I’ve had to cave and use some services (for work reasons) that I’d swore I would never use. No matter how much we value privacy and look for alternative software/services when possible - we still have to eat and pay bills.

If you are in the same boat and you must use services like that, then my advice would be to keep it strictly business. Keep your personal details and personal social connections to a minimum unless where it would be otherwise beneficial for work purposes.

Good. Fuck that fascist and his companies. The only sad part of this story is that they used paint and not something that would etch or scratch the stainless.

This is going to flop.

A big appeal of assistant devices was the barrier to entry was extremely low. So low that they could be purchased in multiples and given as gifts and were easy for the recipients to set up and use. So low that Alexa integration was common on many types of devices at many pricepoints.

Setting one up and being asked to pay a monthly sub might not go so well. People are getting burnt out of constant subscriptions bleeding them dry. I really don’t know how many would be willing to pay for something that was once free and was basically taken away from them.

this is also not including the growing amount of people that are goddamn sick and tired of hearing about AI constantly being shoved into everything

Time for another anti-trust lawsuit.

Valve is still a private company. If they ever made an IPO then they would be screwed.

Because they will. They literally will.

Adobe is one of the most awful, insidious, evil corporations in the software space and they have done absolutely nothing to claw back even a tiny shred of good faith.

This gives warm and fuzzy feelings.

You’re not wrong! But at least for now I got a decent PS alternative for $45. We’ll see how things go.

Good time to drop a reminder that Affinity’s tools are 50% off right now and are buy-once software.

It’s funny that you brought up application compatibility when numerous creative tools I use don’t support Linux. I also did not buy my Macbook at full price.

I wouldn’t mind having a Linux laptop to tinker with some day, but it would not be a primary or secondary device for me.

Why I got a iPhone: I detest Google and I have had very bad experiences with Android devices losing software support after only a couple years - some not getting any major updates at all. My cell carrier also had a clear-out special going for the last gen models.

Why I got a Macbook: the Apple silicon Macs blow Windows laptops out of the water in terms of horsepower and battery consumption. Second-hand M1 and M2 devices can be picked up now for reasonable prices. It is a nice change of pace as Microsoft is completely butchering Windows.

For the kind of work I have been doing I have not needed to hand over any psd files. Photoshop is(was) only a small step in my workflow and the main thing I get hired for is 3D modelling services. Regardless, I still work with NDA’d content and Adobe’s terms are invasive as hell.

• and X has threatened to take them to court to seek the return of the funds plus interest

Doubt it. Call their bluff. They’d lose so much more to legal/court fees than they’d ever get back. X is just looking for a quick cash injection.

Just cancelled my Adobe sub. Even if I was comfortable with how they use my data (and I am most assuredly fucking not) I’m also uncomfortable with them helping themselves to the NDA’d projects I do for clients. I trialed Affinity Photo and it meets 98% of my needs and is on sale 50% off right now. Bite my ass, Adobe.

The problem isn’t the clarity of the terms.

The problem is that we all know they are lying and don’t believe a word they say.

And so begins “Line must go up” and the inevitable enshittification .

I’ll be watching this curiously from a safe distance for now. I am interested in a new platform without AI, but this stinks of early-stage enshitification.

MacOS is a highly mature, stable, and user-friendly OS that, at least for now, Apple does not meddle with in the same ways that MS has been doing with Windows. It has its problems, yes, but to say “any circumstance” is extreme. I don’t like or agree with everything that Apple has done to MacOS but at least Apple isn’t actively trashing it into the ground with forced bloat, ads, malware, etc like MS is doing.

It’ll be another half-baked, rushed-out-the-door-to-please-shareholders assistant that doesn’t do anything anybody wants.

So basically Siri as usual.

Nothing a bit of paper/cardboard and a strip of tape can’t fix.