291–300 of 668 posts
This is not to say our efforts at privacy are completely in vain, just that this perfect endpoint doesn't exist.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Except for a handful of very over-priced models that I can't afford to buy. Yeah, that weakens his whole argument. That said, I would like to know what models these are? Because I think it's pretty much universal. I think the answer is linux.
There's System76 and Purism: https://system76.com , https://puri.sm Can't speak to the quality, but I suspect those are the expensive models the author is referring to.
1G+ has been the traditional price to break into "worthwhile" computing, "worthwhile" here usually meaning computing you get a choice on how to configure.
To give a bit of context, a "pay-day loan", typically something targeted at the majority of lower-working class folk who struggle to make it from rent check to rent check, goes for normally ~300-600$.
For a "lower-middle class" individual making ballpark 60-80k and making housing or rent payments, the norm in even lower cost cities is 1-2k. We aren't talking addl. living expenses, but already someone has to deal with the un-pleasantries of extreme poverty (gangs, illegal activities, never-ending debt and the prison pipeline) in the lower classes, and in the "middle" classes they are facing potentially tanking credit scores, getting behind on rent by a month (most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck), just to have a shot at getting one of these laptops.
Goodness help anyone in so called "3rd-world" countries.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can I just have a wifi only phone and then have a separate wifi hotspot that actually does the connecting to the cell network? The hotspot wouldn't be "owned" but the phone could be.
You’ve drilled down to the critical issue - batteries. For better or worse, we have observed there’s a limit as to how much stuff people will willingly carry on the regular. Current phones barely fit in that space envelope. Make a phone twice as big or require a separate device, and for most users this is equivalent to not carrying a cellphone. I don’t think the current dominance of the big two can end until the hard…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll go further: when have you ever been able to communicate with guaranteed privacy? Telephone? Nope. Ham radio? Nope. Letters sent through the mail? Nope.
Letters sent with homing pigeons were mostly private...
Maybe yes, but why? Why do you want it?
As long as you remain a human being, there will always be things you'd prefer be otherwise if you just wait a while. If we take that as an axiom, we can stop trying to react to every discontent with thoughts of wanting the world to be different. Once you accept that things are the way they are and there ain't a thing to do about most of 'em, maybe that's better than owning a computer you own. I dunno, works for me :)
I have a similar feeling, but with modern smartphones. Owning my computer is still relatively possible. I can build a computer from parts which I can choose, and have a choice in which operating system to install on them. Laptops are slightly more closed, but even on those I can choose the OS myself. Modern smartphones however, seem like walled gardens in which I have no control at all. I cannot choose any of the par…
And, that’s great! They shouldn’t know that, maybe there will be some cultural shift in the future, where everyone will be tech-savvy, and companies like Apple starts changing their approach. Until then HN users need to accept that most of those solutions are made for ordinary consumers, and embrace the niche for them. :-)
I have a similar feeling, but with modern smartphones. Owning my computer is still relatively possible. I can build a computer from parts which I can choose, and have a choice in which operating system to install on them. Laptops are slightly more closed, but even on those I can choose the OS myself. Modern smartphones however, seem like walled gardens in which I have no control at all. I cannot choose any of the par…
> Owning my computer is still relatively possible. Sorry to burst your bubble, https://libreboot.org/faq.html#intelme
I have a similar feeling, but with modern smartphones. Owning my computer is still relatively possible. I can build a computer from parts which I can choose, and have a choice in which operating system to install on them. Laptops are slightly more closed, but even on those I can choose the OS myself. Modern smartphones however, seem like walled gardens in which I have no control at all. I cannot choose any of the par…
> Except for a handful of very over-priced models that I can't afford to buy. This statement here made me pause for a bit. He wants a computer with specific features, but doesn't want pay for the models that offer those features because they are too expensive? Everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too, but unfortunately, reality has constraints.
Exactly. I want these things too. But I'm also willing to pay for them. Everyone wants the best stuff for free. That's not controversial. But it is controversial to complain that the best stuff is more expensive than the cheap stuff. Of course it is. That's the type of stuff they sacrificed to make it cheap. If they want low end free btw, they do have that too. Pinebooks are super cheap.
Nah. Technically, and in terms of manufacturing cost, it would be even easier to make a simpler computer, without all those bells and whistles that can be turned against the user, without the Intel Management Engine, TPM, and what have you.
> That's the type of stuff they sacrificed to make it cheap.
No, it's economies of scale which make one expensive, and the other one cheap. And human greed, and the human need to control other humans.