2280
submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

Tech's broken promises: Streaming is now just as expensive and confusing as cable. Ubers cost as much as taxis. And the cloud is no longer cheap::Some tech is getting pricier and looking a lot like the older services it was supposed to beat. From video streaming to ride-hailing and cloud computing.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] [email protected] 62 points 10 months ago

We should have seen this coming. I remember the early 80s when cable was the new hotness, and it was cheap, with no ads unlike broadcast television. That was its major selling point.

Then over the next decade the ads crept in, and we were all paying for cable with ads, even though the whole point had been no ads. Then the price skyrocketed and the ads remained.

Steaming was always going to follow the same path. Cheap with no ads at first, then adding ads, then skyrocketing prices, then crazy prices with ads too.

They know as long as all of them raise their prices, where are we gonna go? They have exclusives. We can’t just take our money elsewhere.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

As long as current economic/cultural model exists, there is no escape from advertisements. Consumerism can't thrive without advertisements and any technology that gets mass adopted is perfect venue for that.

Today, its only entertainment platforms which are infected with this bug, tomorrow it'll be your car, fridge and anything which needs internet connection(almost every home appliances).

[-] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

None of those things need Internet access. They are doing this so that you'll own nothing. Cars are a good example here. Why in the world would they introduce heated seats that are subscription based? Because they don't want to sell you or me a car anymore. They are looking forward to self driving autos, and intend to sell fleets to cities and corporations. You and I will rent the cars much like a cab, but now the manufacturer can still make money charging $1 to roll down the windows, $5 for the radio, $7 for A/C, etc.....

load more comments (9 replies)
this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2023
2280 points (97.7% liked)

Technology

55935 readers
2979 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS