The Enshittification Thread
- Thread starter PatrThom
- Start date
If I have to x out of an ad to use the touchscreen, I will lose my mind.
... You don't already have those? Huh.
Idk if this has been posted here but I read this article a month or so ago and is kind of the perfect encapsulation of enshittification.
www.wheresyoured.at
Never Forgive Them
In the last year, I’ve spent about 200,000 words on a kind of personal journey where I’ve tried again and again to work out why everything digital feels so broken, and why it seems to keep getting worse, despite what tech’s “brightest” minds might promise. More
www.wheresyoured.at
I feel the same way every time I'm greeted with a, "Rate your experience" email/text/dialog. Ostensibly it's presented as a way to solicit feedback, a way for Mr. & Mrs. Customer to train a faceless company in how they want to be treated, but what it really ends up being is that company crowdsourcing unpaid (and unreliable!) volunteers to decide which employees are underperforming and therefore need to be investigated and put on some kind of "improvement plan" because they have a number lower than that of their peers.
Disclosure: I write the above as someone who is constantly subject to being rated for performance, and who consistently scores highly in ratings (without cheating!), and I still think it's a stupid, flawed method that is too open to being "gamed." And for evidence of this, I need only point to the not insignificant number of people who got themselves fired solely for doing just that.
--Patrick
Disclosure: I write the above as someone who is constantly subject to being rated for performance, and who consistently scores highly in ratings (without cheating!), and I still think it's a stupid, flawed method that is too open to being "gamed." And for evidence of this, I need only point to the not insignificant number of people who got themselves fired solely for doing just that.
--Patrick
*ahem* LOL!
Some subreddits could be paywalled, hints Reddit CEO - 9to5Mac
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has hinted that in future some subreddits could be paywalled, as the company seeks to devise...9to5mac.com
Reddit will lock some content behind a paywall this year, CEO says
How will Reddit generate content for paid-for subreddits?
arstechnica.com
It's rollin' round the bend
--Patrick
TIL Stellantis legitimately and literally belongs in this thread.
Conditions at the Stellantis Kokomo Engine Plant are Sub-Optimal: Management Begs Workers to Not Paint the Walls with Poop. - FuelArc News
This last week was a bit chaotic in the automotive news room. Cybertrucks are spontaneously disassembling themselves. The Stellantis management team (and predictions of sales growth) are ALSO spontaneously disassembling themselves. Add a turbulent tariff outlook into the mix, and we get a hectic...
fuelarc.com
--Patrick
I suppose this is the best most appropriate place to put this:
You may have watched other videos by this charmingly Midwestern presenter. They are informative and entertaining if you have any nerd ancestry whatsoever. But this video is different. Here he is, uncharacteristically subdued and at his most deliberate, using his platform to ... turn the lens backwards onto the very platforms that bring him to you, and to bring up for discussion the driving force(s) behind them. Considering his passion for education and the usual quirky attitude with which he conveys it, this videos quiet ... seriousness worries me at least as much as the actual topic.
--Patrick
You may have watched other videos by this charmingly Midwestern presenter. They are informative and entertaining if you have any nerd ancestry whatsoever. But this video is different. Here he is, uncharacteristically subdued and at his most deliberate, using his platform to ... turn the lens backwards onto the very platforms that bring him to you, and to bring up for discussion the driving force(s) behind them. Considering his passion for education and the usual quirky attitude with which he conveys it, this videos quiet ... seriousness worries me at least as much as the actual topic.
--Patrick
If you needed any further encouragement to dump HP for anything anything-related, here you go:
HP adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls
Stalling tactics designed to push print or PC users to online support, sorry, 'self-solve'
www.theregister.com
--Patrick
Gee I sure am spamming this thread a lot lately.
www.tomshardware.com
Additionally, the device has no external controls and must be controlled entirely from within the app, and all functionality immediately ceases if the device goes offline, just like any modern single-player video game that requires an always-online connection.
