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Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

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Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#211

Post by crazygringo »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #166
monknomo wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

imo, the appliances breaking is also a choice and one that is a real shame. No one actually wants to buy new refrigerators or dishwashers, and the improvements in that space have all be pretty marginal. Fast fashion is shame too - clothes ought to last a bit as well. And cardboard/particle board furniture that services .5-1.5 moves is also basically bad. Cars have been steadily increasing in durability and reliabilit…

If anything, newer refrigerators and dishwashers are worse than they used to be, because they have to conform to increasingly strict energy usage laws. The new dishwasher we have now is shit, reuses water between cycles, uses some weird system for drying, etc. Basically we use more energy to pre-wash or post-wash stuff now.

At least with dishwashers, part of the reason is actually that home dishwasher detergents are no longer allowed to have phosphates.

And for a lot of people the no-phosphates thing happened around the same time they got an energy-efficient dishwasher.

And then they blamed the bad dishwasher performance on the energy efficiency, when it's actually that home dishwasher detergent is far less effective now.

Except restaurants still get to use dishwasher detergent with phosphates, which is why their dishes continue to be sparkling clean.

(And I don't know about your dishwasher, but the last two I've had default to energy-efficient, but it's a single button press to put them on hi-temp mode.)

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#212

Post by crazygringo »

goodluckchuck wrote: post #142
crazygringo wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I said -- "whenever laws are vague". And it's not "effectively" -- that's a major part of what precedent is .

Most (good) laws did not originate from statute. Laws against murder originated in the courts (in the common law tradition). Torts originated in the courts. The claim of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress was invented / discovered within the past 50-or-so years. You’re fundamentally backwards on the assumption that laws generally originate from statutes. The most important, cornerstone laws of western socie…

It doesn't matter where our laws against murder were invented originally, historically.

Today in the US they are codified into actual statute.

I have never in my life heard the claim that the codification of law is an attempt to "undermine the judiciary"... after all, statutes passed by democratically elected representatives is the very cornerstone of democratic governance.

I'm genuinely curious, is your perspective something you've come up with on your own? Or did you get it from somewhere else, is there a name or movement behind it?

I've simply never come across the idea that the power of courts should be elevated so far above that of legislatures. (I mean, judicial review is one thing, but that's limited to conflicts between legislation and the constitution.)

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#213

Post by crazygringo »

chazeon wrote: post #185
crazygringo wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is going to be a hot take here, but honestly I'm not that concerned about e-waste, in the grand scheme of things. What about cars, air conditioners, dishwashers, fridges, furniture, clothing? What about when we throw all of those out? The amount of e-waste I've gotten rid of over my life is miniscule both in terms of weight and volume in comparison to the things I've listed. I think we confuse environmental impa…

It wasn’t uncommon to buy second hand AC and sell them after use in the NYC. In fact, I barely heard anyone buy new ACs. I guess not everyone has no problem throw those appliances out.

Sure there's a good market for secondhand AC's but AC's also break at some point.

Also newer AC's can be vastly more energy-efficient, which is something to keep in mind when you can easily spend more on electricity over the course of a single summer than on the unit itself.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#214

Post by fragmede »

crazygringo wrote: post #211
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If anything, newer refrigerators and dishwashers are worse than they used to be, because they have to conform to increasingly strict energy usage laws. The new dishwasher we have now is shit, reuses water between cycles, uses some weird system for drying, etc. Basically we use more energy to pre-wash or post-wash stuff now.

At least with dishwashers, part of the reason is actually that home dishwasher detergents are no longer allowed to have phosphates. And for a lot of people the no-phosphates thing happened around the same time they got an energy-efficient dishwasher. And then they blamed the bad dishwasher performance on the energy efficiency, when it's actually that home dishwasher detergent is far less effective now. Except restaur…

Fascinating. Time to go buy dishwashing liquid from my local restaurant supply store instead of the grocery store then.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#216

Post by ssl-3 »

sahila wrote: post #192
flerchin wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over the past 10 years I've recycled all of my large appliances. My (texas) city comes and picks them up at no charge, and I don't feel that's an unusual situation.

I'm a bit skeptical about them actually being recycled though. How many of the appliances are recyclable? What parts of them are vs what ends up in the dump? Everything I've heard - and admittedly I haven't looked too deep - is that recycling is mostly a sham and mostly just ends up as waste either here or shipped overseas for someone else to deal with.

Plastic and glass recycling is often a sham, because both things are usually of little value -- sometimes, even of negative value.

A pile of plastic is mostly just a liability, with a strong likelihood of it ultimately being dumped or landfilled somewhere in the world.

But metal recycling is real. Unlike plastic and glass, metal has positive value. There is an entire profitable industry that exists to recycle metal -- including appliances. We've been recycling metals for as long as we have mined their ores from the Earth.

A pile of washing machines is an asset. It has real value. It doesn't get landfilled or dumped -- it gets sold.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#217

Post by alvarlagerlof »

hamandcheese wrote: post #148
kuschku wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they actually sent me an email asking for my checking account number and routing number to be sent to them VIA EMAIL Is that an actual issue with US accounts? Over in EU it's common to publish your account number (IBAN) and routing code (BIC) on your website, letterhead, and obviously on bills you send to customers so they can pay you. They should only be able to send you money, not use it to request money, right?

Nope. My utility company and also Verizon withdraw from my checking account, and all they needed was the account number, routing number, and my name. No further verification. For that reason, I have two checking accounts, and don't keep large sums of money in the account I use for payments.

That's seems terribly unsafe.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#219

Post by goodluckchuck »

crazygringo wrote: post #212
goodluckchuck wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most (good) laws did not originate from statute. Laws against murder originated in the courts (in the common law tradition). Torts originated in the courts. The claim of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress was invented / discovered within the past 50-or-so years. You’re fundamentally backwards on the assumption that laws generally originate from statutes. The most important, cornerstone laws of western socie…

It doesn't matter where our laws against murder were invented originally, historically. Today in the US they are codified into actual statute. I have never in my life heard the claim that the codification of law is an attempt to "undermine the judiciary"... after all, statutes passed by democratically elected representatives is the very cornerstone of democratic governance. I'm genuinely curious, is your perspective…

It’s a process I’ve seen play out many times in my state. The legislature will pass a bad law. The courts will explain the situation, fix it, and move on.

The legislature then won’t have the votes to pass a contradictory amendment, so they “codify” in a way that leaves something out of context or creates an ambiguity.

Litigants then cite the statute instead of the precedent… even though they legislature never actually changed the law.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#220

Post by whycome »

Anthony-G wrote: post #126

When I read stories about companies like Spotify creating e-waste like this, I think it’s worth pointing out that commercial companies don’t have to behave this way. As a counter-point, back around 2008, I purchased two Squeezebox music players from Logitech (digital music players that Logitech had acquired from Slim Devices: high quality DACs that supported every audio format, gap-less playback, synchronised playing…

I had a mouse go wonky on me like 20 years ago and Logitech sent me a new one even when it was out of warranty. And I have to say that the MX Keys Mini is the best keyboard I’ve used in years for my purposes. There are a couple things that could be refined, but it’s pretty great for Mac/iOS use.
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