Proprietary IP, And DRM already prevent farmers from repairing their own tractors like they used to.
Old people like us (truean) remember when they gave you the circuit diagrams when you bought a computer, right there in the box. As such, we have been watching the slide for some time. However, when we try to draw attention to the issue, we get called paranoid chicken littles and worse.
To me, the real heart of the issue is two simple factors.
1) people don't have the time or aptitude to maintain their own systems, or learn how to REALLY use those systems.
2) there is money to be made (or lost) by the existence of item 1), and capitalist systems strive to extract every red cent of value on every transaction.
The derision and abuse of end users, the evolution of software as a service, even cloud computing and ride sharing services are all manifestations of a feedback loop of these two items, as they influence the marketplace.
Essentially, the less time or inclination that the average consumer has, the more value there is in providing a service. People don't have time to cook, or can't cook because they never learned? There's catering, frozen dinners, and fast food. People don't have time to maintain a vehicle, but must travel to work? Uber and pals to the rescue. Need big data storage on the net, but don't know how, or can't afford the pipes to host it yourself? Cloud storage is here to do it for you-- for a fee.
Always for a fee.
The thing is, the more you cede over such control, the more the providers control the market, and the less and less say the customer has in the matter. Especially when it is something you cannot do without.
The more that relationship tips, the less and less inclined the service providers are to let it tip back the other way. They add completely unnessesary features to prevent you from doing the service yourself, then later, lobby for laws to prevent you from doing those services yourself, to make it so you can only get that service from THEM.
See for instance, Yellow Cab in NewYork. See how they have manipulated carriage service law there, to where upstart services are illegal? There is simply not enough real estate in NYC for everyone living there to drive a car, but the city is huge. Carriage service is essential to the city. Patron wishes don't matter. The necessity of Yellow Cab is all Yellow Cab cares about, because they make lots of money on terms they can dictate. Enter Uber. Yellow Cab goes nuclear with the lawsuits. Why? Uber is "stealing" rides, and isn't "obeying the rules" (established via lobby by yellow cab, for yellow cab). Not saying Uber is better, no way, just pointing out how entrenched service providers actively seek to terminate any behavior that makes them less essential.
Now, let's move to ISPs.
These provide internet service, and there is only so much easement to go around for utilities. Municipal and state govts don't have the inclination to properly manage these services, so they subcontract it out. The service providers know competition makes them less essential, so they only agree to provide those services if they get exclusivity. Naturally, they get it, because the govt can't provide the service itself, and must assure it is available.
Fast-forward a decade. Cities are dissatisfied with the abusive relationship these ISPs embody, so they seek to offer the service themselves. Municipal Broadband projects are a hot, controversial topic for this reason. The ISPs trot out their exclusivity agreement, point out that they ARE providing service, however terrible and profiteering oriented it is, and tells the city that it cannot provide its own service, OR grant another, upstart ISP access to the public easements. That right there is the #1 reason why internet in the US is terrible, and only available in big cities with lots of residents to fleece, and not out in rural areas, despite the tech being available.
Now, we have ordinary appliances being aggressively re-engineered to require manufacturer certified repair, enforced by power of law, under the pretext of consumer safety. The reality is that your fridge does not need to track how much milk you have left, or how often you buy it. It does not need to order more milk for you when you run out. It does not need your financial or personal details.
An yet, "smart fridge" does all if those things!
People mistakenly believe that smartfridge is better than dumbfridge, rush out and buy them. But what of the repair guy? He now has to get certified by smart fridge co. In order to legally open the back of the smartfridge, because improper service can harm the consumer. Getting that cert is hard and expensive. It makes the appliance repair guy have to increase his fees. Smartfridge co. Responds by offering extended factory service plans far below repairman's costs. That puts repairman out of business, and makes smartfridge co essential, because now when dumbfridge needs service, you can't get it. What's that, nobody makes dumb fridges anymore? Guess you need to buy a new Smartfridge, even if you don't want all that extra shit! Know what else, as dumbfridge gets booted from the market, smartfridge gets more needy, and now won't even power on and keep your food cold without you name, address, access to the internet, and your credit card. Know what calling customer support gets you? Nothing.
Now, some enterprising people will try to fix their smartfridge themselves, but guess what! Smartfridge talks to a proprietary server infrastructure, and trying to learn ANYTHING about that server or the messages that smartfridge us sending to it is a violation if federal antihacking laws! Lobbied for by smartfridge and other companies selling smart products. Nope, you have no choice now but to fork over a monthly fee to smartfridge for the service of having a working refrigerator. Forever.
Know what that means? It means you have to work more to get more money, negating the gains you may have gotten from the smartfridge doing your shopping for you. Now you really don't have time to go shopping, because you have another job, and now further need smartfridge to deliver food to you.
SO CONVENIENT!
See how one thing leads to another?
"Convenience" never gets you more time to spend for yourself. NEVER. What it dies cost you is money, which you get by selling your time.
The winning move us to say NO early in this cycle if abuse, and refuse to adopt or allow the provider to become essential.
The problem, is that this knowing obstinance is perceived by the young as being backward.
The attempts to derail the cycle through regulation via govt only works when citizen needs get priority over lobbyist money. When greed is good(tm), that never happens though. (Thanks Reagan!)
No. The consumer has to put their foot down, and demand. Demand early, demand often, demand with informed mind.
But it takes time to be informed, and not everyone has it so....
All because if those two simple bulleted things.
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Topic: Fuck you Microsoft (Read 19106 times)