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I will never understand why people buy that locked down, proprietary, DRM infested shit (gaming consoles, "smart" appliances, smartphones, apple stuff etc.) in the first place. .. I would rather have nothing.

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It can be nice. It takes mental effort to manage an open system and make sure you don't run anything malicious - a limited, sandboxed environment you can always rely on to work is much easier by comparison.

I do miss the PS3 linux option though. It would be great to have console hardware that boots in two modes - a console mode for playing games, and an open x86 mode for doing general compute. This is especially relevant now that current console are effectively PCs with custom software rather than having specialty instruction sets. AMD even already sells broken PS5 chips as barebones systems! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h08cMFwqRc

>I do miss the PS3 linux option though.

Still possible with a CFW.

If only every child would rather have nothing than a "locked down" Xbox. When I was 13 I didn't really care if it was locked down, but as an adult it matters a bit more.

As an adult, I don't want to have to manage a thing that I would normally use for leisure. Thankfully, we're starting to see devices released that point in that direction -- the Steam Deck is an open device (users can install an M2 SSD if they're willing to open the device, or they can use a standard SD card if they're not), has a full desktop environment available, yet can be entirely used in the device's "game mode" that abstracts and hides the bulk of the device's complexity.

> I would rather have nothing.

Then I think you know exactly why others buy consoles lol. Even the most hardcore PC gamers would prefer a console over nothing

What model of phone your using? Tv? Laptop? Bank card? Car? All these stuff contains "locked down" or "proprietary" or "DRM infested" shit.

Life is too short to not enjoy things. Sure I can choose to have nothing either but personally to me that's not fun.

It's possible to enjoy something like a game console while also being aware of their role in the elimination of general-purpose computing. These kind of platforms are where they farm us for technologies like hypervisors, signed-everything, e-fuses, always-online, etc. Consent is easily manufactured when enough people believe that media """needs to be protected""" to exist at all. I still love my 360 though :)

Yeah consoles indoctrinated people and opened the way for stuff like the BMW with the DRM heated seats. I think similarly, micro-transactions and DLC in games, digital goods, rare loot in WoW, led the way for stuff like bitcoin and nfts becoming relatively popular, and not just being utterly ridiculed by everyone.

The fact is that you don't enjoy these things. These things generate only frustration, its more the time you want to throw these things out of the window than the one you enjoy them. A console that you have to mod just to upgrade/replace its internal hard drive? What the hell? Just because Microsoft can sell you a normal SATA disk for double the price?

> The fact is that you don't enjoy these things.

I definitely enjoyed my Xbox 360 and didn't give a single damn about not being able to use a non-Microsoft hard drive. I doubt I ever really thought about the fact that I couldn't, it just wasn't an issue.

What's the alternative? Rub sticks together?

I honestly prefer banging rocks together vs sticks but that's just my opinion.

General purpose computing.

People want products that "just work" and I don't think it is fair to blame them for that. The problems mainly arise when the locked down stuff breaks or treats the user badly in some way, but even if stuff were not locked down the average person would just sell or throw out their device when it no pleased them anyways.

I'm not blaming users for something. I said "I will never understand". Though I can hypothesize. I think in some cases due to deceitful marketing, users think "This thing will be great! It will do X,Y and Z for me.".. Then they buy it and realize that X is forbidden, Y requires a subscription, and Z is not available in their region or whatever. They are disspointed but they've already bought the thing at that point and make do rather than return it. I have seen this happen to people I know for sure.

I definitely blame the corporation for unethically making products like that in the 1st place, and then also deceitfully marketing them. There should be much stricter laws and severe punishments in place to protect the public.

Most people buy an Xbox to play games or an iPhone for its advertised features, and it does that, so they're happy. If they felt tricked like you said, they wouldn't buy the next generation, especially with iPhones where the competition is way more open.

There are other ways I acknowledge hardware is truly becoming anti-consumer, like removing headphone jacks to sell wireless earbuds. Or Xbox HDDs.

> I would rather have nothing.

Nothing can't play Halo.

The irony of your username isn't lost on me.

Everyone in the world wants to install a Postgres server on an Xbox 360. Jokes aside, I appreciate EatonZ's work.

#metoo

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