"One could give many examples of times when the tech-industry convinced itself it needed to respond to needs that no one ever expressed, or to technologies never requested. 3D televisions, curved screens, foldable smartphones, smart homes. Throughout all this, printing a document has remained the same frustrating experience as always."

"There are technologies that make us more free, more capable, more independent, or that simply make our lives easier. If something gives autonomy, if it allows you to do things you wouldn’t have done, if it empowers you, than it is useful tech.
Everything else should be avoided, because in the best case it's pure consumerism, in the worst case it's the surrender of another piece of independence to the usual feudal lords."

Article en français sur le phénomène de merdification

“I do not want to talk to my computer. I do not want to use OneDrive. I’m sure as hell not going to use Recall. I am tired of Windows trying to get me to use Edge, Edge trying to get me to use Bing, and everything trying to get me to use Copilot. I paid for an Office 365 subscription so I could edit Excel files. Then Office 365 turned into Microsoft 365 Copilot, and I tried to use it to open a Word document and it didn’t know how.”

"Meta’s platforms are still causing harm, but the CEO has convinced the media to look at the future instead of the present" An old but still relevant post from Paris Marx from the podcast Tech Won't Save Us which I recommend

Simone from Minutes to Midnight is doing an experiment where he is setting up old versions of macOS and using it daily. Interesting experiment to follow that makes you reflect on how enshittified our tech experience has become

I am currently enjoying a lot this podcast where these 2 guys dual boot Linux and Windows to see if they can at the end of the podcast delete on the 2 OSes

I learn a lot from their experiment and it makes me want even more to dual boot Linux on my Mac

Found via https://pxlnv.com/linklog/adobe-reader-installer-sizes/

By delivering what people seem to want, has Spotify killed the joy of music discovery?

I am a big consumer of dj sets on Youtube and SoundCloud, and discovered a cool radio in Vienna (created in Croatia), Radio Rudina which I highly recommend. There are known for their cool DJ sets, but their online radio is diverse in terms of music genres. https://www.radiorudina.com/

More enshittification coming ... Next time I am looking for a TV, I will definitely look for how enshittified each model is

Dans un récent rapport, Edemilson Paranà questionne la souveraineté numérique européenne et les alternatives aux modèles dominants des GAFAM.

Alors que la souveraineté numérique est de plus en plus associée au potentiel du logiciel libre ou open source, les multinationales et leurs plateformes ont réussi à marginaliser les alternatives communautaires, voire à en épuiser les ressources, avec la complaisance de l'État.

"I don't think AI can do your job (but I do think an AI salesman can convince your boss to fire you and replace you with an AI that can't do your job). However, there is a class of workers whose jobs can be performed perfectly by AI: workers with bullshit jobs:"