Does anyone else feel as if it's over when it comes to really owning your own things?
As of now:
- You don't have the option of having a phone with decent specs and replaceable parts
- You have to have really good knowledge in tech to have private services that are on par with what the big companies offer
- You have to put up with annoying compatibility issues if you install a custom ROM on your android phone
- You cannot escape apps preventing you from using them if you root your device
- Cars are becoming SaaS bullcrap
- Everything is going for a subscription model in general
And now Google is attempting to implement DRM on websites. If that goes through, Firefox is going to be relegated to privacy conscious websites (there aren't many of those). At this point, why even bother? Why do I go to great lengths at protecting my privacy if it means that I can't use most services I want?
It sucks because the obvious solution is for people to move away from these bullshit companies and show that they actually care about their privacy. Even more important is to actually PAY for services they like instead of relying on free stuff. I'm not optimistic not just because the non privacy conscious side is lazy, but because my side is greedy. I mean one of the most popular communities on lemmy is "piracy" which makes it all the more reasonable for companies not to listen to privacy conscious people.
I wouldn't say that this is the endgame but in this trajectory, privacy is gone before 2030.
People who use the word Utopia like this don't seem to be that familiar with what Utopia was actually described to be like in the story the word came from.
I think "utopia" is actually a pretty apt description of what tech companies would like society to be like. An isolated island, with strict hierarchies if who control who, severe punishments for dissenters, a slavery based economy. Removal of the people who become a burden through willing euthanasia or other means, a lack of private property, with travel between sections restricted by internal passports. It seems control and a hard-working, sheepish population are what Utopia thrives on.
By all means, I think the Chinese state is the closest to the description of Utopia. Utopia is quite dystopic!