Spyke
lemmy.world

The one silver lining about the new US administration is that it has helped undermine some fundamental notions around American exceptionalism.

American oligarchs are not that different from oligarchs in other countries.

148
Wobblereply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

Its been wonderful purging all my american owned crap from my smart speakers to reddit. Looking forward to getting a linux desktop for the first time in nearly 10 years!

51

Agreed, moving away from American tech stuff is becoming a priority.

American oligarchs are no better than the oligarchs who work with putin or Xi. Perhaps even worse because they tend to be much more dishonest in their rhetoric (constant pompous rants about "changing the world for the better").

49
Cosmo_IVreply
lemmy.world

I just switched over to Linux Mint and, while it's not perfect, it's so much better than windows.

21

Fedora here and loving the switch from big tech.

1
Wobblereply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

All unplugged and sitting in a box. It feels much more like a home now that I'm not being constantly listened to.

6
thejmlreply
lemm.ee

Why would you have been okay with it enough to purchase one in the first place? As an American, it’s always been pretty clear that American companies are filled with horrible data management. They actively lobby against any sort of GDPR or equivalent data laws and regularly leak data with no real ramifications.

8

I never really took it as seriously as I should have. I genuinely gave up caring for the sake of 'convenience'. I've seen the error of my ways since.

8

No, I don't think it's any particular election. I also don't think those companies were somehow more liberal when Democrats were in power. But it's a really bad tendency that they gradually lick the boot more and more. It means they are big enough to be controlled and threatened, and it means governmental overreach is strong enough.

2
lemmy.blahaj.zone

Apple is just like the rest of big tech. They tried to play it as if they were the ethical one, but in the end all these private corpos are just the same.

75
SuluBeddureply
feddit.it

Actually about Gates, does anyone know about his stance on the current fascist takeover?

5
Raiderkevreply
lemmy.world

He's notoriously short $TSLA, so probably not a big fan of Elon.

10
lemm.ee

I guess a lot of good people will ditch Apple now, right? RIGHT?

58
lemmy.world

FOSS alternatives exist for many Android devices. Apple goes to great lengths to block every alternative on all hardware that isn't mac. I've been on iOS since the 3G, but have just purchased an older pixel to start migrating apps and data to GrapheneOS. I wish Pine phone had GOS, but it is what it is.

There is no negotiating with fascists, and Apples #1 market is the US. There is no chance in hell they will defy or deny fascism.

16

Buy used Pixel or other phone that supports open Android OS, company gets none of your $$.

3

But that's all changing the subject.

His point was, at least Apple made a stand to begin with. Sure, they didn't stick to their guns in the end, but if Apple left, while Android manufacturers continued advertising on Xitter this whole time, then isn't Apple still showing more spine than the others? Does it really make sense to leave Apple for Android over this?

3
Billiamreply
lemmy.world

If you buy a Pixel, you're supporting Google which is probably worse.

Maybe a Nothing Phone or a OnePlus?

8

Buy a used one then. GrapheneOS is by far the best mobile operating system. I have used Calyx and have a Lineage tablet. Neither of them compare to how well GrapheneOS works in and of itself as well as with sandboxed Play services

3

PinePhone any good? Sounds like it's still a bit of a hobbyist device but if it can do the basics of texting and calling that's all I need.

2

You pay them a one time fee. The data you share with them is what makes google money. So from that perspective it's like direct buy over a loan. They can't leech you dry when you are not on loans.

1

Worth it for the awesome work GrapheneOS devs have done. Heck, buy used.

Pixel is just one of the safest android phones in terms of hardware security.

1
glnpf148reply
lemmy.world

Maybe even a refurbished one to minimize Google profits. I usually buy them second hand but still new from people who got them from their carriers for a contract extension.

4

For other potentially worse manufacturers. I hate how far it’s all gone, but even buying a used/secondhand device is empowering the prior own to support one of these manufacturers.

2

How quickly most companies have walked back all of the "moral" stances they have taken over the last few years, all within just a few weeks of the political winds changing, should be a lesson to everyone that there is no such thing as an ethical publicly traded company.

They will do what they think will make the most money for the shareholders, no matter what. If you want them too "pay", the only choice is to stop giving them money.

42

If anyone ever pays any attention to a company's posturing and dewy eyes they are truly naive. It is just pandering at best. It is why I want them to be honest and cut out all of the "We celebrate group _____" and all that and just be honest. "We want to increase our stock price by 5 cents." The best they can be is neutral. A small private company can be positive though.

5

I'm looking for silver linings and I suppose the marketing people at these companies are much less stressed to have to keep Googling, "how to pretend to give a shit about fellow humans" every time they need to produce a few hundred characters.

