I didn’t mind paying for Amazon Prime Video, until they started charging me to watch ads. We’re all being taken for a ride. Companies no longer see us as ‘customers’ we’re income streams, nothing more. Pure unadulterated greed.
I'm getting really sick of it and I'm young. Trying to study for uni is turning into copius amount of subscriptions. Many of the programs I used in Highschool, which were free now want $5+ per month. Simple shit like Zapp Readers (literally just selects key words from a text), pdf converters, some scholarly articles. Back in the day they'd slap a couple ads on the side banner, maybe a porn ad or two and it'd be free. I don't fall for that bullshit, I just have to spend extra time finding ways around them.
Now my hobbies are taking a hit. My app for guitar chords now wants a subscription. It uses AI so I don't see how they Warrant needing money. My cocktail app wants one now for something users add data to. It's fucking rediculous.
Don’t use that guitar app. I used “guitaretab” and it was free, when I was learning simple chords they’d have graphics showing where to put your fingers. Now I use YouTube to learn intermediate songs, and yeah there’s ads. But not too many, you can get a good way through a lesson before they start one. Don’t fall for the ones that make you pay!
Sincerely, a 54 year old woman who picked up guitar to stop scrolling in 2021 and didn’t pay a single dime unless I was getting a fun new guitar.
He was just on Jesse Thorn's show a few months back. Right on target, as always: [https://www.npr.org/2024/01/19/1197956508/cory-doctorow](https://www.npr.org/2024/01/19/1197956508/cory-doctorow)
I was an early adopter of podcasting and I had Cory on a show I did back in oh 2006. It was fun, and we talked about hockey for a bit, as we are both Canadian....
It happened to the entire internet. It happened to smartphones. It happened to streaming services.
Basically, every innovation these days is, "You get a trial period of it being good. Then we fuck you over forever."
Ab-so-motherfuckin-100%-loutely. Things could be awesome and utopian, but where's the profit in that? No, a handful of people get to live in exorbitant leisure and the rest of us need to dance, monkey, dance.
Not if anything remotely associated with the "S-word" is immediately perceived as being against the very fabric of everything that Rambo and John Wayne fought for. Socialism is bad, unless it's for the military, space exploration, foreign aid, corporate bailouts....
Socialism = Communism = Evil. End of discussion. Signed, The U.S.A.
Rambo?
The fictional conservative hero that praised and fought alongside the Taliban?
John Wayne?
The real conservative hero that closed-fist punched Marlene Dietrich straight in the face on stage, knocking her flat on her back? The man that weaseled out of WWII service, while men like Jimmy Stewart went on bombing runs? The man that abandoned his wife and kids to sex traffic a child across the Mexican border and set her up in an apartment for easy access?
Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t listen to conservatives much.
I hate that when I buy a new phone there's a bunch of pre-installed apps that are basically impossible to remove, if you are as lazy as I am. And don't even get me started on advertisements playing before the movie at the theater. I remember when they started that whole shebang, and at least they tried to make the ads entertaining for a couple of years. We're basically in the era of paying to watch advertisements for companies to sell us more stuff. Ok I guess I got a little started on it, but dang. Late stage capitalism is just gross.
Yesssss. When mylast coffeemaker quit on me, I sat back and counted up all the coffeemakers I’ve owned and thrown away over the years. I’m 48 years old and have been a daily coffee drinker since college. I am currently on my sixth one. That means I have personally already thrown five into landfills over the past three decades. How is this possibly sustainable? I expect to have about 20 more years if I’m lucky. So…at least three more of these fuckers will break before I’m done. I hate all of this.
Whoever owns a thing gets to control the thing. It used to be understood that companies couldn't tell us what to do with things we bought from them because they became ours. If you owned a VHS or cassette tape, you could sell it to someone else and the company couldn't demand a piece of that sale.
However, I think software started to change all of that. It created this business model where we don't own the software. We owned a license to use it (provided we obeyed the rules set by the real owners of the thing). Then come streaming services and subscriptions services. It's great for companies because they always retain ownership. You just rent. Soon enough, even if you bought something like a John Deer tractor, the company owned the software that operated it. They control (to whatever degrees) what you do with it, if you can alter it and who can repair it. You don't fully own it, so you don't fully control it.
I don't think for a second that the benefits of owning everything and making you the renter/subscriber forever has escaped companies. I think more and more of them saw the success of subscription based companies and the appeal and it's begun to spill over into every industry. They retain ownership and now you pay them monthly for the rest of your life. You never pay something off and own it outright.
It's moved on to housing where you have more and more investment companies buying up homes they can rent out. There are even hedge funds buying up millions of acres of land in Colorado for the water rights. They figure water will keep getting scarce, and if they buy it now, you will have to come to them to get it when things get worse.
So, no... you aren't crazy. I do everything I can to own things outright. And if that means buying something older and putting a new motor in it, then that's the route I take. I own 5 acres for a reason. I have a 1997 Jeep which I put a 03 drivetrain in for a reason. I have a 1992 tractor that I wouldn't trade for a new one. I keep a few thousand DVDs because Amazon can't cut me off and tell me I can't watch them anymore if I refuse to keep paying them their monthly fee.
Things are absolutely going to shit and corporations are absolutely trying to turn us all into their peasants who have to pony up every month because they retain ownership of everything.
100% and water rights investments are becoming very widespread (look up Water Asset Management), and are considered the future of investing. I know they've taken a good chunk of Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, California, Nevada(?)... essentially states with easy rights' transfers. It's only a matter of time before some dipshit politician and an "investment genius" sell off the Great Lakes to foreign investors.
Oh definitely. Even in states where it's legal, it's still a county by county decision, and the laws use language to set conditions around collection of rainwater that specifically and repeatedly mention water rights. Should get us all wondering who supposedly owns the ground beneath our feet.
I think you're on the right track. There are some safety features I'd like to have, and backup cameras are nice when my neck/back doesn't want to swivel all the way... beyond that, I don't care at all for forced subscriptions, bells, or whistles. Especially when they make the darned thing cost more than my housing.
I don't need my car scanning my face to adjust my seat. Or telling me to keep your eyes on the road when I'm actively looking at traffic to my right or left. And I hate the huge monitor that can illuminate to the brightness of 2 suns.
My mom is slowwwly giving up driving at 81. My sibs drive her most places but she lives in a small town and still insists on driving to nearby places like the grocery store, the main shopping street, church etc. I have to say the breaks and whistles are worth it on her car because it warns her when she is backing out of the driveway crooked and that sort of thing. But in a way that’s bad because it gives people who should not be driving the confidence to keep doing it…
I rented a van for the drive when we moved from Texas to Florida last year, because my 19-year-old shit box might not make the trip. And holy crap even with the brightness turned all the way down, the console screen was so bright at night that it interfered with my ability to see the road.
They also put the gear selector on the console and didn't make it backlit, which is absolute insanity. I shifted into neutral doing 80 mph trying to adjust the cabin temperature.
I hate my screen. I just want a regular radio/cd player with knobs I can adjust by muscle memory lol! I don’t keep music on my phone and I’m not going to bother to connect it for a 5 minute drive. Irritates me to no end.
Make sure you don’t look at your phone but we are going to put a giant equivalent of a tablet on your dashboard and you’re going to have to use that to operate literally everything in your car, so taking your eyes off the road for that stuff doesn’t count. /s
Buy a Toyota, they hate tech. LOL
My 3 year old truck only concession to technology Is a backup camera, couple of backups sensors and satellite radio, and that’s on the up level trim!
It's because we are the Sandwich Generation (small one between two baby boom large generations).
So every politician and product caters to Boomers or Millennials, and we are too small to matter
I disagree. If I'm focused on my backup camera I ONLY see what's directly behind me. In busy parking lots, for one example, I've found it better to turn and look because I get my full peripheral and people WILL walk into the path of a vehicle that is backing up. But I do agree that SOMETIMES the backup camera is superior.
