Recent submissions

Comment · 5 months ago
More likely the services transformed into smartphone only when the user wasn't looking. Switching costs are not zero.
Comment · 5 months ago
It's easier to fight for additional rights when you start at a reasonably high baseline.
Comment · 9 months ago
I wonder if you can sell the printer shell without the main PCB and just open source the main board design. Manufacture and sale of that board as a distinct entity seems tough to stop. Especially because the board can have non-3D printer use cases which it advertises as the main ones.
Comment · 2 years ago
Just a heads up: reclassifying marijuana is the majority position and decidedly moderate in 2024.
Comment · 2 years ago
And just like that I never purchased HDMI based products again.
Comment · 3 years ago
My bank and local government aren't making game consoles one of my primary methods of accessing their services. Smartphones are heavily integrated into the daily lives of most people now. They need to be regulated that way and the makers of these devices need to have less control over their users. We wouldn't allow a car maker to charge a fee to parking garages because the driver is "their customer". I need a car, I need a phone; being a hub of value shouldn't allow for such a high degree of rent seeking.
Comment · 4 years ago
If airlines adopt this more generally maybe Apple will create a feature to turn off air tags for a length of time. Ie: don't transmit for the next 6 hours but then start again. That would make this ban look quite ridiculous.
Comment · 4 years ago
A significant value of implementing security as "normal" or by default is that you don't look suspicious for having it.
Comment · 4 years ago
I will never get over the fact that the Nintendo Switch operated on random character strings to find friends rather than usernames or something more straightforward for normal users. But the fact that they managed it does mean it's not so large a barrier.
Comment · 4 years ago
I suspect there are a great many existing laws that congress would not pass today.
Comment · 5 years ago
I think these questions were meant to have an obvious and answer but they don't. We have laws and courts to figure this out. Maybe you should be able to install MacOS on your Xbox and maybe Audi should be forced to change their design. VW certainly was forced to make changes after Dieselgate. Consumers have some rights that are largely not argued about these days, like honesty in the product listing. The people on the side of more rights for the consumer are always confused why so many people want fewer rights for, not only themselves, but their fellow citizens as well. It feels unreasonable: we're standing up for you to have these rights as well and you're complaining that you don't want them so no one should have them.

In a well functioning market it would be a different story but we really need to stop pretending that mobile OSes are a healthy market with lots of competition. There are 2 players worth mentioning and that kind of market needs additional safeguards

Comment · 5 years ago
The problem of inequality in general needs to be framed as one of power asymmetry. There are a handful of people that have managed to garner, through their wealth, similar power to states with millions of people. The solutions to this involve either making money less able to purchase power, or taking some of this money away. I suspect the latter is more likely to happen but I'll happily support either method.
Comment · 5 years ago
Strong vote for this new animal being Badger. Bull vs Bear vs Badger
Comment · 5 years ago
If you think of the government as a union for the country's workers this explains why the minimum wage exists. It avoids prevents the wage race to the bottom that creates sweatshops. It also explains why some people see the minimum wage as the best method of "negotiating" with employers.

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