We've Upgraded Your Toilet to a Subscription-Based Model
mcsweeneys.net
mcsweeneys.net
The door refused to open. It said, “Five cents, please.”
He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. “I’ll pay you tomorrow,” he told the door. Again he tried the knob. Again it remained locked tight. “What I pay you,” he informed it, “is in the nature of a gratuity; I don’t have to pay you.”
“I think otherwise,” the door said. “Look in the purchase contract you signed when you bought this conapt.”
In his desk drawer he found the contract; since signing it he had found it necessary to refer to the document many times. Sure enough; payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a mandatory fee. Not a tip.
“You discover I’m right,” the door said. It sounded smug.
From the drawer beside the sink Joe Chip got a stainless steel knife; with it he began systematically to unscrew the bolt assembly of his apt’s money-gulping door.
“I’ll sue you,” the door said as the first screw fell out.
Joe Chip said, “I’ve never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it.
Not too long ago I wanted to just setup a Bluetooth speaker for my mom. It wasn't possible before I not downloaded the vendor's app, setup WLAN, accepted the data "privacy" rules everything including accounts of services used will be sent to the vendor) and then setup the connections to every device in the app (not sure about the last step).
Nothing about any of this was described on the packaging or explained up front by the shop.
Never again Sonos.
Such a scam.
There are far cheaper Bluetooth speakers with better audio quality. When you buy Sonos stuff, the whole idea is having multiple/many of them. That's the entire point of the product.
I know how you feel, but I don't see how Sonos in particular is to blame. This kind of bullshit has become so widespread you could already call it an "industry best practice".
Sonos is just doing what everyone else is doing.
Sonos has also starting putting Bluetooth LE into all their new hardware, so that they don't have to do a Wifi scan to find new devices. WiFi scan requires location permission on mobile (because you can ID your location if you know the BSSID of nearby APs), and it was confusing. If should be better soonish.
This way, you own the hardware, freely pick your own DAC of any calibur, repairability is great, and you can hook it up to any audio source you want. No data collection.
You wanted a spoon and bought a steamshovel. There's nothing wrong with the steamshovel, you just bought the wrong thing.
I bought an advertised small portable Bluetooth speaker. It didn't tell otherwise on the packaging. Nor at the store.
You might blame the store for not informing me correctly. But blaming me for doing the wrong thing is quite an interesting move.
Btw. not advertising the necessity of transmitting all your data from usage is probably not covered by the GDPR.
They also have a really top quality product that’s sadly now under attack from jealous larger companies who are trying to erode their market share / FMA by limiting compatibility and features (see, for example, the degradation of Sonos app on iOS over last few OS releases)
Easy setup. Great sound. Just works and I could walk her through setup from 600km distance.
I thought electrical receptacles with built-in USB charging slots were a bad idea, and with stuff now moving to USB-C I'm afraid I was right.
I really don't want the wiring in my house going obsolete after a few years.
[1] https://www.ldproducts.com/blog/the-fine-print-8-things-you-...
Every company on earth is trying to get their $infinity from me, and I can’t help but feel that almost none of them provide anything worth that much.
1. The Zune is a better deal unless you live for 200 years or plan to bequeath the music files to your descendants.
2. Apple Music is now a subscription service.
3. Steve Jobs knew everyone circa 2000 had a stash of unlicensed MP3 files that they paid $0 for but needed a handy way to play on the go.
Nonetheless I agree with you - not because subscriptions are necessarily a bad value in terms of money (though they often are) but because managing dozens of subscriptions takes time and attention that I'd rather not spend, and the feeling that money is continuously draining out of my wallet just to keep some lousy app working is unpleasant.
Apple Music was always a subscription service, that’s what Apple Music launched as. The iTunes Store is still around and works the same as always, and the app still lets you rip CDs and sync those. Apple Music hasn’t replaced anything.
Moreover, the iPod was a very popular device from 2001 for a decade or more. I think you’re overestimating how much of people’s music collections came from Napster rather than CDs and the iTunes Store.
Apple's Music app on iOS is currently tightly integrated with the Apple Music service, and Apple enthusiastically advertises the service in OS (much to my dismay since I think ads do not belong in OS onboarding, notifications, or preferences.)
Apple actually got rid of iTunes on macOS and replaced it with the (rather awful, imho) macOS incarnation of the Music app from iOS.
As I understand it, the iTunes Store didn't arrive until 2003, although iTunes could rip CDs beforehand and the Rip/Mix/Burn ad campaign was from 2001.
( please do not take offense at the low bar of a pun I managed to attempt.)