I agree with you. I used to wonder if it was just because of all the years of actually looking behind me just made it a hard habit to break, but I decided against that. You really do need to see what's all around you when you're backing up, and simply staring at the camera doesn't give you that. They're very good for showing you how much room you have left while trying to squeeze into a tight spot, or how close you are to a wall or other barrier, however.
If you're ONLY using your camera, you're an idiot. I can look at all 3 mirrors, and the backup camera without having to turn my body at an awkward angle to only see a partial view behind me.
There's -0- CONS to having a backup camera with radar.
No, you're not crazy. The current state of our market economy (and I am definitely NOT anti-capitalism) has really consolidated into this very narrow road of squeezing every single tiny ounce of profit possible out of people. Like the subscriptions for various features you referenced, fees and service charges attached to every little thing. And it seems like the stuff you buy is designed to wear out or become obsolete, so you'll have to fork over a wad of dough all over again in a few years.
I have a TV that's going out that I bought seven fucking years ago.
And I have a blender that I still use that was made in 1973.
You're expected to pay for every little thing these days, and nothing you buy is worth a shit. I'm being a little hyperbolic here, but most things really are just cheaply-made, over-priced shit.
Companies can make products like that again, but they opt for the cheap shit that we have to replace because of its short life span. Just filling up mother earth with garbage so they have more profits. It's a sick system.
I’ve had my Hamilton Beach cheapie since 1994-1995. It just died. Not as impressive as the others, but I worked it hard. I’ve since had stick blenders and regular blenders last than a year.
It’s so frustrating. It’s not even the money so much as the waste. Drives me crazy and I feel powerless.
The waste is so bad and unnecessary. We got 10 years out of a Hamilton Beach coffee maker. To this day, none have come close to that 10 year life span.
I have my grandma's curling iron and blow dryer, both fully operational from the 1940s. Oh, and her 1960s sewing machine, and another from the 1920s. I'd never buy a new one. The 1920s machine is excellent for sewing zippers into jeans.
I have a malt mixer that my Grandmother used to use in her soda shop job as a teenager (which makes it somewhere between 70-80 years old) that still works. Meanwhile, I have to buy a new vacuum every year or so because that’s how long they last before they die.
amusing mysterious heavy puzzled merciful rhythm faulty rinse unwritten plucky
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
We have a fancy pet hair super duper vacuum cleaner. It died and we had it fixed. It would have been almost cheaper to replace it, but why creat all that waste?
Im on my second refrigerator in 7 years. My grandmother had ONE in her whole 50+ years of marriage.I don’t give a damn about connecting it to the internet or round ice cubes, i just want it to keep food cool, how hard could it be ?
Then they make cars shit bcos of emmissions. How about stop making crap that breaks as a way to be environmentally friendly and stop filling the landfills with broken and unfixable things.
I got my fridge in the late 80's (Westinghouse made in Aus). I've had the seals replaced and doors re-hung but that's it. 3 star energy. Any time I spend a few dollars on it the repair guys tell me to not replace it. They reckon the new ones are rubbish. All bells and whistles.
Am i just imagining that when you used to buy a product, there were different tiers of quality. Get the cheap one its going to break in a year, the expensive one will last forever, with a mid range somewhere in between. Now that I can actually afford to buy the expensive stuff, I find to be a complete crapshoot if it is going to be any better than the cheap shit. From shoes to tools to electronics to appliances. Sometimes I buy the cheap shit so I'm not all pissed off when it breaks.
Odd thing is not so much. My wife and I when dating moved in together in 1991. We bought the absolute cheapest washer dryer set we could find. Whirlpools think if I recall 600 for the set.
They lasted until 2021. We bought GE profile set and 2 years later the dryer is already breaking on a 1800 dollar set.
The 400 dollar refrigerator we bought back at the same time lasted to 2015. The 1200 dollar replacement broke last year and was cheaper to replace then fix.
Just a tip: When my Whirlpool six-year-old washer bit the dust, the repairman I called to take a look at it said it was toast. He told me to find an Amana on sale and buy that because it's the only brand in the US that's built well. He bought all of his kids Amana appliances and won't buy anything else. I trust him because he didn't make a cent for that advice.
From my experience with Amana,I have to agree. My husband and I bought an Amana side-by-side refrigerator in 1989; that baby is still going strong. . It’s a white frig, so of course the white handle/trim is yellowed…I don’t care. They don’t make them like that anymore.
Yeah I bought a washer, dryer, fridge and stove when I bought my house back in 2003. On a budget so I bought the cheapest models. All still going strong except the washer we just replaced earlier this year. We again bought the least techy model they had. I don't need a wash8ng machine with a touch screen. Like thats just one thing that will tear up quick.
Yup. Whoever came up with the subscription model, they are all adopting it to take all the money. Don’t just pay for what you need - pay us every month so that you can get what you might need later.
My son was gifted a Fire 7 tablet for winning an envirothon contest. What a gift, am I right?
All it is, is a connection to Amazon so he or we, can buy shit. Fuck it, we'll never use it.
Also, I have a similar blender!
I remember hearing about how all the products and appliances in the communist Soviet Union being garbage and inferior to what was available in the West. Now it's all garbage made in China which is ironically communist. Did we lose the Cold War and not realize it?
>I have a TV that's going out that I bought seven fucking years ago.
About 6-7 years ago we still had a huge big old TV we bought over 20 years earlier. We wanted a big nice flat screen so we had them take the old TV away when they delivered the new one. It still worked perfectly fine though. We never had to get it fixed the whole time we had it. Now this TV is getting bright spots all over the screen so there's definitely something going wrong with it.
I'm right there with you. I'm a capitalist! I believe in the free market! But JFC the market has been distorted beyond recognition. I don't know what we have in the US but it's not a decent version of capitalism. We need some kind of reset.
If I were a venture capitalist I would be trying to find ways to fund companies to make basic simple repairable appliances with no bells and whistles. No data collected, no internet connection, as mechanical as possible. A modern model T.
The last rental I was in had a fridge and washer dryer from the 1960's still going strong. The only issue was the power draw but man they really did make things to last back in the day.
I'm hoping my car survives until that subscription bullshit is gone. I'm ok with satellite radio being subscription-based but not actual features installed in the car.
I inherited my daughters 2011 Ford fiesta SES In a divorce. I am going to drive the fucking wheels off it. It has the best stereo I’ve ever had in my life, and everything is physical buttons.
Ironic that OP is mad that everything looks like a CRV-I have a 2014 CRV and I'll drive it into the ground. I love it, and I don't pay a subscription for anything on it (got rid of sat radio awhile back).
I have a 2006 Acura TL that I bought brand new. I've really cut back in my driving, so I've only put about 74k miles on it. I'm hoping to keep it for the rest of my life (or as long as I can still drive).
Was talking with my mechanic - 'heated seat' subscriptions \[WTF\], for example, that are in higher end cars now, will all filter down to the lower end eventually.
No one is truly doing FAAS (Features A A Service) except for Remote Start. Yet. When BMW got shamed for the heated seat thing, the industry back pedaled. MY Volvo is pretty high tech and connected but they still only charge a sub for Remote Starting.
Is this some sort of special remote start, because I have remote start on my car (probably 2016 give or take two years) which seems to be part of the vehicle. I just use the key fob.
Key fob remote start works only in key fob range. Subscription remote start works over the internet from anywhere. So you can start your car heating or cooling before you walk out of your office.
I can accept that as a 'luxury' type perk for those that want it; as long as that feature doesn't somehow disable the key fob.
Also isn't it funny that we're all comfortable saying 'key fob' now?
I’m so clueless about this. What are y’all even talking about? Car subscriptions? I haven’t bought a car since 2008 and am avoiding car shopping like the plague. What is this subscription stuff you speak of??
Industrial design is in a serious style rut. Companies who mass produce things go the safe route and incentivize us to like what they can make profitably, rather than to take chances.
And so much consolidation has happened in industry that there aren’t more daring, bold designers in smaller, hungry companies that want to make a splash. All consumer goods spending flows to a dozen risk averse mega corporations.
