lemmyvore

They mean new old stock, not used phones.

Security updates… meh, it’s a mixed bag. Outside of maybe Google I really doubt any manufacturer bothers to keep their Android phones super up to date with all the possible fixes, even within the support period.

And as for the privacy angle… honestly the manufacturer is usually the first one to spy the shit out of you. Using Google services while worrying about a hypothetical security breach is really ironic.

Lol Whatsapp as a system app sounds like a nightmare.

The usuall approach established by Samsung etc. is to bundle a few “shim” apps as system apps for Meta. One shim is used by the regular Meta apps to bypass restrictions and talk to each other, one collects data from any app that uses the Meta ad network, and some are there in case you install the corresponding user app (eg. Facebook) to give it system privileges.

I mean it ends up technically the same as having Whatsapp bundled outright, but you gotta give props to a manufacturer so shamelss they don’t even pretend to hide it. 😃

The problem is that making games (and software in general) has become more high-level, and enshittification has also gotten rid of highly skilled people. So the top studios in the industry are not capable of making resource-efficient, beautiful games anymore. Not because it’s physically impossible, but because they’re not geared for the processes and decision-making that would allow those games to be made.

When you switch from an artisan mindset to a mass-manufacturing and outsourcing mindset without exercising strict control you eventually become utterly dependent on service and product providers that will see to your costs going up so you’ll keep paying more for less.

All the large studios will come to a breaking point eventually because it’s unsustainable, and will be acquired for the franchise rights by corporations that make their money in unrelated industries. But the PC platform is also breaking down so this might be a moot issue in 10 years from now.

isthereanydeal can import your steam wishlist, and you can set a price threshold and other criteria on it. I have a $10 threshold on mine and there’s plenty of stuff on there all the time.

That’s a very warped impression of Silicon Valley. And it probably comes from Hollywood movies, which is super ironic since you mentioned writers and filmmmakers.

Dumb representation of computers in movies has done more to harm their image than actual software ever did. Most of the AI hype is based on fantastic notions of AI as seen in movies.

The difference is that it used to be harder to concentrate massive wealth in the hands on one individual. It used to require very large companies, which were controlled by multiple people through shares and board positions. Companies themselves weren’t allowed to grow too massive or achieve monopolies.

Lately all checks have gone out the window which has resulted in single individuals having control over mind-boggling amounts of resources. This changes the dynamics a lot because an individual will act very differently from a large board or shareholders.

The former.

Evil billionaires are more of a 2020’s thing.

Can we see some screenshots? It’s hard to work just with someone’s idea of “better”. Not to mention that font rendering can be tweaked on both Windows and Linux and we don’t know what settings you’ve changed so far. Oh and I hope you’re comparing the same font otherwise there isn’t much point you the comparison.