--Patrick
Security researcher finds vulnerability in internet-connected bed, could allow access to all devices on network
They know when you're sleeping, they know when you're awake, and they can execute arbitrary code, but not for goodness' sake.
www.tomshardware.com
source
Additionally, the device has no external controls and must be controlled entirely from within the app, and all functionality immediately ceases if the device goes offline, just like any modern single-player video game that requires an always-online connection.
--Patrick
If you buy an internet-connected bed, that's on you.Gee I sure am spamming this thread a lot lately.
Security researcher finds vulnerability in internet-connected bed, could allow access to all devices on network
They know when you're sleeping, they know when you're awake, and they can execute arbitrary code, but not for goodness' sake.
source
Additionally, the device has no external controls and must be controlled entirely from within the app, and all functionality immediately ceases if the device goes offline, just like any modern single-player video game that requires an always-online connection.
--Patrick
I think my only Internet connected devices that aren’t explicitly used for browsing the internet are my thermostat (wife bought it without talking to me) and my car (good luck finding one that isn’t at this point). I fought hard to make sure we got a baby monitor that wasn’t through an app or anything.
I work in IT and I'm one of those that just has a printer and a shotgun next to the printer in case it makes a funny noise.
As someone who works in IT - a suggestion for anyone who has concerns for thermostats and such: device isolation or a separate WiFi SSID (guest WiFi can work too) for them.
I've got a WiFi-connected thermostat, it's on a separate guest SSID which has device isolation turned on.
Now, if you are running whatever your ISP gives you, you may not be able to do this, but I have my own router (mesh system) so whenever I have to move, I don't have to set up connections again.
GasBandit
Staff member
My only smart device is my TV. But my DNS blocklists are in place to ensure it can't phone home.
I got the MMR as a kid, and again in the navy because I couldn't find my childhood records. I'm probably good if it makes its way all the way across the state.
I like having a smart home. It's nice to be able to turn off all the lights in the house without having to get out of bed, or change the thermostat. Or turn of my TV and start my favorite show on Plex without having to find the remote.
But I've spent the last month or so slowly weaning off of Amazon Echo and other cloud-based devices and services and building my own in Home Assistant using a zigbee mesh network using devices without wifi. Got a few more lights to do, but once that's done, I'm gonna set up a dedicated LLM machine with ollama and rebuild the voice-activated functionality of the network, but completely off grid from the internet.
But even though I like smartifying the home appliances, I can't see the need for a smart mattress or refrigerator..<eyeroll emoji>
Brother is looking to get itself added to that list:
Brother printers are quietly sabotaging third-party toner with firmware updates
Brother printers had been lauded before for their compatibility with non-OEM toner cartridges, setting them apart from brands like HP. However, recent firmware updates have deliberately degraded...
www.techspot.com
Has anyone tried the printers that are using refillable tanks - ex: Canon MegaTank and/or Epson EcoTank?Brother is looking to get itself added to that list:
--PatrickBrother printers are quietly sabotaging third-party toner with firmware updates
Brother printers had been lauded before for their compatibility with non-OEM toner cartridges, setting them apart from brands like HP. However, recent firmware updates have deliberately degraded...
The thought behind them, to me, is better than cartridges but still less expensive than laser.
OMG It's so simple and obvious why didn't they think of this sooner?
arstechnica.com
--Patrick
Firmware update bricks HP printers, makes them unable to use HP cartridges
HP already has a reputation for breaking printers with updates.
arstechnica.com
figmentPez
Staff member
Deny, Defend, Depose.
GasBandit
Staff member
On the one hand, fuck yes.
On the other hand, anybody buying HP printers at this point, after 25+ years of enshittified fuckery, knows what they're getting into.
figmentPez
Staff member
I just meant to say that HP is highly unlikely to actually pay out any compensation, and will reject claims for the flimsiest of excuses.