In the US,I phone is a social status. They're judging you because it's like you don't own a car and just have a unicycle in their minds. What amazing marketing. I'm an Android pixel owner since the beginning and still am. There's some articles written about it too

As an European, I always find it funny how iMessage seems to be so prevalent in the US that the "bubble colors" issue is even a thing. Here, almost everyone uses WhatsApp. Better for communication across different device types, probably worse for privacy. But at least no artificial discrimination because apple hates open standards ¯\(ツ)/¯

I (American) just attended a strategy meeting and one of the ice breakers was "are you a green or blue bubble?".

I had no idea what it meant, similar to others that are android users. While it was a fun and engaging session, I was kind of shocked that was a thing. I'm obviously not oblivious to Apple vs Android convos and opinions, but I had never been asked that question.

Our group, BTW, was pretty evenly split. 😅

They also complain about spam calls. Even on non-pixels the Google Phone app has tremendous spam blocking.

I can see reasons why people would prefer android, e.g. ability to install apps outside of the manufacturer’s App Store, and there are some android models that are cheaper than iPhone (less so since iPhone SE, but still true).

But the post asks about alternatives for companies that people don’t like. I.e., where it’s the company that has a problem morally. Do people generally think that Google is morally better than Apple? Sure, Apple is anticompetitive about hardware and software access because that’s how they make money, but Google is anticompetitive about data and advertising because that’s how they make their money. I kinda think they’re both bad.

Hoping I don’t come off as antagonistic here. I’m genuinely curious what people think.

You can save so much money and add so many customization options by switching to android.

Went back to android with the first pixel. After five different phones (microphones and speakers kept breaking) I went back to iPhone.

I'm not sure but the iPhone bubble colour debate seems so US centric. In the UK, I've never heard of anyone bringing it up

I'm old, and think of my phone as a piece of equipment. In terms of looks, status, and stuff like that, I'm more interested in what protective case to buy.

I'm very much so looking forward to a switch to a pixel pro in the next couple of weeks! The camera and the ecosystem seems so much nicer than my 2020 iphone se

Buy a used pixel and throw GrapheneOS or CalyxOS on it 😎

Yes, but what decent alternative exists?!?

/s

Oh c'mon... nothing holds a candle to Reddit. What other public forum can harrass, downplay, and degrade its contributors while 90% of them remain ignorant/uncaring of what is happening around them?

Amazon recently removed a filter I used heavily - the "Sold by" filter. When searching for most things, I'd filter on "Sold by: Amazondotcom", and that would weed out all the junk by the keyboard-smash sellers. I'm really bummed that they removed that filter.

AliExpress is the alternate for Amazon if you can wait a month to get your crap. All the products are exactly the same except £2 instead of £20.

I wouldn't buy any electronics from AliExpress though.

It's a shit company with shit morals and shit practices, but I use it... If I have to. And usually that means I've checked locally, I've checked other big retailers, and if everyone fails me I'll reluctantly buy it on Amazon.

Would be interested in a community for general purchase recommendations (any product, no specific category). Having a thread site like this where actual humans who bought the product and don't work for the company can write honest reviews/recommendations is extremely valuable

I agree. Now disclaimer, I am someone who still buys tons from Amazon. There is no one alternative. But you can get much better deals if you watch and wait instead of impulse buy. Best Buy is now my go-to for gadgets.

Ordering something in 15 seconds, then having it shipped within 48 hours is unmatchable

you mean like online shopping in general?

Ordering something in 15 seconds, then having it shipped within 48 hours is unmatchable.

My typical experience is

• ordering in 15 seconds
• amazon says it will ship within 48 hours
• actually ships 8 days later

I've been an Amazon customer since they only sold books, and the last few years have been a trainwreck.

For those in DE/AT/PL/UK: https://geizhals.eu/

It shows many local online shops, including Amazon. Amazon usually isn't the cheapest IME in Germany.

the convenience factor has tanked massively in recent years, at least in my region. prime shipping has become meaningless and most of the stuff I would get off Amazon ends up being shipped from china so I may as well use AliExpress and pay 3 bucks instead of 35

If you're southamerican There is a real alternative to Amazon, Mercadolibre.

Might depend on the country though. I grew up where credit unions were really common and just assumed they were the best. I had to switch to something else cause I moved across the country and my credit union was only on western Canada. While shopping around, I realized that the big Canadian banks were offering way more than my credit union ever was. Plus their website actually felt modern.

The first time I bought a car I secured financing through Capital One before I went to the dealership, and then once I found a car told the dealer I'd finance through them if they could beat my other lender's interest rate. They did, by like a quarter percent. Years later when I went to buy another car I got financing through a credit union instead, the rate was much lower than before, and the dealer couldn't beat it.

