zlacker

>>pictur+(OP)
I want to see meaningful pushback on this indefensible move of forcing customers to establish and maintain a relationship with the manufacturer in order to use the products they sell.

Other examples are: Wahoo, who locked the control of their products behind an account and login requirement for devices which had been working perfectly fine for years prior.

Roche, who killed their blood glucose app at the start of 2023 and forced all their users to move to a third party app, developed by one of their subsidiaries, which requires you to accept a data exfiltration clause, if they wish to continue the automagic on-device logging.

>>1ncorr+P4
Don't use their products then? Nobody is forcing you to.

>>Daz1+C8
Fair enough. But what if you bought the product, paid a fair amount for it (i.e., you can't just shit-can it) and *then* X months later the brand suddenly require a sign up, subscription fee, etc.

Then what?

>>chiefa+ub
Step 1: Make discontent known to brand Step 2: Create/join community of fellow disaffected individuals Step 3: Use community to spread awareness of said dissatisfaction Step 4: Observe as sales of product fall off and brand reputation falters Step 5A: Observe as brand reverses unpopular decision and recovers OR Step 5B: Observe as brand is replaced in the market by one which better meets consumer preferences

>>Daz1+lf
> Step 5B: Observe as brand is replaced in the market by one which better meets consumer preferences

Step 0A- Realize that most mature industries are incestuous. They share the same consultants, they swap employees, they compete for the same market with the same group-think mindset, etc. They all have the same incentives and paradigm for success and thus often act in murmuration'ing way. That is, they're too big and too risk-adverse to consider innovation so they feign being competitive and milk the market the best they can.

Step 0B - Realize that for the most part the gov - via Cronie Capitalism - will not protect consumers, and will put the thumb on the scale for the largest players. Your rights and privacy - in the context of Surveillance Capitalism (which the gov benefits from) - are more myth than they are real.

Step 0C - Realize that all the steps follow are rarely successful. Sure, you can try but the odds are not in your favor. You end up paying the subscription and/or having your usage data sold in some black box cyber back room.