I would argue it does not directly or obviously impact device ownership. However, to the best of my knowledge, it would be the first time that the US Government has publicly required a specific set of features for consumer software.

To make matters worse, this is an Operating System level requirement, which means it has more permissions than any other piece of software you run. Every device you run today has an Operating System of some kind, so this bill could impact all devices.

So, I think the conclusion that you no longer own the device stems from the fact that it has software on it doing things and collecting information you did not approve. For normal people, there will be no way to avoid it. Tech savvy users will of course find ways to dodge it unless there are enforcement mechanisms and penalties that are sufficiently punitive.

Definitely not a path we should be going down if we actually cared about freedom, much less privacy. Not to mention, this opens up the whole “slippery slope” argument for more direct government control over software.

As an American, I totally agree. I am at a loss as to how we got to where we are so quickly, how it can be fixed, or what I should do as an individual. Feels like a slow motion train wreck that was easily predicted and warned about, yet nobody changed anything to avoid it.

The most frustrating thing is that writing my representatives in government, voting, and protesting all seem completely ineffectual.

Your background of being the family computer expert closely mirrors mine. However, I was too stubborn to ever call support, and instead stumbled through slow internet searches and manuals. Wild how much easier computers are to operate these days.

Sorry for your bad support experience though. At least that hasn't changed!

Coffee is always the answer. Full stop. Do you need hydration? Coffee. Do you need a friend or something to hold? That's right, Coffee. Do you have to stop to pee every 30 minutes on a road trip? You guessed it, still Coffee!

If your CEO is genuinely a good person, he would want to know that his emails make him less personable. Maybe you could tell him why the emails do not reflect your in person impression of him, that he actually cares about the employees. The reaction would at least give you good insight into who how he thinks.

Unfortunately, a lot of CEOs have crazy schedules, so they are constantly looking for ways to optimize their time. I think this drive is big reason why they love AI so much, in general.

I wish we weren’t obsessed with optimizing profits no matter the cost in the US.

Maybe Digikey or Mouser. They have large selections of specialized electronics and good search interfaces.

Yeah, you are right that we already have huge attack surfaces from apps on phones and the phones themselves.

I also agree some regulations and/or laws that prevent companies from engaging in their shady practices and dark patterns would be great if they were enforced and were not simply used to prevent competition by the large companies. I won’t hold my breath though.

Good, we deserve it. Whether we take responsibility and attribute the consequences to our actions or not is a big unknown. Hopefully we can fix ourselves internally at some point so we can at least try reconcile with the world.

To be clear, I don’t mean “fix it” as in restoring our reputation or power. We need to fix ourselves internally. If you think we have been a force for evil in the past, imagine how much worse it could be if we continue in the direction we are sprinting now. That is why we need to fix ourselves.