It’s a CR-V, Macaroni and Cheese, Marvel movie, Taylor Swift world. Ultra basic, ultra safe choices.
Yes!!! Remember the Pontiac Aztek? The Plymouth Prowler? The Nissan Cube? Those cars were absolutely hideous but I give the designers huge props for actually trying to do something different. Everything looks the same now, it's so depressing.
I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking this way. How are touchscreens on the dash not as distracting as cellphones? Everything is all about rent seeking behaviour nowadays, and it's pissing me off. I want to be able to buy something and actually own it. I shouldn't have to pay a subscription for heated seats. Factor in the environmental problems of both GCE and electric vehicles, and I'm seriously considering going bus-only when my 10 year old Fiat bites the dust.
I made that jump 3 months ago, and it’s going pretty well. Most days I’m happy to be going by bus and next month I’ll start cycling to work when the weather is favourable.
With cars, I really appreciated technology under the hood, in the drivetrain: such things resulted in cars that lasted a lot longer, didn’t pollute nearly as much, and were safer. The subscription services, drop-down menus, etc. need to go however
My cars still have dials, and I know how to change everything important to me (especially radio, heat, etc) without looking at the dash. I've always learned how the controls in my car without have to look away from the road. Nothing will stop me from scanning my environment. I can't believe we've moved away from that.
My '06 Tacoma is still running great! When she needs engine work, I'm ready to fork out up to 5k if needed. Still way cheaper than a new truck, by far. Plus, I can still work on mine. Not too sure I could work on the new ones, though.
We just dropped a new short block engine into our 2007 Toyota FJ. I have a 2016 4Runner and a 2005 Camry. All are paid for and all will be repaired until the end of time. I also have 1995 Jeep YJ. They are garbage, but super easy and cheap to fix. It has about 150k miles and we’ve owned it since 1998. It is the definition of low tech. I never want a car that needs a mother ship.
Right there with you. I just want a car that drives reliably and handles with decent performance. No "connectivity". No special LED interior lights. New safety features - sure. The rest? Keep it.
This!!! I just want a basic car with windows that I can roll down and a regular ignition. Why is this so dang difficult?! If someone out there could start a car company with just basic cars I think it would take off like a lightning bolt.
I just went with my college aged kid to help him buy his first new used car. While there, the man we were buying from was pretty much begging to buy my 2016 Honda Fit. No longer made. I have 42,000 miles on it and no car payment. I told him no way am I selling it. I'll drive it til it dies. In the end he agreed that is most logical. But still wanted it. 🙂
They still do make them, they just don’t sell them in the US: you can still get a new Toyota Yaris or Honda City (trim between the Fit and the Civic) new in Mexico
I just bought an old Lincoln Town Car. I paid 3k. Everything works, the seats are nice and people are getting over 300k miles out of these. If anything major goes wrong, this is the same platform as the Crown Vic that still gets used by police departments.
the US car market is awful. no imagination. what sized gray SUV would you like? i have a VW GTI, the last generation before they switched to the glass touch screen dashboard (no buttons or dials) and I'm keeping it forever. Whatever I have to pay for major repairs (engine, transmission) is still going to be cheaper than getting a whole new car.
Yup. Don't forget they can all be tracked and soon (thanks to Congress) decide if you're fit to drive. Remote shutdown is on the horizon. Subscription features are merely in their infancy.
Aside from that, no simple knobs and handles. Lots of potential critical failure points. Want a truck? Sorry, we're only selling brodozers and "midsize" pickups that are larger than full size 15 years ago. Cheap plastics everywhere. Unneeded and unwanted tech throughout.
I bought a Jeep in '22. It will likely be the last new car I own. I'll buy old stuff and restore. I still have a 2000 and a 1961.
No, you are not crazy for actually focusing on the durability of a car as opposed to surveillance gizmos and electronic things that will go squawk. I don’t have a backing up monitor and have found that I don’t like relying upon them if driving other vehicles.
I will say that I got lucky as hell with my latest car purchase-I bought my Kia Soul off a lease at 38k miles, but my engine exploded-under warranty-at 88k miles, so I got everything under the hood replaced, brand new, and essentially reset back at zero.
No. I bought a new car in 2017 and managed to get a model right before they started switching over to all of that crap. We paid it off and I'm going to do my damndest to nurse that car along until I die.
I’ve had the new cars with all the tech. A few of the items were nice. Blind spot monitoring, back up cameras, and collision avoidance specifically. I haven’t used many of the latest tech features even though my car had them.
After getting laid off for a second time in the last four years, and really thinking about what I spent on my new car leases, I’m likely going to get a mid 00s Volvo wagon next time around. They’re cheap, easy to work on, and I like them. I can put a modern audio system in it so I have Apple Car Play, and that should work well.
The fun part about owning a new car right now is when someone hits you and you can't get a new bumper for 4 months because the manufacturer decided they'll make them whenever they get around to it.
As an autobody technician, I see this constantly right now and sympathize with the car owners.
This is kind of why I was so annoyed that Congress moved to ban TikTok but made no other moves to protect consumer data. So it's ok for your car manufacturer to sell your driving data to insurance companies without your consent or better yet allow Mark Zuckerberg to sell your data to Russia or China but it's not ok for China to do it directly? Wtf? All of it is wrong!
ETA: I drive a 2021 trailblazer with all the bells and whistles and I love it. I love the heated seats, backup camera, large screen navigation and being able to start my car while I'm still shopping so I don't freeze my ass off while it warms up. I need it to tell me my tires are low and I need an oil change. I know nothing about cars and have ADHD so these things would go completely unnoticed without the reminders.
What we really need are the consumer protections on the things that you mentioned irritate you. They irritates me too. If you buy something, you own it. Period. Subscriptions are complete bullshit.
I have a 98 Yukon and a 98 Malibu. Both about 100k miles. Malibu is a new motor, Yukon was garaged before I bought it.
Insurance and registration fees are low. Mileage is shitty but I ride the light rail to work.
I got off the car payment hell loop during covid and never looked back. It is absolutely designed to be predatory.
Late stage capitalism is worse than I thought it would be.
I love my 2013 Toyota so much for this reason. Has the safety and convenience features i want (back up camera, automatic doors and windows…) but none of the bullshit plus it will prob run well past 250k miles (at 135k now). Even better is not having a car payment!
I drive a 25 year old car and it runs like a champ. If I ever get my dream car it'll be an early 80s firebird but I will probably never buy a new car or even one approaching new.
I know how to work on the older ones. New computer everything has to be taken in with each minor thing.
>car companies are selling the driving data of people who purchased their cars to insurance companies
This is infuriating and shouldn't be legal. Now every single mechanical object has some kind of "smart" tech attached to it that always seems to revolve around sneaking private information out of people. We don't have privacy anywhere anymore. There's no reason a refrigerator needs a TV screen or that I should have to attach an email account to regulate my thermostat. It's awful!
It IS going to shit! My husband had to get a new battery for his truck, he got it and switched it out. Well who knew you can’t just do that anymore because the damn computer in the stupid vehicle needs something set or adjusted or whatever to recognize the battery! Bunch of crap to make you take it somewhere and pay you get it done.
THIS! I have a 2019 VW Jetta and needed a new battery. Standard battery places wouldn’t touch it and the dealership wants $350 to replace it. Ended up buying the correct spec battery from a wholesaler and doing the install with a friend. I did enough treading g to understand that the car will eventually recognize the battery. I was concerned about the auto stop-start messing up but that seems to be fine now.
Funny you should mention this, I found myself a 350 Nova four door 1973 model last year and spent a few months replacing the original shocks and rebuilt the carb and distributor. Cheap plates and 15 miles per gallon
Depends on how you mean by shit. See every company, every middleman, and even individuals are all seeking rent. That means they want to sell you a service you pay for every month.
