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Because “double insulation” is much more common here and is deemed sufficient enough. A/Cs and fridges are usually the only appliances which needs a ground connection. For those, we have sockets that has a hidden screw-in ground tap.

I can still find unsafe/bothersome exceptions though. For example, a lot of rice cookers doesn’t really seem to be “double insulated” but they still have two-pronged plugs. Another is custom-built PCs. You basically need to strategically place your PC near a socket which you usually use for your A/C just to have that ground connection.

Saves a lot of space too. One thing that’s bothered me with most popular socket variants is how wide their power strips usually become.

I think the Italian one is the most practical variant that unfortunately isn’t as ubiquitous. It (1) occupies less space, (2) reversible, (3) sticks to the wall more firmly unlike the flat-pronged ones in North America.

Similar thing is happening here in Philippines. The government basically gave tax breaks to companies who will utilize their office spaces in city centers. To no one's surprise, most of the local companies are now forcing return-to-office. The government justification is: people spend more when they regularly go the the office thus, stimulating the economy.

Maybe it's an overstatement but I personally feel like I'm in Panopticon when working in open offices. I do not experience the same feeling in co-working spaces and coffee shops though. It just feels more productive to work with strangers in the same room who don't care about what you're working on but are aware that you need to get stuff done. On the other end of the spectrum, work-from-home setups just feels very solitary and distractions are just more prevalent.

I think the smart thing to do now is to buy products with the fewest features as possible and has decoupled components like easily replaceable batteries. I've noticed that the dumber the device is, the longer it usually lasts. I'd rather buy an analog watch than a smartwatch. I'd rather have a dumb TV than a smart TV. I'd rather have a mouse with hot swappable batteries than one with a built-in charger.

Why do I feel like Apple's threshold for removing features is really low?

It's a general problem for Chromium-based browsers. I also experience this with Vivaldi. It has something to do with the tabs sleeping.

> people are afraid of data collection now in a way they weren't in 2006

I disagree with this one. They might be afraid of sharing their data explicitly i.e. sharing everything happening to them for everyone to see (even strangers). The trend now is sharing content to people they only have very close relationships with. But them being afraid of big tech collecting and analyzing their data? I don't think so.

Still holding on to my 6s though not as a main driver exactly because of these reasons.

I hate to say this but Google, particularly YouTube, has the best "discovery engine" in my experience. I'm a fan of long-form content so that must be the primary reason why I prefer it over other platforms.

I'm not sure if there's any study to back this up but aren't introverts generally more sensitive to social cues? As an introvert myself, we have similar frustrations. In-person communication is just more effective in some cases.

A lot of these arguments about Netflix's decline has been really Western-centric. I'm from Southeast Asia and the Netflix's catalog of films/shows from Asia is still unbeatable by other streaming platforms.