my software phoned home. The most troublesome thing was not being able to photocopy the red SimCity anti-piracy sheets.

The computer was *mine*, and I could do *whatever I want*.

Now, we're at the mercy of the richest and biggest companies on the planet, who — for good reasons and bad — just make everything fuckin' /hard/.

I wish it didn't have to be that way.

I miss the time of my youth.

[Fin]

To be clear, I'm not looking for solutions right now, and will probably ignore them, no matter how well-meaning they may be.

I just feel bad for my son. I hate that I have to tell him "no" simply because Google insists on having a goddamn phone number associated with new Google accounts.

@caseyliss respectfully, if you are going to post something to a social media platform you want as a rant, and then feel inclined to jump down people's throats for daring to respond, may I suggest posting your rant to somewhere other than social media (as you considered). It's a bit like walking into a town square, shouting at the world, and expecting not to get interacted with.

I come here, limit my follows, to get away from the internet of rage and shitting on ppl. Thanks for the negativity.

@illustro I literally said “I’m ranting and not looking for solutions".

If people choose to comment anyway, I have every right to tell them to kindly fuck off.

Further, I'm not blasting those replies to my timeline; I'm simply replying to them.

You don't get to police how I choose to use my account. If I don't bring you joy, the unfollow button is right there.

@caseyliss first off, you are blasting those replies out because you have a significant follower base and are someone who (typically) hasn't blasted out this type of angry "fuck off" to replies, the people who follow you will frequently click through your posts.

I'm not policing you, but as has oft been quoted, free speech is the freedom to say things not the freedom from consequences, and people telling you that you made them feel shit is one of those consequences.