Well one disadvantage of credit unions is that you might not be able to get a debit card. Loan interest is usually way better though.

I've used freetaxusa for almost 20 years now. I'm always surprised more people don't know about it (granted, from the name, it does sound like a total scam).

Wish we didn't have to file taxes at all though...we have the technology.

Have a care with some of those.

One year I tried a couple of those free services, and they told me I owed over $5k. Not even exactly the same number. But turbo tax told me I only needed to pay $2k. Guess which one I used?

Not saying it's always that way, but made me a lot more cautious about the smaller tax filing sites. It's worth doing your taxes twice or more before submitting them to see the difference.

+1 for freetaxusa, used them for the last 3ish years with no issues. fuck turbo tax.

Aren't frozen veggies usually fresher as well. Like they are frozen within a couple hours of being harvested?

Pretty much only buy frozen veg now

Thanks

Hell even just D&D 3.5e is better than 5e imo. Though I mostly play Pathfinder 2e nowadays (I'd be happy with Pathfinder 1e as well).

Just 5e is boring as hell to both DM and to play.

Ha I run a game store and it's finnally good to see things like Blades in the Dark, Mork Borg, Alice is Missing, Avatar, Cyberpunk, and Pathfinder knock a percent or two into the D&D Market share.

fr... i am so annoyed with people pretending DND is the only PnP out there. Its not bad, but its not very good either

❤️ Google -> Brave search. Stock Android -> LineageOS (CalyxOS, DivestOS, GrapheneOS). Chrome😬 -> Mull (LibreWolf). Google notes -> Joplin.

Yup. To add more: Brave for searching because it has it's own crawler. OrganicMaps and OSM for maps. Joplin for notes. AsteroidOS for WearOS. NextCloud for Drive (including some auto-syncing/back-up stuff like mobile contacts). Proton or Tutanota for mail.

Amazon needs a bit more than bookshops to replace it. Need a whole shopping mall

i'm an absolute cola addict and unfortunately nothing else scratches the same itch for me. i am a fan of iced tea though

Reddit -> Lemmy

Coke/Cola -> Tea/infusion

Wut

Nah but seriously, they're not interchangeable. A Coke replacement would be another cola.

I'm downvoting you simply for suggesting an alternative to Coca Cola.

Good day.

They sell sex toys and bulk sour patch kids at the local bookstore?

People hate KDE? I'll check out JWM, but KDE is incredible.

Why the KDE hate?

lmfao the 10 downvotes

Moving to Linux sounds cool and is cool until you realize 2 things, one, you can fuck yourself in ways you didn't know possible.

2, windows is dominant and you will lose access to a fair portion of games immediately upon switching.

Unless you really need to lower background bloat, develop code, or got something vehemently against windows, its not worth the swap for 90%+ of the population, you will go back.

I didn't mind the learning curve, realizing the sheer amount of programs and games that have no development plan for Linux was what made me swap back.

Kind of set themselves up for this one didn't they? Ha!

I've had some success getting people in some social circles in Canada to use Telegram.

then just don't use it...

Was explaining that to a customer how things that used to be bad ass but now are shit but expensive as hell because they are using the name and the reputation from 50 years ago to sell the shit.

Like Maytag, and Whirlpool used to be the best brands to buy. Now they are crap won't last ten years.

Agree with this. However, the main reason why WhatsApp is so popular is the user base. It's so hard to convince people and businesses to use another platform especially if your whole country is using WhatsApp.

and I don't need to share my number to everyone.

Man… fuck Nestle

1.5 cents per search query. hmmm... not sure if i could switch my mind to be careful about searches.

I guess I would start using local calculator and dictionary more.

Dyson fans too. Cheap fans are quieter and produce more airflow.

The handheld V series are pretty good IMO, I have a Sebo which is obviously better and more reliable but sometimes the convenience takes precedent

I made the mistake of saying I use Photopea instead of Photoshop on a forum. The adobe mafia slammed me into oblivion for that one 😆

Interest, cash back, and in person locations are hard to beat for me. I search a couple times a year to see if I can find a credit union that beats or meets what I got currently.

The thing with a CU is it's great until something goes wrong. Although anecdotal, these are all real world trouble I've had with ours: 1) Need to have safe deposit box drilled. Took over 6 months to get it scheduled and repeated visits to the branch manager. 2) Had a double post of a debit. Not a biggie, but no 24 hour customer service (or weekend service unless you come in person). Had it been fraud or a huge double post I would have been out of luck until the next business day. And would likely have had to go in person. 3) Ordering checks required an in person visit. 4) Changing out an old secondary signer for a new one required an appointment that took several weeks to book (apparently no one there works full time). 5) Interest on our money market is worse than the local big banks.