39

I wanted to point out that it's as futile as shouting at the sun for rising again and shiting into your eyes through the window and then I realised how often I do exactly that and now I'm 100% fine with your comment.

Edit: I meant to write "shining" but what's done is done.

9
TORFdot0reply
lemmy.world

At least the mask is off. Apple, Google, Meta. None of them care about anything but profit and there isn’t a value they aren’t willing to compromise on if it makes the line go up.

21

They invited Mother Earth herself to announce the latest iWhatever on stage last year. They’re absolutely covered in masks.

3

All in bed together. Didn’t they both attend Mar A Lago? No way they’re going to separate.

29

Next up is Tim apple announcing his conversion therapy was successful and that he will now be marrying a blonde fox news anchor on the white house lawn. He'll then run for Lindsey Graham's senate seat and carry on the tradition of being the most closeted man in the Senate... And the world.

When Lindsey Graham was asked who his first lady would be should he ever win the presidency, he replied... "My sister".

Just can't take those swinging bachelors off the market.. one at a time ladies.

27
feddit.it

Actually last time I checked apple did their keynotes mentioning the environment and stuff, greenwashing their choices... I'm curious what they'll do now.

Just like Tesla, they might have saturated their liberal userbase, I wouldn't be too surprised if they took a more "neutral" stance

14
lemm.ee

Which phone brand is recommendable at the moment? Fairphone uses android, which can hardly be trusted.

10
lemmy.world

Google Pixel + GrapheneOS

Also, if you think Apple's completely closed source software is more trustworthy than Google's mostly open source software... LOL

20

also, idk how true this is, but ive seen that google sells pixels at a loss when they’re on sale (they expect to make back the money by spying on you)

so if you were to get a pixel while it’s on sale and install grapheneos on it, not only would you get a nice phone with a secure os, but you’d do so while costing google money. win win win!

9
lemm.ee

Well, the point is I do not trust either. I am on apple now, but my experience with android is that there are apps you cannot uninstall.

On the other hand I have once tried a custom rom, but it was not a great experience. I do think I will need to try this again.

3

Custom ROMs are all different. Some suck, some don't. I've heard very good things about Graphene. You can even install it from the web in a couple clicks.

5
lemmy.world

Do things like banking and MFA apps work? I have to have Duo for work

3

Not sure, I've been looking at Graphene myself but haven't used it. Just passing on what I've seen.

2

Yeah, the most "free" option is probably android custom ROMs (anything based on lineageos, I suppose).

There are alternatives that are slowly building up, such as postmarketos, but it's not production ready.

I think KaiOS was a thing for a while, and it's based on FirefoxOS. But you would have to ditch the confort of a real smartphone and I'm not sure it's still active?

EDIT : KaiOS is indeed maintained BUT it is still based on Android (probably with less higher level components)

12
lemm.ee

or CalyxOS if you're not too fond of knockoff iOS UI. I've been using Calyx on my FP4 for a while now, works like a charm.

5

Forgot that runs on Fairphone.

Yeah, Calyx is the better option for it

2
lemmy.world

Fairphone uses their own custom OS to degoogle things and help ensure privacy. I dont think its perfect but its about as good as it gets. Otherwise you can buy a google phone and degoogle it with Graphene

3
lemm.ee

Fairphone uses their own custom OS to degoogle things and help ensure privacy

no they don't. the default Fairphone OS runs stock Android with all Google apps. there are degoogled custom ROMs available, and you can buy some models with it preinstalled, but those are managed by third party resellers/partners.

7

You are right, I had it a little backward. The e foundation makes /e/OS, and they sell a murena fairphone 5 with the OS preinstalled. So you can get a fairphone thay way, or just install it yourself.

https://e.foundation/e-os/

1

Apple never was, and never will be not an evil company so why the surprise? Of course they do.

9

I can't help but feel that a lot of companies would have been better off just staying out of controversial issues only tangentially related to their business.

3
lemmy.world

Because they, a company that markets itself as free thinking, are supporting a platform run by a Nazi.

25

It never was free thinking.

It styled itself in that way to capture the upper-middle class market segment of people who wanted to use technology but couldn't be bothered to learn how

Like every tech company, they sell you the ability to access the fruits of technology in exchange for your privacy and, in doing so, ensure you never have the motivation to learn how to do it yourself.

Want to watch a movie? Don't worry about learning about media files, players, codecs, etc. Just install this spyware on your phone and pay us $9 $12 $15 $19.99/mo and you'll never have to learn.

You're already on Lemmy, so most of you understand the stakes of signing up for corporate mediated technology. Just don't use their products.

3