The older I get and the longer I work in IT, the more I believe that software activation is to be avoided at all costs, especially time-limited software activation.

I've got a Framework laptop on pre-order because I'm pretty certain I really don't want Windows. I have only one Windows machine at home, on Windows 10, and I'm really not convinced that it offers me anything at all that I want. Much of my early use of that device was getting AROUND shite that I don't want, and fudging things to make them work. Windows 11 needs that x 100, from my experiences with it.

And now they have the 10 ESU stuff, which is just unnecessary, especially after they promised "no more new versions of Windows".

So I think I'm done. Again. Having previously used Slackware as my primary desktop for 10 years.

I audited the software on my primary machine and I don't think there's a single thing on there's that proprietary, needs "activation" (I "activated" my software when I clicked the download button, giving it executable permissions or via the use of credit card to purchase it in the first place, thanks) or that can't work on Linux.

I'm at that point again where I need to computer do work for me, not run off and do whatever the hell it likes. Between activation, AI, mandatory cloud accounts, "search everything" rather than just organise stuff, etc. I think I'm done again.

I have 20 years until retirement. I reckon that's a viable proposition to reach there without having to have a single Windows machine at home again.

He says, typing from a Samsung DeX session on an Android phone.

Myself and another IT manager friend were looking at the same time for new NAS units.

We both looked at Synology. I rejected them based immediately on the first article I saw about them restricting what drives you can use. It's none of your business, Synology, just use what's presented to you and get out of the way. I ended up buying QNAP (for work) and Asustor (myself).

My friend, though, was in a procurement nightmare and the people above them hadn't done their homework and they ended up with a Synology unit and a bunch of IronWolf drives. And only when it filtered back down to my friend did they realise that it just wasn't going to work.

Cue one month of more of arguments and having spent a small fortune to then have to back the Synology and buy something else. And now Synology changes its policy? Yeah, it's too late. You already burned that bridge and cost people money (now admittedly, through their own poor research and not keeping up with industry news, but why should that be necessary?).

My friend and I were basically sworn off Synology at that point. I'd dodged that particular bullet, but he was caught right in the middle of it DESPITE hearing this about Synology and trying to warn people.

Sorry, but your profiteering indicates your STATE OF MIND, and how you view customers. Whether you "fix" it or not, that state of mind persists. This is what people don't get. You've now tainted yourself because you clearly don't care about what your customers wanted, and only realised after people swore off buying them or by literally backing units that - as far as they were concerned - weren't fit for purpose.

You need to do an awful lot more to fix that problem - by showing customers that your state of mind has changed, not just your knee-jerk reaction to getting a bunch of returned kit and lost sales. We need to know you're not just going to try something else entirely to try to recoup that loss.

It's to do with reducing wastage as much as reducing profits.

I have a bunch of chargers that came with phones - and I don't use any of them, because all my house sockets have USB-C, I have a ton of USB-C cables, my car has multiple USB-C adaptors or sockets already, etc. etc. Another brick of copper to convert to USB-C is really unnecessary.

Hell, my bathroom scales are USB-C, my kitchen scales are USB-C, etc. etc. etc.

But I have a box of "old" chargers that have never been touched because they came with the device and they're worthless to me. Even if I gave them away at a flea market or similar, nobody would take them.

The most expensive phone I've ever bought was ~$500... and I have owned about 5 phones in my life. Not one of them did I use the "official" charger for for any significant length of time (e.g. to charge them up initially, maybe, but beyond that I had battery packs, charging sockets, docking stations, car adaptors, etc.).

A USB-C cable is pennies. A USB-C charger is, what a couple of $ if you want one. Any store would start bundling them together now if you asked for one. But for the millions of people who already have a drawer full of useless or surplus wall-bricks, or who mostly charge their phone in the car, etc. they aren't bundling another $5-10 of plastic and copper with every phone they sell.

That's right.

I put a pre-order down on a Framework laptop so I don't have to use Windows 11.

No different to "batteries not included".

If the world has standardised on chargers - finally! - after so long, then maybe we should just embrace that.

It was always Apple dragging their feet, and now all the Apple users have USB-C too (thanks, Europe!), there's no bad thing in everyone used a bunch of standardised chargers and having to build devices compliant with a wide range of chargers that everyone already has.

Well, if it's anything like the two shows I saw being shown in America based on Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit....

They were so awful I honestly continued to watch them only to see just how more contrived they could possibly be.

I mean... you'd think there'd actually be gameplay elements in two of the world's most popular board games to make a show that actually feels like they're playing it, right?

Finally, an AI product that's actually priced to pay back the cost of the AI.

As this trend continues and we see companies stop "loss-leading" on their AI, and especially when they then intend to profit from it, things are going to get very expensive very quickly.

If the AI was actually intelligent, you wouldn't need any more training data than the average person comes into contact with in a few short years of life.

Just saying.

There's no such things as "Wi-Fi" either because it's a nonsense made up name with no actual relevance to the technology is applies to.

It's a play on "High Fidelity" that sounds cute.

It's like correcting someone's pronuncation of Google or X.

Yep.

"Surviving in space more than a few years" is basically one definition, which almost all consumer kit would fail.

Imagine being the first moon-resident and before any of that equipment arrives, you switch on your wifi and see a wireless SSID being broadcast...

It's inevitable that something like this will appear regularly, and one day it will be silently exploited.

At that point, everyone will scramble back to on-prem, but until then we have to tolerate this cloud nonsense, apparently.

No, no, that's fine.

You've just testified before a court of law that there are no adverse health effects. Noted. You all stand by that statement, right?

Because then when the lawsuits start to fly, not only can you be charged with whatever charge it would be, we can add perjury to the list too.

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fen...

Unfortunately, the parental controls are basically "on/off" measures, and schools and other places are increasingly expecting them to use AI tools.

And though parental supervision is THE TOOL, it doesn't apply when they're walking to and from school, on someone else's phone, or even using a laptop in a playground. Trust me. I know.

And then the AI tools are entirely lacking ANY KIND of parental control in themselves.

It's like telling everyone that they have to use 4chan for their homework, and then being shocked that they run into things they shouldn't.

Don't make / allow kids to use unsuitable tools, and AI companies should be offering a "child-safe" AI that simply isn't trained and can't discuss anything it shouldn't be able to discuss with a child unsupervised.

But, no, their solution is "we'll just check if you're 18 using the very tool that's already terrible and determining whether it should discuss ways to kill yourself or not".

Shock, horror.

When everyone has one, the value of having one plummets.