The Enshittification Thread

PatrThom

PatrThom

The intermittent unsolicited activation of Sirius XM in my vehicle (which uses SYNC 3 just like the thumbnail image) -- "Oh hey new user, maybe you want to subscribe?" makes it feel like "pop-up" ads have been a thing for a while.

--Patrick
 
blotsfan

blotsfan

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.

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
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

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
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

figmentPez said:
Cars now have pop-up ads...
Stellantis Introduces Pop-Up Ads in Vehicles, Sparking Outrage Among Owners
Currently showing up in Jeep vehicles, but Stellantis owns Chrysler, Dodge and Ram as well.
Click to expand...
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
The full headline, since the embed cuts off the end: "Conditions at the Stellantis Kokomo Engine Plant are Sub-Optimal: Management Begs Workers to Not Paint the Walls with Poop."

--Patrick
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

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
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

PatrThom said:
If you needed any further encouragement to dump HP for anything printer-/scanner-related, here you go:
[snip]
Click to expand...
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
...they apparently rescinded the policy just three days later, but...are you freaking kidding me?!

--Patrick
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

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.
www.tomshardware.com
Security professionals are, in my experience, exhausted of things being connected to the internet that don’t need to be. Tired of their stove, car, washing machine, and bed all being internet connected. [...E]ach bed contains a full Linux-based computer. If my estimations above are correct, all of Eight Sleep engineering can take full control of that computer any time they want.
Beyond the basics, what does access to a device on your [internal] home network grant them? Any other device connected to that home network - smart fridges, smart stoves, smart washing machines, laptops - is typically routable via your bed. The (in)security of those devices is now entrusted to random Eight Sleep engineers.
Click to expand...
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
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

PatrThom said:
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.
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
Click to expand...
If you buy an internet-connected bed, that's on you.
 
blotsfan

blotsfan

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.
 
ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

blotsfan said:
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.
Click to expand...
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

GasBandit

Staff member
ncts_dodge_man said:
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.
Click to expand...
My only smart device is my TV. But my DNS blocklists are in place to ensure it can't phone home.

1740415689259.png
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

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.
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

GasBandit said:
My only smart device is my TV. But my DNS blocklists are in place to ensure it can't phone home.
Click to expand...
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>
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

PatrThom said:
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
--Patrick
Click to expand...
Has anyone tried the printers that are using refillable tanks - ex: Canon MegaTank and/or Epson EcoTank?

The thought behind them, to me, is better than cartridges but still less expensive than laser.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

If you can prove you've been following the EULA to a T - using HP cartridges, installing firmware updates ASAP, all that crap - and they've said they'd compensate... Oh boy. Some small business might really like that.
 
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