People tweeting stuff. We allow tweets from anyone.
RULES:
Use Open Source Alternatives. You don't even need to install Linux if you prefer a different operating system, just use the OS programs like Libre Office, Krita, or Gimp.
Edit: AND THEN DONATE TO THE SOFTWARE THAT YOU USE SO THEY CAN CONTINUE THE WORK.
VLC is open source and I am always using that while watching unlicensed content.
Looking at you, Adobe. Creative cloud has sucked so much from me, but I need it for work.
Not even just software. Fucking everything. They are making car options a subscription.
This is my fear with dish and clothes washers manufacturers wanting to have wifi built into them. They've already gotten people used to using clothes and dish detergent in the form of little pods. I think appliance manufacturers look at printer companies and their ink prices and want a piece of that action. They want to play the same game. I'm sure Whirlpool would love it if you could only buy laundry detergent from them.
But in order to do that, they need to have their devices be internet-enabled. The printer companies figured this out. Third party ink manufacturers figure out ways to get past manufacturer lock-outs. So printers need to be internet enabled to allow patches that will disable new third party ink cartridges.
In my opinion, this is the real reason we see so many manufacturers trying to shove IoT and wifi connections into home appliances. Sure, selling your data to data brokers is a nice minor revenue stream. But the real prize is using that wifi to lock you in to buying obscenely expensive consumables for your dish washer, clothes washer, etc. Even fridges are at risk of this due to the water filters that many fridges have built in to them. Same with dryers.
The manufacturers of major appliances are pushing like crazy to connect these things to the net. Their official line is that they want this for consumer-friendly reasons. Most cynics say it's just a way to sell your data. I however think the real goal is to turn every home appliance into a vendor-locked piece of garbage that requires consumables priced like printer ink.
If they make a washing machine that requires a subscription to their pods, I will switch to washing my clothes in a bucket using the cheapest detergent Aldi have.
If I ever end up in a situation where I can only get 'smart' appliances, I'll just start washing my laundry at a lake or something.
Great point of view and yet another strong reason not to just allow internet connections on every damn thing. One other huge reason - being forced to accept brand new (legally binding!) licensing agreements, long after the device has been paid for and installed.
Roku was in the news somewhat recently for auto-installing an update that required users to accept a new license agreement to continue to use the device they'd paid for and had been using up until that point. And that license wasn't a trivial change, it required the user to agree to forced arbitration!
In other words, in a very real sense, they came into the house and modified the TV (not just the cheap little streaming devices), then turned around and said "Want to keep using this thing you've made a part of your daily life? That you already paid us for? Well, fine you can, but - we don't want any of you to ever sue us, so agree not to or fuck you. Don't think too hard about it, it's your TV, just say yes and get on with it".
Wild stuff! And I guarantee it gets worse before it gets better. We need high quality FOSS hardware badly, I really hope we see that start to take off in a bigger way. I'm not super optimistic though, hardware being just a lot harder to iterate on.
And there are people who just pay for it, which blows my mind. Companies wouldn't do it if there wasn't money to be had. So now we get nickel and dimed so these corporations can get a steady stream of income rather than providing good quality products.
Apps are really notorious for it. What used to be a 10$ app now they expect subscriptions that amount to 60$ or more a year with no real noteworthy changes in service.
Calorie counting apps, for example, have been doing the same thing for over a decade now with little change besides cosmetic upgrades and "AI".
I don't see how that's a "boomer" complaint lol I'm a millennial and don't know anyone that's excited to pay monthly fees for something they already bought
Yeah. The subscription model really only took off during GenZ.
not only that, but people usually use boomer, in this context, to say that the complaint is stupid, or selfish, or something
the gradual loss of ownership is a real fucking issue
You will own nothing, eat grubs, and be thankful...
~ the oligarchs
As much as I loathe capitalism, I will be happy about the grubs, ribbit ribbit.
If that's a boomer complaint then hell yes I'm a fucking boomer! Fuck your subscription!
meanwhile, companies are killing lifetime licenses that were previously paid for.
Yep I remember clearly the first time this happened to me with Splashtop Remote in like 2012. And more recently 4K video downloader. "4K video downloader is being deprecated, please upgrade to our new application, 4K video downloader" Literally only difference is my lifetime license is no longer good and I'd have to buy a subscription.
Well, too bad there are easier ways to download content and even if there wasn't you have made sure I will never get anywhere near your products ever again.
This is why FOSS with donation is actually a superior model.
I honestly rather download a free software and donate after I know that it’s good and I’ll know that I’ll always have access to it.
Paying for something that can be revoked (cause it’s a legally license, not owned) just doesn’t sound like ownership.
Welcome to Rent Based Economy, peasants.
Perpetual debt. As planned.
I'm reminded of the novel Ubiq, where the protagonist had to feed change into his apartment door just to get it to open.
Technoserfdom
Protest with your wallet. Open source and self hosted communities living real chill right now.
This is the answer. If you pay for software you have only yourself to blame. I pay for email because I don't feel like dealing with it. Everything else is open source and/or selfhosted.
Do kids these days think boomers are 20yo?
All kids think anyone older than them is a boomer. Actual boomers think all kids are millennials. Millennials can't catch a fucking break at either end.
!fucksubscriptions@lemmy.world
Seeing a subscription actually makes my decision easy. I see it and immediately know to avoid.
Supermarket chain Kroger announced today that they are switching to a subscription model for grocery purchases. “Customers will no longer be allowed to buy groceries directly, but will now be requested to log in using their account in order to complete purchases.”
“Moving to a subscription model will help us to streamline operations, cut costs and continue to provide our customers with prices.” according to the Kroger CAI’s quarterly filing with Wall St.
“At the self-checkout, after scanning your groceries, simply login with your e-mail address and 64 character password. You will then receive a text with your 128 digit verification code, which you can type in manually at the 3rd numeric keypad. If you attempt to purchase more than your subscription level, you’ll be guided on how to restock the excess items.”
Kroger says grocery plans will start at $5/day, which will enable customers to treat themselves to a daily ration of either 1 lb of cabbage or 1 lb of potatoes.
Please note that customers must create a unique account for each Kroger location. “Customer loyalty is very important to us.” said a Kroger representative, who then offered this reporter an opportunity to invest in a pre-public release of Kroger Koin.
Boomer complaint? Why can't I smoke an after dinner cigarette at the restaurant in peace without people whining at me to get up and go outside? And what is it with all this "rap music" on the radio? I'll rather take Chet Baker any day of the week.
How is that a boomer complaint? It’s basic. Microsoft Word should be buy once for 3 computers, as it always was until subs took over.
We can’t even read the news anymore without a sub.
I like the use of the word rent for this.
Hello its HP...we have an all new printer subscription model we would like to sell you. Give us money monthly. Or better, give us money every time you use the printer!
The way it works is you pay for the printer, take it home, install the software and connect it unnecessarily to the internet where a hacker can easily hack your pii. Then we monitor your ink levels and printing count. If you use it, we charge you per page. If you're running out of ink, we'll charge you monthly and send you a new bottle. We'll monitor the room temperature and sell that information to the power company. We'll monitor for loud notices and send that to ICE and to shoe making companies so they can either deport you or sell you new shoes. Aren't printers awesome?
Also if you stop paying, your fully functional printer will refuse to print. If you loose connection to the Internet, it will refuse to print.
HP products are forbidden in my house.