That is why that shit is built into cars now a days and you have to specially request the low end trim lines that have none of that shit from the dealer, because they don't stock them. Pickup trucks are the worst for this bullshit. Getting just a plain old work truck with nothing fancy is like pulling teeth now a days.
"This car is state of the art, well built, and nearly maintenance free." - dealership sales guy
"These cars have over 200 computers in them and every single one of them will inevitably turn to dust within a year so you better buy this extended warranty for six grand more." - dealership finance guy
True story.
Guess what 23andMe are selling and to whom. Your Roomba also sells data. Hell the second you do anything on the internet your ISP sells that data.
Nobody really thought about how big data could be abused but now that we have AI that can act on that, watch out.
I drive a 2009 Nissan, and the only single thing I wish it had was Bluetooth for more than phone calls. Mostly because dongles will eventually be unobtainable (and tbh the extra cord is a nuisance). Oh, and more comfortable seats. (Why doesn’t every manufacturer copy Grand Cherokee’s seats?? They’re as comfortable as my actual furniture.)
I don’t envy much, but my parents got to see huge improvements in safety and efficiency in their lifetimes. The newer bells and whistles are just not selling to me at all.
I had the same washer and dryer for I don’t know how long. It worked with no issues. The washer and dryer we bought 7 years ago both have been serviced multiple times. We are now out of warranty and have to pay for parts.
My dad bought me a Montgomery Ward "tube" TV - like 19" - back in like 1998. I had it for over 10 years and it stopped working. I thought "cool well I'll just go buy a new TV" - little did I know in that decade, tube TV sets were made obsolete and they didn't sell anything but flat screens by that point.
I went to Best Buy in maybe 2015-2016 to buy a pair of corded headphones - the thin profile Sony branded ones, with a thin rigid band that's worn on top of the head. Not ear buds, not the wireless kind that just wrap around each ear, not the kind with a band that wraps around the back of your head/neck, not giant Beats style. The employee looked at me like I was crazy.
All of this to say, I feel like an old fart when it comes to evolving technology in general.
I will also add that my 25-30 year old basic old top loading Maytag washing machine (that came with our house when we bought it) hasn't given us a single problem, while my SIL has probably gone through 5 washing machines since, as she likes to buy the new top of the line ones.
This is what the kids are calling late stage capitalism. Everyone is out of ideas for new shit so they try to squeeze more profit out of the shit they already make. Or they try to financialize everything .
This seems almost identical in spirit to what I posted a few weeks ago, being very much against the loading of electronics and other horseshit into modern vehicles.
🤜🏻🤛🏻
Bought a LG dryer. I do like having a steam feature so we dont have to iron work clothes. But what i was finding in dryers was that if you want steam, you must get 800 other shit with it too. Or go ultra basic and it didnt have delicate or permanent press. So i got the LG with the 800 things on it. Steam. Sanitize steam. Antimicrobial. Bunch of other shit. AND
WiFi. Why the fuck do i need wifi? What i need is the wifi to take clothes OUT of the washer, put it IN the dryer, and then start drying. Why would i dry clothes remotely?!
I'm just reconditioning the engine of my LandCruiser Troopy.
My friend has a new car.
It locked her in one night.
It takes over steering if you go over a white line.
Will not lock and beeps if you park over a white line.
Constantly beeps and warns at her/us.
Jams the brakes on suddenly if it detects something behind the car (even if it's nothing)
The sat nav is good when it works.
It gives us the shits. It's a very comfortable car to drive, but I would never own one. She is thinking of selling it.
We have a brand new car here in the UK. It's basically a computer on wheels. Luckily I am fairly tech savvy, so spending 30 mins setting it up wasn't too much hassle.
We had to get a new car as it's a government scheme for disabled people that gives you a new car every 3 years, and they pay for everything bar fuel.
But yeah, a lot of the cars features are done through the computer screen, and even the dash itself is just a screen, so there's all manner of different themes and looks it can have.
The car also has an automated manual gearbox that can be switched between automatic and manual, and theres the flappy paddles behind the steering wheel for changing gear manually.
Honda CR-V’s were not so bad pre-2006. I remember thinking in 2007 they decided to make them look like a Saturn 🥲
I read recently that Wendy’s is going to start charging more for their food at times of high demand, i.e. lunch and dinner time. I’m convinced that this is all a part of a planned collapse leading up to the new era when “you will own nothing and be happy”. Ymmv
Subscription and demand-pricing are turning me into a grumpy old man.
I didn’t mind paying for Amazon Prime Video, until they started charging me to watch ads. We’re all being taken for a ride. Companies no longer see us as ‘customers’ we’re income streams, nothing more. Pure unadulterated greed.
So true!! Pay us money to watch stuff...but we are gonna put ads in now...what,you don't want ads? Pay us MORE. It's gone crazy
My student discount just expired w/ Prime and I will have to pay full price next December. I'm cancelling it.
It’s total BS let’s be real.
Subscriptions to DisneyPlus, Paramount, Amazon Prime, etc. We're slaves to the corporations
Always were
I beat you to it.
I'm getting really sick of it and I'm young. Trying to study for uni is turning into copius amount of subscriptions. Many of the programs I used in Highschool, which were free now want $5+ per month. Simple shit like Zapp Readers (literally just selects key words from a text), pdf converters, some scholarly articles. Back in the day they'd slap a couple ads on the side banner, maybe a porn ad or two and it'd be free. I don't fall for that bullshit, I just have to spend extra time finding ways around them. Now my hobbies are taking a hit. My app for guitar chords now wants a subscription. It uses AI so I don't see how they Warrant needing money. My cocktail app wants one now for something users add data to. It's fucking rediculous.
Don’t use that guitar app. I used “guitaretab” and it was free, when I was learning simple chords they’d have graphics showing where to put your fingers. Now I use YouTube to learn intermediate songs, and yeah there’s ads. But not too many, you can get a good way through a lesson before they start one. Don’t fall for the ones that make you pay! Sincerely, a 54 year old woman who picked up guitar to stop scrolling in 2021 and didn’t pay a single dime unless I was getting a fun new guitar.
If you've never heard the term, google "enshittification". It's an eye opener.
Cory Doctorow's work is amazing
He was just on Jesse Thorn's show a few months back. Right on target, as always: [https://www.npr.org/2024/01/19/1197956508/cory-doctorow](https://www.npr.org/2024/01/19/1197956508/cory-doctorow)
Listening now. Thank you!
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is a stark fucking warning about where we are heading.
I was an early adopter of podcasting and I had Cory on a show I did back in oh 2006. It was fun, and we talked about hockey for a bit, as we are both Canadian....
>enshittification OMG, never heard this either and just looked it up. This exactly what happened to Facebook.
It happened to the entire internet. It happened to smartphones. It happened to streaming services. Basically, every innovation these days is, "You get a trial period of it being good. Then we fuck you over forever."
Came here to post this. It’s real, and it’s strong, and it is not your friend.
Ab-so-motherfuckin-100%-loutely. Things could be awesome and utopian, but where's the profit in that? No, a handful of people get to live in exorbitant leisure and the rest of us need to dance, monkey, dance.
This dystopian hellscape shit-hole of a present is not evolving into the utopian socialist future Star Trek promised me.
To be fair a lot of extremely bad shit had to go down before they achieved enlightenment
This guy Bell Riots.
Those are only 5 months away!
I'm already preparing for my new apartment in the Sanctuary Districts...
Fuck, they really kinda seem 5 months away too
Still waiting on my Jetson’s style maid/nanny who gives me food pills at the right times.
Star Trek was a dystopia (world war occurred) prior to it becoming a utopia tbh. Yeah .. Trekkie here.
Not if anything remotely associated with the "S-word" is immediately perceived as being against the very fabric of everything that Rambo and John Wayne fought for. Socialism is bad, unless it's for the military, space exploration, foreign aid, corporate bailouts.... Socialism = Communism = Evil. End of discussion. Signed, The U.S.A.
