This is a direct result of our Wall Street economy. Wall Street demands that each corporation’s stock price shall increase every quarter. No matter what. If that means the customer is unhappy or that a corporation must consume itself from within. Doesn’t matter.
Comment on Windows 11 Start menu ads are now rolling out to everyone
Sanctus@lemmy.world 6 months ago
How did the default attitude toward the user get so hostile? The amount of toggles you need to set just to have a smooth experience with minimal tracking is insane. The people in here defending it by the fact it can be disabled are missing the point: we shouldn’t have to deal with it in the first place.
sudo42@lemmy.world 6 months ago
kevincox@lemmy.ml 6 months ago
Pretty simple. Stock go brrrr.
chiliedogg@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Fewer people are buying PCs now that Smartphones have replaced the need to have one for most uses, but Microsoft still has to make more money every quarter than the quarter before because the stock market doesn’t value stable profits.
gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
It got here because it’s super profitable, and that’s all the C-suite cares about, and they’re the ones calling the shots at the end of the day.
I also think that engineering ethics has, in general, been strongly de-emphasized, and true holistic ownership of technical products is now usually held by business and finance types instead of engineers, with all the negative consequences that that entails.
tabular@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Having control over other people’s computing gives you power over them: you can gain from their detriment. It’s not like everyone is uncaring or greedy but even people with good intentions do not have infinite willpower to resist temptation. When the user doesn’t like a change from an update their choice is usually to put up with it because that’s easier than stop using the it. It easier to defend ads in a menu or opt-outs in hidden menus because that’s easier than;
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learning what an operating system is and that you can use a different one
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how to install and use a new OS
By sharing the source code instead you give up that power - if you fail to be good to the users then other devs can work on it without you.
Sanctus@lemmy.world 6 months ago
You don’t give up anything by sharing source code. If anything, you share your power with the world. All other perceived outcomes are attributes of capitalism baked into your thought pattern.
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kalpol@lemmy.world 6 months ago
MS doesn’t care about the desktop operating system except how can they control it like Apple and iphones. All the money is in O365 and Azure these days.
aniki@lemm.ee 6 months ago
You shouldn’t. I haven’t. Microsoft is a plague and a choice.
grue@lemmy.world 6 months ago
You’re not wrong, but there’s a larger issue here: the fact that there’s an alternative does not make what Microsoft is doing okay. This shit ought to be prohibited by consumer protection law.
krimson@feddit.nl 6 months ago
Yeah it’s not just Microsoft. Fucking ads in my doorbell app, Google TV, etc.
Putting ads in a product you paid for should be illegal.
Stovetop@lemmy.world 6 months ago
TBH I am fully expecting a world where, in the next 10-15 years, some company will make a car that plays unskippable audio ads every X number of miles/km which can be disabled for $9.99/month.
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qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 6 months ago
I hate it as much as the next guy, but I certainly don’t see why it should be illegal (and disclaimer — Debian on all my personal machines, macOS for work).
Should it be illegal for books to have a list of similar material from the author/publisher? Should food staples not be able to list recipes on the back?
I completely agree that pulling the rug out from under the customer should be illegal (i.e., effectively changing the terms of service for an already-purchased product), but having a shitty product shouldn’t be illegal IMHO.
BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 6 months ago
The choice is hard to make when Microsoft’s garbage has been shoved down your throat for decades, it’s the default pretty much everywhere and the only viable alternative, for 99% of the population, is Apple.
Governments have been way too lenient and passive on that aspect for far too long
stinerman@midwest.social 6 months ago
This is largely because Windows and MacOS come preinstalled and that’s how the vast majority of people interact with operating systems. If you had to choose your OS, I’m sure there’d be more choice in the market. Not necessarily Linux, but just more choice in general.
BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 6 months ago
That’s pretty much my point, 99% of computers sold are sold with Windows on it and the leftover percent is 99% Apple and maybe 1% Linux.
And that’s mostly because no one did anything when Microsoft licensed their crap to big OEM.
If any given computer sold was Linux (or any other free OS to be fair) by default and Windows as a paid option, it would change the market massively I believe. It would take time obviously but I’m convinced it would work in the long run.
tabular@lemmy.world 6 months ago
You don’t choose your childhood education. Microsoft and Apple offer schools deals to create adults dependent on it - after all they’ll be using it in work too.
aniki@lemm.ee 6 months ago
so?
tabular@lemmy.world 6 months ago
This greatly affects the likelyhood of people choosing a particular OS later in life.