zlacker

>>pictur+(OP)
This enshittifcation is endemic. Corporations cannot just release a good product and support it. The better the product is and the larger the customer base becomes, the higher the likelihood that some business planner is going to see dollar signs and try to squeeze the product for everything it’s worth. And every time this ruins the product. And we’re here with a proprietary phone OS and proprietary apps. Proprietary firmwares on proprietary hardware. And we are completely at the whim of these companies.

And the option is what, buy a Zigbee dongle and a raspberry pi run some code written by unpaid enthusiasts? 3D print a case for it and mount it on the wall, running updates and fixing it ever few months when some package update breaks it?

I like the concept of lights that run from an app. I don’t have any of the physical Hue switches for my system and it’s fine. But I do not want an app that abuses me, and I do not want to maintain some fragile project made from slapped together code. I want robust open hardware with open source software.

I’m convinced that we can achieve this, but it won’t be with the current model of business and engineering we have today.

>>Taylor+We
I agree with you wholeheartedly. Philips' revenue was ~20 billion last year. Why must these people shit all over everything to squeeze out even more on top of that?

Where are all of the businesses with values that put humans first? Is it just necessary to be so ruthlessly destructive to make it at all?

>>mostly+Gh
Duty to shareholders or whatever the standard excuse is.

>>Negati+bi
That’s a lie that the execs tell. Yes, they do have a duty to the shareholders, but the lie is that they are allowed to exercise their reasonable business judgement, which actually gives them very broad latitude to determine what’s in the shareholders interest.

The execs could easily argue that in their business judgement it’s in the shareholders best interests if they make a long term play, and chose to forego maximizing profits in the short term, and instead maintain positive customer goodwill in the interests of maximizing profits over a longer time span.

As long as they can provide some plausible reasoning behind their decision, they’re safe.

So, the “I have to maximize shareholder value” argument is… on the surface true, but hides a ton of autonomy and decision making power that the executives have.

>>ncalla+7j
About ten years ago, an activist investor tried to get Apple to reduce their green stance, in favor of profit. They wanted Apple to commit to only working for profit and shareholder return.

Tim Cook got visibly angry at them, and told them that it was a core principle, and there was no way that Apple would compromise on it.

Say what you will about him, but he has personal reasons for valuing privacy, and he knows that compromising one core principle, in favor of profit, will inevitably lead to compromising customer information.

Looks like he made the right call. Apple is closing in on $3T.

>>ChrisM+Bm
Tim Cook also acted from a place of strength. That was one investor, and Apple was (and still is) rolling in more money than it quite literally knows what to do with.

I wonder if Tim Cook could get away with it if margins were slimmer, and Apple wasn't the most ludicrous cash making machine since Standard Oil.

Thats my worry, when Apple (and they very well may, who knows) takes a dive, eventually, at some point in the future, will they start selling off the farm?