.

.

Meanwhile...

QuoteI want a TV that costs $299 and spies on me all day, not a TV that costs $400. I want a car that is $41,000 and functionally crippled without the app with its monthly subscription cost, not a car that costs $42,000. I want a $51 coffee maker that tracks my usage and sends me offers for new coffee flavors, not a $89 coffee maker that leaves me alone. I want a $321 airplane seat with no leg room and no baggage allowance, not a $561 ticket that gives me space and lets me bring a bag. I want a $12 burrito that requires me to download an app and share all my information, not a $16 burrito that I order through an actual human who only knows my first name.

Sincerely,
Consumers*

* as revealed by actual behavior, not their complaints on Bsky and X

Oh and by the way...

QuoteI want a functioning social safety net. I want my full Social Security benefit I was counting on. I want my Medicare and I want it to cover everything. I want a strong US military. I don't want the US to default on its debt and destroy my retirement savings. But I want it all for free and that's why I am voting for my feckless local House Representative who promises to cut my taxes and supports a narcissistic, authoritarian, dangerous maniac in the White House

Sincerely,
The American People

To use the framework of another thread, people "wish" they would be left alone, but they don't "want" to be left alone.

Also, once again, the clip from Network. Everyone remembers, "I'm mad as hell." But the buildup is all about "I want to be left alone." I had forgotten that, but the part *before* "I'm mad as hell" feels like a lot of what we are seeing out there today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RujOFCHsxo

>by actual behavior

The "I don't want" panel is how I operate. But, yeah, I'm definitely the oddball --even my family side-eyes me.

I'm a mix. Some things I pay extra for or don't use in order to avoid ads. Sometimes I just give into the Gorg.

But I'm generally subscription averse.

>> QR code

Recent pet peeve. I got a new phone. Setting it up, two different services wanted me to scan a QR code in order to set up the new phone. The problem? They are displaying the QR code *ON* the new phone. The only way to "scan" it is to take a photo with a different device and then scan the photo or take a photo with the new phone and send it to another device and then scan it.

People, I am *ON* the new phone. You know this, because this is your page for setting up my new phone. Why isn't this a link or a code that I can copy and paste?

Were you at the Pubcon where the guy handed out copies of his book, QR Codes Kill Kittens? It was a great book.

https://www.porchlightbooks.com/products/qr-codes-kill-kittens-scott-stratten-9781118732755

$6.37 used on Amz