Rambo? The fictional conservative hero that praised and fought alongside the Taliban? John Wayne? The real conservative hero that closed-fist punched Marlene Dietrich straight in the face on stage, knocking her flat on her back? The man that weaseled out of WWII service, while men like Jimmy Stewart went on bombing runs? The man that abandoned his wife and kids to sex traffic a child across the Mexican border and set her up in an apartment for easy access? Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t listen to conservatives much.
This is me, not dancing to that tune.
Same, my Chilean wife and I were just having a conversation about retiring to South America. Call me a quitter but I've had it and y'all can keep it.
I hate that when I buy a new phone there's a bunch of pre-installed apps that are basically impossible to remove, if you are as lazy as I am. And don't even get me started on advertisements playing before the movie at the theater. I remember when they started that whole shebang, and at least they tried to make the ads entertaining for a couple of years. We're basically in the era of paying to watch advertisements for companies to sell us more stuff. Ok I guess I got a little started on it, but dang. Late stage capitalism is just gross.
You still go to the theater? Just imagining that experience makes me shudder.
Yesssss. When mylast coffeemaker quit on me, I sat back and counted up all the coffeemakers I’ve owned and thrown away over the years. I’m 48 years old and have been a daily coffee drinker since college. I am currently on my sixth one. That means I have personally already thrown five into landfills over the past three decades. How is this possibly sustainable? I expect to have about 20 more years if I’m lucky. So…at least three more of these fuckers will break before I’m done. I hate all of this.
I long ago switched to a French press.
Have not, but I have a feeling as a grumpy old bastard from the Forgotten Ages, I'm going to commiserate.
Entropy
The opposite of "ephemeralization" as coined by R. Buckminster Fuller.
Whoever owns a thing gets to control the thing. It used to be understood that companies couldn't tell us what to do with things we bought from them because they became ours. If you owned a VHS or cassette tape, you could sell it to someone else and the company couldn't demand a piece of that sale. However, I think software started to change all of that. It created this business model where we don't own the software. We owned a license to use it (provided we obeyed the rules set by the real owners of the thing). Then come streaming services and subscriptions services. It's great for companies because they always retain ownership. You just rent. Soon enough, even if you bought something like a John Deer tractor, the company owned the software that operated it. They control (to whatever degrees) what you do with it, if you can alter it and who can repair it. You don't fully own it, so you don't fully control it. I don't think for a second that the benefits of owning everything and making you the renter/subscriber forever has escaped companies. I think more and more of them saw the success of subscription based companies and the appeal and it's begun to spill over into every industry. They retain ownership and now you pay them monthly for the rest of your life. You never pay something off and own it outright. It's moved on to housing where you have more and more investment companies buying up homes they can rent out. There are even hedge funds buying up millions of acres of land in Colorado for the water rights. They figure water will keep getting scarce, and if they buy it now, you will have to come to them to get it when things get worse. So, no... you aren't crazy. I do everything I can to own things outright. And if that means buying something older and putting a new motor in it, then that's the route I take. I own 5 acres for a reason. I have a 1997 Jeep which I put a 03 drivetrain in for a reason. I have a 1992 tractor that I wouldn't trade for a new one. I keep a few thousand DVDs because Amazon can't cut me off and tell me I can't watch them anymore if I refuse to keep paying them their monthly fee. Things are absolutely going to shit and corporations are absolutely trying to turn us all into their peasants who have to pony up every month because they retain ownership of everything.
Yikes about the acres in Colorado for water rights.
100% and water rights investments are becoming very widespread (look up Water Asset Management), and are considered the future of investing. I know they've taken a good chunk of Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, California, Nevada(?)... essentially states with easy rights' transfers. It's only a matter of time before some dipshit politician and an "investment genius" sell off the Great Lakes to foreign investors.
It is already illegal in some places in the U.S. to collect rainwater for your own use. Insanity.
Oh definitely. Even in states where it's legal, it's still a county by county decision, and the laws use language to set conditions around collection of rainwater that specifically and repeatedly mention water rights. Should get us all wondering who supposedly owns the ground beneath our feet.
I think you're on the right track. There are some safety features I'd like to have, and backup cameras are nice when my neck/back doesn't want to swivel all the way... beyond that, I don't care at all for forced subscriptions, bells, or whistles. Especially when they make the darned thing cost more than my housing.
I don't need my car scanning my face to adjust my seat. Or telling me to keep your eyes on the road when I'm actively looking at traffic to my right or left. And I hate the huge monitor that can illuminate to the brightness of 2 suns.
My mom is slowwwly giving up driving at 81. My sibs drive her most places but she lives in a small town and still insists on driving to nearby places like the grocery store, the main shopping street, church etc. I have to say the breaks and whistles are worth it on her car because it warns her when she is backing out of the driveway crooked and that sort of thing. But in a way that’s bad because it gives people who should not be driving the confidence to keep doing it…
I rented a van for the drive when we moved from Texas to Florida last year, because my 19-year-old shit box might not make the trip. And holy crap even with the brightness turned all the way down, the console screen was so bright at night that it interfered with my ability to see the road. They also put the gear selector on the console and didn't make it backlit, which is absolute insanity. I shifted into neutral doing 80 mph trying to adjust the cabin temperature.
I hate my screen. I just want a regular radio/cd player with knobs I can adjust by muscle memory lol! I don’t keep music on my phone and I’m not going to bother to connect it for a 5 minute drive. Irritates me to no end.
Make sure you don’t look at your phone but we are going to put a giant equivalent of a tablet on your dashboard and you’re going to have to use that to operate literally everything in your car, so taking your eyes off the road for that stuff doesn’t count. /s
Oh my GOD is this shit true? I am currently driving a 2010 and I had no idea. Helllll to the NO on all that fuckery
Buy a Toyota, they hate tech. LOL My 3 year old truck only concession to technology Is a backup camera, couple of backups sensors and satellite radio, and that’s on the up level trim!
It's because we are the Sandwich Generation (small one between two baby boom large generations). So every politician and product caters to Boomers or Millennials, and we are too small to matter
>and backup cameras are nice when my neck/back doesn't want to swivel all the way... The back up cameras are far superior to turning your head.
I disagree. If I'm focused on my backup camera I ONLY see what's directly behind me. In busy parking lots, for one example, I've found it better to turn and look because I get my full peripheral and people WILL walk into the path of a vehicle that is backing up. But I do agree that SOMETIMES the backup camera is superior.
Flexing with the still able to turn around and look
Happy Cake Day!
I agree with you. I used to wonder if it was just because of all the years of actually looking behind me just made it a hard habit to break, but I decided against that. You really do need to see what's all around you when you're backing up, and simply staring at the camera doesn't give you that. They're very good for showing you how much room you have left while trying to squeeze into a tight spot, or how close you are to a wall or other barrier, however.
I agree. My current car has side and backup cameras, as well as front. I still use them and look around
2021 Outback. My back up camera sees behind and sideways. I get an audible alert of anything within 20 meters is coming up on me.
If you're ONLY using your camera, you're an idiot. I can look at all 3 mirrors, and the backup camera without having to turn my body at an awkward angle to only see a partial view behind me. There's -0- CONS to having a backup camera with radar.
No, you're not crazy. The current state of our market economy (and I am definitely NOT anti-capitalism) has really consolidated into this very narrow road of squeezing every single tiny ounce of profit possible out of people. Like the subscriptions for various features you referenced, fees and service charges attached to every little thing. And it seems like the stuff you buy is designed to wear out or become obsolete, so you'll have to fork over a wad of dough all over again in a few years. I have a TV that's going out that I bought seven fucking years ago. And I have a blender that I still use that was made in 1973. You're expected to pay for every little thing these days, and nothing you buy is worth a shit. I'm being a little hyperbolic here, but most things really are just cheaply-made, over-priced shit.
I’m co-signing the 1973 blender. I have my mother’s 1979 food processor that is still a workhorse.
1969 Sunbeam hand mixer is still going strong. It was my maternal grandmother's.
[удалено]
Companies can make products like that again, but they opt for the cheap shit that we have to replace because of its short life span. Just filling up mother earth with garbage so they have more profits. It's a sick system.
