As long as the vendor (Apple/Google/whoever) is continuing to release updates and patches, with very few exceptions, I don't bother upgrading the device. If there is a hardware fault or the battery is significantly degraded and it's a hassle to repair, that will also trigger an "upgrade" for me. Otherwise, I could care less about the latest whizzbang feature, "AI capabilities," etc.
In many cases we ARE paying a lot for a good education, but we're also not getting the desired outcome in many cases. I took my kids out of public school (in one of the richest school districts in the country) for similar reasons to the OP above. They spent much of their time in class being bored and actively sandbagged by their teachers. On top of that was all the contrived "woke" indoctrination nonsense. They were already getting good grades, but now they are learning significantly faster and actually enjoy the process more.
Best thing we ever did.
The labels don't give a fuck. They have never been on the side of the artists. This is just another way they'll use to game the system to keep most of the profits in the system to themselves.
The same goes for much of the "data" driving their stock mark....er....casino.
Having lived there for years as an expat and seen entire sections of cities with many thousands of newly built flats that were vacant and stayed vacant, I think it's only a matter of time before that house of cards implodes.
The "nong min" don't take kindly to the apparatchiks that have been benefiting from the egregious corruption and self dealing. It's going to be ugly when it implodes.
I wouldn't buy anything of consequence from IBM these days. They're going down the transactional "how do I amp up the dollars extracted from you by X% per year" route rather than focusing on what their customers want/need.
It will be interesting to see how VZ positions itself as its market share erodes. These layoffs are a very temporary band-aid to their very high SG&A costs. They still operate like an old school monopolist carrier. Consumers and businesses have more choices these days and VZ is going to have to re-learn how to earn their business.
Those have worked pretty well for me. The downside is that Samsung's longer-term support is spotty, at best. It's disheartening to buy a relatively expensive tablet and then 3 years later it is no longer getting updates from Samsung even though it's perfectly fine from a hardware/speed standpoint. So I eventually just caves and started using an ipad. A little pricey, but it works and I'm not sweating the support suddenly vanishing.
Best,
While I concede that not every person on the planet has a smartphone and not every smartphone owner wants to install an app to manage their boarding pass (frequent flier details and other things as well), it is a LOT easier to manage that way if you're a frequent traveler. The only times I have used a paper boarding pass for the last 15-ish years is when I didn't want to bring my phone to my destination (i.e. China).
I'm guessing that Ryanair has done the math and decided that they don't care if the folks who prefer paper passes choose another airline. Perhaps the cost of supporting that option exceeds what they expect to lose by some people choosing another airline.
It's the 24/7 data mining from the providers of those devices. I have enabled a number of "smart devices" in my home, but I won't use anything that requires internet connectivity to function.
HomeAssistant has been great to get the benefits of home automation using a raspberry pi class device to manage it all and store my data locally without sharing the details of my life with 3rd parties or paying ongoing subscription fees.
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.home-assistant.io%2F
Should we apply that same standard to any public servant that can adversely impact a citizen's life? A school principal? A teacher? A judge? A Congress critter?
If that is going to be the standard for police, then it should be a universal standard with an enforcement mechanism that has teeth in addition to potential financial ramifications.
Wake me up when Alphabet's advertising activities (hoovering up all of our data for sale to the highest bidder) drops to less than half of its total revenue. It's slowly dropping, but still about 75% of their revenue.
Same. I trust Google and Apple a lot more than I trust car manufacturers to keep my maps updated and respond to bugs. I also carry my phone on with me and it can transfer from car to car with a consistent level of quality and consistent interface. AND I won't pay for these features twice.
Not that I'd be eager to buy a GM product anyway.....but this takes them off the menu for me entirely.
Best,
Just don't buy the content.
Don't download it either.
Read a fucking book. Go outside and smell the flowers. You gave them this "power." You can also take it away by not playing.
Best,
I don't recall seeing much concern about Joe Biden being a Catholic. But it's important here?
!07/11 PDP a ni deppart m'I !pleH
