36 years have past and it still dont seem they have learnt...

Rob Keeble

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GTA Ontario Canada
I wonder if you feel like i do as far as operating systems and software are concerned.

36 years ago Microsoft was established and brought about a system that allowed everyone to end up having a computer.

Most of us have lived through the evolution of the various versions over the years.

Then came the automatic update and security update technology and approach and now it seems this is the universal method for all the software producers to throw it out there and "what the heck if theres a issue we will fix in the auto update".

So now we install a program or two and have half a dozen or so software routines running that check in with the boss and ask him if there is anything new.

I dont like this aspect. 1) I dont always want the latest. 2) I have no idea what is being sent back and forth and i have to "trust" a software company. 3) I dont want to be monitored by any corporation.

The same is applicable with Apple they seem to be back to their old tricks and culture. Creating a niche user group with their iphone and the itune apps etc.

Now i see they taught Amazon. So Kindle seems to have the same notion that we need to hold you captive.

When will they all learn what we want. I do not want to use the web and in the process have them profile me and tailor the advertising and offers they send me. I can totally see it from a business perspective when i put my businessmans brain on its the ideal system to get into the mass markets head almost on an automated individual basis.

Dont mean i like being a victim.

What sent me over the edge was this Kindle review highlighting how the "Free" Kindle WiFi works. Not so much a review as the top 10 problems this guys feels exist with the Kindle. Buyer Beware.

I just recently had a private battle with my ipod and itunes after i tried to load my music on it using a non apple update program and then when forced into itunes for some other app had the whole lot wiped off. Thank goodness for backups.

What happened to open and free in the web domain. I want to join a group to advocate for disposing with these manipulative monopolistic practices.:D

Never mind how much of your power and speed they slowly suck from you computer and bandwidth as you add more and more tools.:huh:
 
What happened to open and free in the web domain. I want to join a group to advocate for disposing with these manipulative monopolistic practices.

Rob, you are invited to join this new group I belong to, called the Group Against Manipulative Monopolistic Practices or GAMMP. We have just got organized, but our first order of business is the elimination of similar activist organizations, so that our message, which is the true message, is not diluted. There needs to be one voice in this crusade against the manipulative monopolistic practices that all these companies are using. We could really use your help!
 
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I am notified of updates but do not have them automatically downloaded or installed without my first reviewing them and checking for caveats. I also do not participate (knowingly) in and fact finding or user tracking type of programs; they can do their own Q&A thank you. :):):)
 
It's pay to play. If you want an iDevice, you get iTunes, and Apple does everything they can to force you to use it. If that doesn't work, the Sensa is an alternative.

If you don't want the monolith that is Windows and the updates, or Apple and the relative lack of native software or hardware upgrades, there's always Linux. But it's kinda like Apple on the software end.

As for the Kindle, I'm not sure why anyone would pay extra for the 3G model. You can't swing a cat without finding a WiFi connection these days, and any content you want you're much better off getting for free via ePub format and converting on your computer.

There's always a better way to do things, even if these companies don't really want you to. It's why I jailbreak my iPhone, read ePubs on the Kindle, and build my own computers.
 
Rob, you are invited to join this new group I belong to, called the Group Against Manipulative Monopolistic Practices or GAMMP. We have just got organized, but our first order of business is the elimination of similar activist organizations, so that our message, which is the true message, is not diluted. There needs to be one voice in this crusade against the manipulative monopolistic practices that all these companies are using. We could really use your help!

Rob could design the automatic updates. :rofl:
 
Though not perfect, I gave up on Microsoft. I thought about switching to mac, but now I use Linux. Yep, it is a learning curve, but the security and the ability to control what it does and doesn't do is sure nice. No more malware, and no more viruses.

Don't have a system slowed up by defragers, virus software, spyware blockers etc. Is it perfect? nope, but better than the alternatives IMHO.

I, too, hate how all these companies want to tether everything together so they can control their product. So when you buy their software, you are actually renting it at their terms, published or unpublished. By golly, if I buy an operating system, in my book, that now belongs to me and I can install it on any darn computer I want, including my laptop and my tower! I have to update? I have to buy a new $200 program every year when it is updated? Yeah, they can eat my shorts as far as I'm concerned, especially when a lot of their programs are buggy! (are you listening Adobe?)

Now they have phones coming out that have a facebook button that flashes when you have an oportunity to share. Whoopie! Not!

