Iris GFeb 28
aaron

new post: "because fuck you" — why consumer choice is being systematically stripped away, and how the tech industry profits from your inability to leave.

covers the App Store tax, the headphone jack, right to repair, accessibility as PR, smart device bricking, and the one thing that actually makes these companies change behavior (hint: it's not your complaint).

https://fireborn.mataroa.blog/blog/because-fuck-you-why-consumer-choice-is-being-stripped-away-and-how-the-tech-industry-profits-from-it/

#tech #BigTech #ConsumerRights #RightToRepair #Accessibility #OpenWeb #Fediverse

“because fuck you”: why consumer choice is being stripped away and how the tech industry profits from it — fireborn

Feb 28 at 10:33amWeb
Show threadJack-FrostodonFeb 28
@fireborn And until Risc-V truly takes off, if it even still can given the rampocalypse, even pro-right-to-repair, open hardware from the likes of Framework, Raspberry Pi and such can only do so much while themselves still at the mercy of closed vendors in the x86 and ARM department. Risc-V is a quiet revolution. Let's hope the hardware availability crisis doesn't make it a *quieted* revolution attempt.
Show threadaaronFeb 28
@jackf723 RISC V is not a revolution. I'll probably write about this at some point, but the architecture is fundamentally flawed in ways that make it unsuitable for general compute.
Show threadZ̈oéFeb 28
@fireborn @jackf723 Raspberry Pi is not open, not well designed, and not repairable
Show threadaaronFeb 28
@uint8_t @jackf723 That was a take I Didn't even think needed explaining. Extensible and repairable 'are not the same thing.
Show threadJack-FrostodonFeb 28
@fireborn Ahh, good to know. In other words if I'm understanding correctly, right sentiment to have an end-to-end open architecture and open-license instruction set, but poor execution?
Show threadaaronMar 1
@jackf723 Pretty much, yes.
Show threadBrett CoulstockMar 1
@fireborn An elegant and passionate and damning summation. See also: #audioDescription being made, sometimes more than once, more than *twice*, and not being available on the platform or media you pay money for.
Show threadMichael Hansen has movedMar 3
@fireborn I completely agree 100% with everything you're saying here.
For me personally, the two worst fuck you's in here are accessibility as PR, and the headphone jack removal.
As a blind tech-user who needs accessibility and who owns and uses several pairs of expensive, high quality, wired studio headphones, these two things just piss me off to no end.