this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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I hate big tech controlling social media. I desperately want social media to be federated.

I really love community-driven social media like Reddit. Lemmy feels… too small. I really loved that Reddit let me jump into any niche hobby, and instantly I had a community. Lemmy, you’ll be lucky if that community even exists, and if it does, chances are nobody has posted in ages.

On the other hand, Lemmy is full of political content lately. I’ve basically been doom scrolling everything US election-related, and it’s really starting to take a toll on my mental health.

I know I can filter content. I know I can post and be the change I seek. Yet, it feels like an uphill battle.

Not sure what the point of this is, or if it’s even the right community to vent about this. I just really want to replace Reddit, but I find myself going back more and more (e.g. r/homekit is very active compared to Lemmy version).

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Those are good points! The EU did force Apple to switch to USB-C, and the US government is coming after tech monopolies. I’m optimistic they will nudge Apple in the right direction. We did just get the most repairable iPhone ever, according to iFixit.

As far as Android, it may be open source, but hasn’t Google used their influence and money in a lot of shady deals to ensure they remain at the top? That’s what the recent case against them was about, both in the context of Android and Google search. Again, I think the government will nudge Google in the right direction.

I’m a bit of an Apple fanboy. I love their hardware and I love that macOS is Unix-based. I work in the terminal a lot for my job, and it gives me everything I would want from Linux but in premium hardware and tight integration with my iPhone. I also like that they are more privacy-focused than Google, though I also don’t trust that they really care about my privacy. At the end of the day, big tech sucks, but they have built some cool things. I’m hoping the government stops them before they get more greedy.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

We should not be so confident about anything involving the USA moving forwards - after the recent election, EVERYTHING can now be different. Maybe. Possibly, but while I don't know what will happen, I also do not know what will not happen either, hence this is a time of great uncertainty.

I have thought about trying another iPhone, though if I did, I would want it not to be my only portable device. I simply cannot afford to be sent e.g. an email message or calendar invitation or some such and have it not come through or be displayed incorrectly purely b/c it came through via a Microsoft (or more rarely Google) account. So then on top of the >$1k price tag, I would need a laptop or Android that is still yet another ~$1k or at least hundreds more? (or depending on someone's workflow environment - e.g. if your work offers you a laptop, and you need that for a trip - then at least carry around a USB drive with you as well, to have available to use at a moment's notice). At that point though why not just get the Android and bypass the iPhone entirely, especially if that one device would meet all of your needs? iPhones are very pretty, with amazing glass touch & feel, and have nice functionality - again, so long as you remain entirely within their walled garden, though depending on my future job prospects, I may not be able to always function within those constraints.

And yes Google is ruining Android, according to many people from what I hear, though I am not fully up-to-date with it. I suppose my point there is that a downwards trend to go from an open-source environment moving towards a more closed one is still not comparable to iOS that is fully closed already. If Google is bad b/c it is making Android more like iOS, then how bad is Apple for having made iOS that way right from the start? Although I thought the actual case against Google was about its search engine, not Android, or there have been some other investigations along the lines of its Play Store, again not entirely about the actual "OS" (when such things as F-Droid can bypass their monopolistic store).

Most Apple fanboys, such as myself, tend to love Apple until it betrays/disappoints them and then abandon it in a huff of rage-quitting:-). I have taken a middling approach though and remained with Mac OSX b/c it is a fantastic product, but iOS is a different story imho. Either way their hardware and the software integration with that is top-notch, I agree with you there. It also is significantly more expensive for a similarly-specced Android device, especially for offering much less functionality - I suppose it is a more "premium" device, for those willing to and capable of working entirely within its tight limitations. I suppose my biggest beef is that I would no longer feel outright "proud" to own such a device (necessary for me to justify a higher price) as I would have in the past, and yet I cannot really say that about any modern mobile device anymore, unfortunately, with enshittification having touched every manufacturer so hard.

So I will vote with my wallet and find something that meets my needs when the time comes to replace my current one - possibly a non-flagship cheapie, or maybe a Fairphone if that would be good enough.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Ok, the Fairphone does look really cool. I don’t plan on switching phones for a few years, but I hope they succeed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I hope so too.:-)

OnePlus phones also used to be nearly as pure and lightweight as older Google phones, I mean from before Google started the enshittification. But they screwed up so hard, running off one of their co-founders (the tech guy, being ran off by the business/money guy), that most enthusiasts abandoned them. Also they switched from their OxygenOS to the crappy ColorOS used in cheap Huawei phones.

Afaik, nothing else has risen to fill the gap, and looking at the state of technology in the world today where every company chases after purely short-term profits to the exclusion of all else, I don't know that there ever will be.

At which point it boils down to iPhone, if it works for someone to use that, Samsung if people like that (I don't), or something small.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago

Maybe that’s what I see in Apple. It seems like they don’t make all decisions based on the short term. At least compared to other tech companies. But maybe I’m naive for thinking that.