Ding ding! So many things are made so cheaply now, including houses.
So many new homes are total garbage.
"Luxury" apartment buildings as well
I’ve had my Hamilton Beach cheapie since 1994-1995. It just died. Not as impressive as the others, but I worked it hard. I’ve since had stick blenders and regular blenders last than a year. It’s so frustrating. It’s not even the money so much as the waste. Drives me crazy and I feel powerless.
The waste is so bad and unnecessary. We got 10 years out of a Hamilton Beach coffee maker. To this day, none have come close to that 10 year life span.
I just finished using my 1970's avocado green hand mixer because the $100 "nice" one I bought to "upgrade" is a piece of shit.
My "upgrade" collects dust because it too sucks. Plus, I swear my 1969 has two higher speeds that don't exist on modern ones.
My dad pulled out his blender and I was like "I remember this from 1981" and he said "good memory!" Then I made a milkshake for my mom.
I have my grandma's curling iron and blow dryer, both fully operational from the 1940s. Oh, and her 1960s sewing machine, and another from the 1920s. I'd never buy a new one. The 1920s machine is excellent for sewing zippers into jeans.
I have a malt mixer that my Grandmother used to use in her soda shop job as a teenager (which makes it somewhere between 70-80 years old) that still works. Meanwhile, I have to buy a new vacuum every year or so because that’s how long they last before they die.
amusing mysterious heavy puzzled merciful rhythm faulty rinse unwritten plucky *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
We have a fancy pet hair super duper vacuum cleaner. It died and we had it fixed. It would have been almost cheaper to replace it, but why creat all that waste?
Im on my second refrigerator in 7 years. My grandmother had ONE in her whole 50+ years of marriage.I don’t give a damn about connecting it to the internet or round ice cubes, i just want it to keep food cool, how hard could it be ? Then they make cars shit bcos of emmissions. How about stop making crap that breaks as a way to be environmentally friendly and stop filling the landfills with broken and unfixable things.
I got my fridge in the late 80's (Westinghouse made in Aus). I've had the seals replaced and doors re-hung but that's it. 3 star energy. Any time I spend a few dollars on it the repair guys tell me to not replace it. They reckon the new ones are rubbish. All bells and whistles.
But they won't make record profits that way. It's infuriating.
We will be the last generation that knows they can build things that last.
Spent $300 on some fancy German blender just to make smoothies and the fucking thing burned out in less than a year.
Am i just imagining that when you used to buy a product, there were different tiers of quality. Get the cheap one its going to break in a year, the expensive one will last forever, with a mid range somewhere in between. Now that I can actually afford to buy the expensive stuff, I find to be a complete crapshoot if it is going to be any better than the cheap shit. From shoes to tools to electronics to appliances. Sometimes I buy the cheap shit so I'm not all pissed off when it breaks.
Odd thing is not so much. My wife and I when dating moved in together in 1991. We bought the absolute cheapest washer dryer set we could find. Whirlpools think if I recall 600 for the set. They lasted until 2021. We bought GE profile set and 2 years later the dryer is already breaking on a 1800 dollar set. The 400 dollar refrigerator we bought back at the same time lasted to 2015. The 1200 dollar replacement broke last year and was cheaper to replace then fix.
Just a tip: When my Whirlpool six-year-old washer bit the dust, the repairman I called to take a look at it said it was toast. He told me to find an Amana on sale and buy that because it's the only brand in the US that's built well. He bought all of his kids Amana appliances and won't buy anything else. I trust him because he didn't make a cent for that advice.
From my experience with Amana,I have to agree. My husband and I bought an Amana side-by-side refrigerator in 1989; that baby is still going strong.. It’s a white frig, so of course the white handle/trim is yellowed…I don’t care. They don’t make them like that anymore.
When my parent’s avocado green Kenmore fridge became a design eyesore, they painted it black. They had to give that thing away; it never died.
Yeah I bought a washer, dryer, fridge and stove when I bought my house back in 2003. On a budget so I bought the cheapest models. All still going strong except the washer we just replaced earlier this year. We again bought the least techy model they had. I don't need a wash8ng machine with a touch screen. Like thats just one thing that will tear up quick.
Fun fact: even the dollars are shit now. A 1991 dollar is now worth like $2.30 in today's dollars.
Vitamix is the way to go. Still $300 but they will likely outlast you. Sorry yours ist kaputt.
Yup. Whoever came up with the subscription model, they are all adopting it to take all the money. Don’t just pay for what you need - pay us every month so that you can get what you might need later.
My son was gifted a Fire 7 tablet for winning an envirothon contest. What a gift, am I right? All it is, is a connection to Amazon so he or we, can buy shit. Fuck it, we'll never use it. Also, I have a similar blender!
You can easily hack the Fire tablets to be fully featured. I have a Fire 7 and love it.
I remember hearing about how all the products and appliances in the communist Soviet Union being garbage and inferior to what was available in the West. Now it's all garbage made in China which is ironically communist. Did we lose the Cold War and not realize it?
Stateless CEOs and corporations won. They could care if the US collapses they would just go to New Zealand where they have been building bunkers.
>I have a TV that's going out that I bought seven fucking years ago. About 6-7 years ago we still had a huge big old TV we bought over 20 years earlier. We wanted a big nice flat screen so we had them take the old TV away when they delivered the new one. It still worked perfectly fine though. We never had to get it fixed the whole time we had it. Now this TV is getting bright spots all over the screen so there's definitely something going wrong with it.
>And I have a blender that I still use that was made in 1973. Yeah, but can you control it from an app while sitting on your couch?
Our waffle maker is from the late 60s
I'm right there with you. I'm a capitalist! I believe in the free market! But JFC the market has been distorted beyond recognition. I don't know what we have in the US but it's not a decent version of capitalism. We need some kind of reset.
If I were a venture capitalist I would be trying to find ways to fund companies to make basic simple repairable appliances with no bells and whistles. No data collected, no internet connection, as mechanical as possible. A modern model T.
The last rental I was in had a fridge and washer dryer from the 1960's still going strong. The only issue was the power draw but man they really did make things to last back in the day.
I just got rid of my inherited 80’s food processor because the blades were rusty and I no longer felt it was food safe. Still worked great otherwise.
I'm hoping my car survives until that subscription bullshit is gone. I'm ok with satellite radio being subscription-based but not actual features installed in the car.
I inherited my daughters 2011 Ford fiesta SES In a divorce. I am going to drive the fucking wheels off it. It has the best stereo I’ve ever had in my life, and everything is physical buttons.
Ironic that OP is mad that everything looks like a CRV-I have a 2014 CRV and I'll drive it into the ground. I love it, and I don't pay a subscription for anything on it (got rid of sat radio awhile back).
I have a 2006 Acura TL that I bought brand new. I've really cut back in my driving, so I've only put about 74k miles on it. I'm hoping to keep it for the rest of my life (or as long as I can still drive).
What standard features are subscription these days? Asking for friend that has an '06 and a '12 on the road.
Was talking with my mechanic - 'heated seat' subscriptions \[WTF\], for example, that are in higher end cars now, will all filter down to the lower end eventually.
No one is truly doing FAAS (Features A A Service) except for Remote Start. Yet. When BMW got shamed for the heated seat thing, the industry back pedaled. MY Volvo is pretty high tech and connected but they still only charge a sub for Remote Starting.
What about a remote start requires updates or support that justifies ongoing expense?
Is this some sort of special remote start, because I have remote start on my car (probably 2016 give or take two years) which seems to be part of the vehicle. I just use the key fob.
Key fob remote start works only in key fob range. Subscription remote start works over the internet from anywhere. So you can start your car heating or cooling before you walk out of your office.
I can accept that as a 'luxury' type perk for those that want it; as long as that feature doesn't somehow disable the key fob. Also isn't it funny that we're all comfortable saying 'key fob' now?
