Does anyone else feel as if it's over when it comes to really owning your own things?
As of now:
- You don't have the option of having a phone with decent specs and replaceable parts
- You have to have really good knowledge in tech to have private services that are on par with what the big companies offer
- You have to put up with annoying compatibility issues if you install a custom ROM on your android phone
- You cannot escape apps preventing you from using them if you root your device
- Cars are becoming SaaS bullcrap
- Everything is going for a subscription model in general
And now Google is attempting to implement DRM on websites. If that goes through, Firefox is going to be relegated to privacy conscious websites (there aren't many of those). At this point, why even bother? Why do I go to great lengths at protecting my privacy if it means that I can't use most services I want?
It sucks because the obvious solution is for people to move away from these bullshit companies and show that they actually care about their privacy. Even more important is to actually PAY for services they like instead of relying on free stuff. I'm not optimistic not just because the non privacy conscious side is lazy, but because my side is greedy. I mean one of the most popular communities on lemmy is "piracy" which makes it all the more reasonable for companies not to listen to privacy conscious people.
I wouldn't say that this is the endgame but in this trajectory, privacy is gone before 2030.
The first four issues are not new. Desktop Linux users like myself had the same struggle with the Windows monopoly in the early 2000s.
I'm not overly worried about that. I stuck to my guns, and was rewarded for my patience with a large selection of free and open source apps that are often as good as if not better than what Windows users use.
Cars aren't going to get away with charging subscription fees for basic features like seat warmers. Cars aren't exactly cheap to begin with, there's a lot of uncontrolled competition in that space (as opposed to the controlled, illusory “competition” in web browsers), and e-bikes threaten to eat car makers' lunch.
I am, however, worried about banks requiring me to use a proprietary browser. That puts me in danger of my bank account being compromised. Worse, I'll have no way of knowing which other bank to take my business to, because they presumably won't check DRM until I try to log in, which only becomes possible after I've moved my money.