How do you scan QR codes on the device that is showing the QR code?
Didn't come up in testing. What sort of user wouldn't have a google-issued corporate laptop and phone?
Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message
321–330 of 549 posts
Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message
#322Earlier quoted context omitted.
There weren’t any infrastructure costs to sending the first SMS ever, Hah. Someone wasn't alive for the 90s.
Someone didn’t read all of the words ^_^ Infrastructure costs were marginal, near 0, because SMS was just 140 bytes of text stuffed into already-occurring network traffic between phone telco.
I did some work with Verizon and an IoT customer was asking about SMS pricing and the VZ guys laughed and said it cost less than a penny for every 1M SMS.
Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah! I can't believe people know basics about cartels, trusts and dumping.
Except gmail is hardly a cartel, etc. I've never had a gmail account.
I'd assume that you also never tried running your own email server and have the email actually delivered to a gmail address, then.
Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message
#324Everything is going to get so much worse and AI really is to blame. So many websites now have these verification pauses and CAPTCHs because of AI agents. Part of it is agents. Part of it is everyone running their own awful versions of Googlebot. Years ago IIRC there was a "bug" where the Android emulator allowed you to create real Google accounts. This was found and I'm sure millions of these accounts were created. T…
I don't understand the anti-agent blocks. What exactly is the problem if an AI agent reads your website and summarizes it for me? If it is bandwidth, why not spend the effort making a screen-reader friendly version of the site, and somehow shunt agents to that (saving 99% of the cost of serving the page)?
(I run an ad blocker, so the ads will not be displayed either way, but I see more agent blockers on ad free sites than ad supported ones anyway.)
Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
In a better time I would expect the government to step in a acquire this fundamental service and fund it with tax money. Right now? The only intervention I would expect is a massive subsidy to pay Google to keep providing it, while also letting them continue to spy on everyone's mail (which is a crime, but not if the mail is on a computer, I guess).
Do you believe that if the government provided email, that the government wouldn't keep track of everything you did on it?
Do you believe the government doesn't keep track of your email, just because it's hosted on googles servers?
Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message
#326People complain a lot about Gmail, but honestly I kind of understand Google's plight here. They've essentially gotten roped into maintaining a huge chunk of internet infrastructure, for free . If they ever shut it down the whole world would end up rioting because it's so widely used. But it's expensive, complicated and time-consuming to maintain - and both a source of and recipient of endless waves of spam and scams.…
What a lame first comment. They're making tons of money. Sounds hard. Let's give up all our freedom.
Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message
#327Wow! My 93 year old mom will not be able to use Gmail.
Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message
#328People complain a lot about Gmail, but honestly I kind of understand Google's plight here. They've essentially gotten roped into maintaining a huge chunk of internet infrastructure, for free . If they ever shut it down the whole world would end up rioting because it's so widely used. But it's expensive, complicated and time-consuming to maintain - and both a source of and recipient of endless waves of spam and scams.…
The highest comment in the thread is somebody defending Google, a trillion dollar company that profits hundreds of billions of dollars per year, with a wide-ranging monopoly on tech services, as being a victim providing a free service for the public good. While stating that holding onto data is a liability. As though the data was not the point. As though the data was not the payment.
I need to get off of this fucking website.
Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message
#329People complain a lot about Gmail, but honestly I kind of understand Google's plight here. They've essentially gotten roped into maintaining a huge chunk of internet infrastructure, for free . If they ever shut it down the whole world would end up rioting because it's so widely used. But it's expensive, complicated and time-consuming to maintain - and both a source of and recipient of endless waves of spam and scams.…
> They've essentially gotten roped into maintaining a huge chunk of internet infrastructure, for free.
And now they have a treasure trove of AI training data, for free.
Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message
#330People complain a lot about Gmail, but honestly I kind of understand Google's plight here. They've essentially gotten roped into maintaining a huge chunk of internet infrastructure, for free . If they ever shut it down the whole world would end up rioting because it's so widely used. But it's expensive, complicated and time-consuming to maintain - and both a source of and recipient of endless waves of spam and scams.…
The highest comment in the thread is somebody defending Google, a trillion dollar company that profits hundreds of billions of dollars per year, with a wide-ranging monopoly on tech services, as being a victim providing a free service for the public good. While stating that holding onto data is a liability. As though the data was not the point. As though the data was not the payment. I need to get off of this fucking…
I hate Google when they pull anti-consumer crap. I believe they're too big, too unaccountable, and something needs to be done about them. Their power rivals that of a country and that shouldn't be considered acceptable.
But man, I would hate to be the one dealing with Gmail. It's a nightmare for the reasons I listed above.
Someone can in fact hold both of those opinions.
I was also actively telling people to de-Google and go elsewhere for a mail service.
Does everything need to be black and white?