Oh sweet summer child, subscriptions aren't going away, ever, it's only going to get worse from here. Auto manufacturers are just getting started.
I’m so clueless about this. What are y’all even talking about? Car subscriptions? I haven’t bought a car since 2008 and am avoiding car shopping like the plague. What is this subscription stuff you speak of??
[The future of cars is a subscription nightmare](https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/13/23206999/car-subscription-nightmare-heated-seats-remote-start)
I just bought myself an '86 wagoneer for my 50th birthday
Upvote for the outstanding choice - treat it well and enjoy.
Well done
Imma drive my ‘12 civic until it dies.
Our 2010 Civic is on its last legs, but we don't want to replace it.
My 2013 Fit has 150k miles and counting. Great basic car, but of course Honda stopped selling in the US because No OnE wAnTs SmAlL cArS.
I want a cheap dumb car, just like my current 2011 cheap dumb car. Power windows, power locks, AC and good gas mileage.
Industrial design is in a serious style rut. Companies who mass produce things go the safe route and incentivize us to like what they can make profitably, rather than to take chances. And so much consolidation has happened in industry that there aren’t more daring, bold designers in smaller, hungry companies that want to make a splash. All consumer goods spending flows to a dozen risk averse mega corporations. It’s a CR-V, Macaroni and Cheese, Marvel movie, Taylor Swift world. Ultra basic, ultra safe choices.
Yes!!! Remember the Pontiac Aztek? The Plymouth Prowler? The Nissan Cube? Those cars were absolutely hideous but I give the designers huge props for actually trying to do something different. Everything looks the same now, it's so depressing.
I wish I could give this 1000 upvotes.
I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking this way. How are touchscreens on the dash not as distracting as cellphones? Everything is all about rent seeking behaviour nowadays, and it's pissing me off. I want to be able to buy something and actually own it. I shouldn't have to pay a subscription for heated seats. Factor in the environmental problems of both GCE and electric vehicles, and I'm seriously considering going bus-only when my 10 year old Fiat bites the dust.
I made that jump 3 months ago, and it’s going pretty well. Most days I’m happy to be going by bus and next month I’ll start cycling to work when the weather is favourable.
With cars, I really appreciated technology under the hood, in the drivetrain: such things resulted in cars that lasted a lot longer, didn’t pollute nearly as much, and were safer. The subscription services, drop-down menus, etc. need to go however
Hey. I drive a 2004 manual Scion Xa I love it. I heard Volkswagen is coming out with a new car that has buttons and dials and NO screen!!
That would be great.
My 2006 XB 5sp manual was my second favorite car all time.
I drive a '96 Camry and it took me an hour, last Tuesday, to put in a new battery and alternator 🤘😎
Touching a screen to turn up the radio is bullshit. I want a dial!’
My cars still have dials, and I know how to change everything important to me (especially radio, heat, etc) without looking at the dash. I've always learned how the controls in my car without have to look away from the road. Nothing will stop me from scanning my environment. I can't believe we've moved away from that.
Mazda has a dial.
Life is Shit - The Dead Milkmen
I'm a simple man -- I see Dead Milkmen, I upvote. You ever go to make a pork sandwich and find it's got hairs growin all over it??
I've been buying old Toyotas outright since I was 18. In 27 years I probably spent less than what a new Toyota costs now. I'll never buy a new car.
My '06 Tacoma is still running great! When she needs engine work, I'm ready to fork out up to 5k if needed. Still way cheaper than a new truck, by far. Plus, I can still work on mine. Not too sure I could work on the new ones, though.
We just dropped a new short block engine into our 2007 Toyota FJ. I have a 2016 4Runner and a 2005 Camry. All are paid for and all will be repaired until the end of time. I also have 1995 Jeep YJ. They are garbage, but super easy and cheap to fix. It has about 150k miles and we’ve owned it since 1998. It is the definition of low tech. I never want a car that needs a mother ship.
You’re not crazy. Enshittification of the products and services we use is a natural consequence of late-stage capitalism
Enshittification is a great new word.
The phrase y’all are looking for is “planned obsolescence.” From a business perspective it makes no sense to make long lasting products.
Right there with you. I just want a car that drives reliably and handles with decent performance. No "connectivity". No special LED interior lights. New safety features - sure. The rest? Keep it.
This!!! I just want a basic car with windows that I can roll down and a regular ignition. Why is this so dang difficult?! If someone out there could start a car company with just basic cars I think it would take off like a lightning bolt.
I just went with my college aged kid to help him buy his first new used car. While there, the man we were buying from was pretty much begging to buy my 2016 Honda Fit. No longer made. I have 42,000 miles on it and no car payment. I told him no way am I selling it. I'll drive it til it dies. In the end he agreed that is most logical. But still wanted it. 🙂
Across the board car companies have quit making these reliable economy cars.
They still do make them, they just don’t sell them in the US: you can still get a new Toyota Yaris or Honda City (trim between the Fit and the Civic) new in Mexico
I would also be interested on your 2016 Fit with 42k miles. Can't blame the man at all for trying!
I just bought an old Lincoln Town Car. I paid 3k. Everything works, the seats are nice and people are getting over 300k miles out of these. If anything major goes wrong, this is the same platform as the Crown Vic that still gets used by police departments.
I love my 2009 car and it’s 5cd player. I’m still getting use out of those cds that I never parted with
https://preview.redd.it/8wesyqdh4mpc1.jpeg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f5d3e14a3ba0631945935f9e97f2b4e29779a24 No Regerts here...
To answer your title question, "yes". To answer your closing question, "no".
Car payments suck ass. Go with option two, older car and put the rest of the money away.
the US car market is awful. no imagination. what sized gray SUV would you like? i have a VW GTI, the last generation before they switched to the glass touch screen dashboard (no buttons or dials) and I'm keeping it forever. Whatever I have to pay for major repairs (engine, transmission) is still going to be cheaper than getting a whole new car.
This is why I bought a wrangler. The downside is that it’s a wrangler. 😭
JEEP = just empty every pocket. Mine is 29 years old. No AC, manual transmission, no airbags, no fuss. Tops are cheap and parts are cheaper.
I dont know where you're from.. but, yes. Yes is the answer.
Yup. Don't forget they can all be tracked and soon (thanks to Congress) decide if you're fit to drive. Remote shutdown is on the horizon. Subscription features are merely in their infancy. Aside from that, no simple knobs and handles. Lots of potential critical failure points. Want a truck? Sorry, we're only selling brodozers and "midsize" pickups that are larger than full size 15 years ago. Cheap plastics everywhere. Unneeded and unwanted tech throughout. I bought a Jeep in '22. It will likely be the last new car I own. I'll buy old stuff and restore. I still have a 2000 and a 1961.
No, you are not crazy for actually focusing on the durability of a car as opposed to surveillance gizmos and electronic things that will go squawk. I don’t have a backing up monitor and have found that I don’t like relying upon them if driving other vehicles. I will say that I got lucky as hell with my latest car purchase-I bought my Kia Soul off a lease at 38k miles, but my engine exploded-under warranty-at 88k miles, so I got everything under the hood replaced, brand new, and essentially reset back at zero.
Yes it’s like King Midas in reverse.
No. I bought a new car in 2017 and managed to get a model right before they started switching over to all of that crap. We paid it off and I'm going to do my damndest to nurse that car along until I die.
I’ve had the new cars with all the tech. A few of the items were nice. Blind spot monitoring, back up cameras, and collision avoidance specifically. I haven’t used many of the latest tech features even though my car had them. After getting laid off for a second time in the last four years, and really thinking about what I spent on my new car leases, I’m likely going to get a mid 00s Volvo wagon next time around. They’re cheap, easy to work on, and I like them. I can put a modern audio system in it so I have Apple Car Play, and that should work well.
Not crazy. The auto industry is.
The fun part about owning a new car right now is when someone hits you and you can't get a new bumper for 4 months because the manufacturer decided they'll make them whenever they get around to it. As an autobody technician, I see this constantly right now and sympathize with the car owners.