Where are my rights to put whatever I want, when I want, how I want on the device I own without having that info sent back to corporate so they can market it better? Why can't, on a product I own, I put whatever type of file I want without 'permission'? And why, on a song that I just paid $3 for can't I copy it to a cd or change to a diff format to use on another device? DRM my foot.

Sorry, I got started and couldn't stop my fingers from typing. I totally agree with you Rob.

Brian

(now I have to go hide before the Microsoft and Apple police come and drag me away for blaspheming them on a forum!)
 
DRM especially

I was thinking about this the other day as I tried to add some songs to an mp3 player. Unless one never wants to go online, updates will probably always be a necessary evil.

I too want that freedom of owning my machine without prying eyes. But unless one takes the time to figure out all that is necessary to administer their OS and hardware, I am afraid most of us are in the same boat .But good idea about creating a watchdog organization.

I like Linux but just do not have the technical skills to fully rely on it. Ubuntu is great but that too must be updated , as must almost any OS that is exposed to the internet. Most updates to the OS are security related as hackers are continually looking for ways to intrude or create malware and put it out on the internet.

The tide is slowly turning though. Microsoft is no longer the richest company. Having recently being supplanted by Apple . IBM is third and Google fourth and they are closing the gap.

Apple is no better than Microsoft as far as greedily protecting their product line. Maybe even more so than MS , since Apple is a closed system.



DRM is mainly a music and publisher industry thing that needs to be looked at . I can understand people wanting to protect their creative work but it all seems way to intrusive and end user restrictive as it is currently set up.


Hopefully the future is end-user friendly open source !
 
I was thinking about this the other day as I tried to add some songs to an mp3 player. Unless one never wants to go online, updates will probably always be a necessary evil.

I too want that freedom of owning my machine without prying eyes. But unless one takes the time to figure out all that is necessary to administer their OS and hardware, I am afraid most of us are in the same boat .But good idea about creating a watchdog organization.

I like Linux but just do not have the technical skills to fully rely on it. Ubuntu is great but that too must be updated , as must almost any OS that is exposed to the internet. Most updates to the OS are security related as hackers are continually looking for ways to intrude or create malware and put it out on the internet.

The tide is slowly turning though. Microsoft is no longer the richest company. Having recently being supplanted by Apple . IBM is third and Google fourth and they are closing the gap.

Apple is no better than Microsoft as far as greedily protecting their product line. Maybe even more so than MS , since Apple is a closed system.



DRM is mainly a music and publisher industry thing that needs to be looked at . I can understand people wanting to protect their creative work but it all seems way to intrusive and end user restrictive as it is currently set up.


Hopefully the future is end-user friendly open source !

Amazon MP3 is very user-friendly. Use it on any kind of device.

Albeit, you do have to install their software to download.
 
I dont like this aspect. 1) I dont always want the latest. 2) I have no idea what is being sent back and forth and i have to "trust" a software company. 3) I dont want to be monitored by any corporation.

Rob,

I have my linux box set to download and install updates automatically. I don't want to go back to the days of worms and virus nightmares, and I'm not really qualified to look at code and decide whether I want to install it or not. Who has the time? We used to lose days and days, on a regular basis, on this stuff. I have other things to do.

As for the monitoring, you would hate living under the Patriot Act and CALEA. Just hate it. But I'll bet your bottom dollar that most folks who do live under it couldn't even tell you what the letters CALEA stand for, much less tell you what it does. And yet, they seem to get through each day just fine... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Bill i lived under apartheid system for 42 years. Thats why i am enjoying the liberty i have only recently begun to realize i have. :)

When you live in fear of being taken away at night because of something you said well it aint pleasant to say the least. When you find that all along you own armed forces were assasinating your own people just cause they were leaders of a non armed struggle opposition, well that aint nice either.

I dont have that much of an issue with the updates, I would just like to see some surety that there aint no monitoring of my actions or selections going in the other direction. I have tightened up on my browsers but a while back i found there was some or other "software code" that ended up being able to load a harbor freight advert when i was looking elsewhere for tools. Thats the kind of thing i do not like.

There has got to be some limits here. I dont want suggestions poping up at me via email from Linked in or facebook or any other site.

Much of this privacy stuff happens now through changes by default and there are times i have found that even after having made changes, they were reset after a code change to the service.
 
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