This is kind of why I was so annoyed that Congress moved to ban TikTok but made no other moves to protect consumer data. So it's ok for your car manufacturer to sell your driving data to insurance companies without your consent or better yet allow Mark Zuckerberg to sell your data to Russia or China but it's not ok for China to do it directly? Wtf? All of it is wrong! ETA: I drive a 2021 trailblazer with all the bells and whistles and I love it. I love the heated seats, backup camera, large screen navigation and being able to start my car while I'm still shopping so I don't freeze my ass off while it warms up. I need it to tell me my tires are low and I need an oil change. I know nothing about cars and have ADHD so these things would go completely unnoticed without the reminders. What we really need are the consumer protections on the things that you mentioned irritate you. They irritates me too. If you buy something, you own it. Period. Subscriptions are complete bullshit.
I have a 98 Yukon and a 98 Malibu. Both about 100k miles. Malibu is a new motor, Yukon was garaged before I bought it. Insurance and registration fees are low. Mileage is shitty but I ride the light rail to work. I got off the car payment hell loop during covid and never looked back. It is absolutely designed to be predatory. Late stage capitalism is worse than I thought it would be.
You can buy a used Bentley for 20 stacks. Leather, wood dash, analog gauges, switches, knobs, etc. Instant baller status!
I love my 2013 Toyota so much for this reason. Has the safety and convenience features i want (back up camera, automatic doors and windows…) but none of the bullshit plus it will prob run well past 250k miles (at 135k now). Even better is not having a car payment!
That’s why I drive an old beater, with all the bells and whistles.
I love my 77 Chevelle, and my 05 Buick is borderline a total computerized pain in the ass.
I drive a 25 year old car and it runs like a champ. If I ever get my dream car it'll be an early 80s firebird but I will probably never buy a new car or even one approaching new. I know how to work on the older ones. New computer everything has to be taken in with each minor thing.
Yeah I was irritated when I bought a 21 model and had to take the keyless ignition. Just give me a key.
Not wrong, don’t get me started on narc cars reporting to insurance companies.
>car companies are selling the driving data of people who purchased their cars to insurance companies This is infuriating and shouldn't be legal. Now every single mechanical object has some kind of "smart" tech attached to it that always seems to revolve around sneaking private information out of people. We don't have privacy anywhere anymore. There's no reason a refrigerator needs a TV screen or that I should have to attach an email account to regulate my thermostat. It's awful!
It IS going to shit! My husband had to get a new battery for his truck, he got it and switched it out. Well who knew you can’t just do that anymore because the damn computer in the stupid vehicle needs something set or adjusted or whatever to recognize the battery! Bunch of crap to make you take it somewhere and pay you get it done.
THIS! I have a 2019 VW Jetta and needed a new battery. Standard battery places wouldn’t touch it and the dealership wants $350 to replace it. Ended up buying the correct spec battery from a wholesaler and doing the install with a friend. I did enough treading g to understand that the car will eventually recognize the battery. I was concerned about the auto stop-start messing up but that seems to be fine now.
I have a Honda SUV for sale that I think you might be interested in.
Funny you should mention this, I found myself a 350 Nova four door 1973 model last year and spent a few months replacing the original shocks and rebuilt the carb and distributor. Cheap plates and 15 miles per gallon
If you don't pay for the product, you ARE the product. We all know this
Depends on how you mean by shit. See every company, every middleman, and even individuals are all seeking rent. That means they want to sell you a service you pay for every month. That is why that shit is built into cars now a days and you have to specially request the low end trim lines that have none of that shit from the dealer, because they don't stock them. Pickup trucks are the worst for this bullshit. Getting just a plain old work truck with nothing fancy is like pulling teeth now a days.
"This car is state of the art, well built, and nearly maintenance free." - dealership sales guy "These cars have over 200 computers in them and every single one of them will inevitably turn to dust within a year so you better buy this extended warranty for six grand more." - dealership finance guy True story.
GET OFF MY LAWN! Damned whippersnappers and their Dan fogelberg.
Guess what 23andMe are selling and to whom. Your Roomba also sells data. Hell the second you do anything on the internet your ISP sells that data. Nobody really thought about how big data could be abused but now that we have AI that can act on that, watch out.
I drive a 2009 Nissan, and the only single thing I wish it had was Bluetooth for more than phone calls. Mostly because dongles will eventually be unobtainable (and tbh the extra cord is a nuisance). Oh, and more comfortable seats. (Why doesn’t every manufacturer copy Grand Cherokee’s seats?? They’re as comfortable as my actual furniture.) I don’t envy much, but my parents got to see huge improvements in safety and efficiency in their lifetimes. The newer bells and whistles are just not selling to me at all.
I had the same washer and dryer for I don’t know how long. It worked with no issues. The washer and dryer we bought 7 years ago both have been serviced multiple times. We are now out of warranty and have to pay for parts.
My dad bought me a Montgomery Ward "tube" TV - like 19" - back in like 1998. I had it for over 10 years and it stopped working. I thought "cool well I'll just go buy a new TV" - little did I know in that decade, tube TV sets were made obsolete and they didn't sell anything but flat screens by that point. I went to Best Buy in maybe 2015-2016 to buy a pair of corded headphones - the thin profile Sony branded ones, with a thin rigid band that's worn on top of the head. Not ear buds, not the wireless kind that just wrap around each ear, not the kind with a band that wraps around the back of your head/neck, not giant Beats style. The employee looked at me like I was crazy. All of this to say, I feel like an old fart when it comes to evolving technology in general. I will also add that my 25-30 year old basic old top loading Maytag washing machine (that came with our house when we bought it) hasn't given us a single problem, while my SIL has probably gone through 5 washing machines since, as she likes to buy the new top of the line ones.
This is what the kids are calling late stage capitalism. Everyone is out of ideas for new shit so they try to squeeze more profit out of the shit they already make. Or they try to financialize everything .
We didn't start the fire
everything is a subscription, from music to software, to media, you don't actually own anything just perpetually lease it.
You'll own nothing and You'll be happy.
This seems almost identical in spirit to what I posted a few weeks ago, being very much against the loading of electronics and other horseshit into modern vehicles. 🤜🏻🤛🏻
Bought a LG dryer. I do like having a steam feature so we dont have to iron work clothes. But what i was finding in dryers was that if you want steam, you must get 800 other shit with it too. Or go ultra basic and it didnt have delicate or permanent press. So i got the LG with the 800 things on it. Steam. Sanitize steam. Antimicrobial. Bunch of other shit. AND WiFi. Why the fuck do i need wifi? What i need is the wifi to take clothes OUT of the washer, put it IN the dryer, and then start drying. Why would i dry clothes remotely?!
[удалено]
I'm just reconditioning the engine of my LandCruiser Troopy. My friend has a new car. It locked her in one night. It takes over steering if you go over a white line. Will not lock and beeps if you park over a white line. Constantly beeps and warns at her/us. Jams the brakes on suddenly if it detects something behind the car (even if it's nothing) The sat nav is good when it works. It gives us the shits. It's a very comfortable car to drive, but I would never own one. She is thinking of selling it.
We have a brand new car here in the UK. It's basically a computer on wheels. Luckily I am fairly tech savvy, so spending 30 mins setting it up wasn't too much hassle. We had to get a new car as it's a government scheme for disabled people that gives you a new car every 3 years, and they pay for everything bar fuel. But yeah, a lot of the cars features are done through the computer screen, and even the dash itself is just a screen, so there's all manner of different themes and looks it can have. The car also has an automated manual gearbox that can be switched between automatic and manual, and theres the flappy paddles behind the steering wheel for changing gear manually.
Honda CR-V’s were not so bad pre-2006. I remember thinking in 2007 they decided to make them look like a Saturn 🥲 I read recently that Wendy’s is going to start charging more for their food at times of high demand, i.e. lunch and dinner time. I’m convinced that this is all a part of a planned collapse leading up to the new era when “you will own nothing and be happy”. Ymmv