this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2024
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  • Microsoft removes guide on converting Microsoft accounts to Local, pushing for Microsoft sign-ins.
  • Instructions once available, now missing - likely due to company's preference for Microsoft accounts.
  • People may resist switching to Microsoft accounts for privacy reasons, despite company's stance.
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[–] [email protected] 33 points 4 months ago (26 children)

The Microsoft cycle:

Microsoft does thing nobody likes -> people complain -> some people threaten to switch to Linux -> a few of those people do but most people don't -> They make some excuse and claim that once Linux reaches some arbitrary milestone they'll switch (Adobe support, better game support, better software support, etc) -> most of those people forget (they're a minority, the vast majority of people never cared) -> Microsoft notices and they became even more emboldened to make their products worse -> repeat

If you want change then you need to break the cycle

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (6 children)

The most important part of this is:

the vast majority of people never cared

We make our happy little bubble here to be outraged in. The world at large carries on without caring. Just in the past few years, there's been the Reddit API change, the WhatsApp ToS change, the YouTube dislike button removal, etc etc. A small minority (like us) complains endlessly. The rest of the world shrugs and accepts enshitification.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (5 children)

People have accepted that they'll never have privacy, that they dont own the products they purchase (physical or digital), that not only do they not control their technology but fundamentally their technology controls them, that every few years they'll have to replace their devices or the manufacturer stops supporting them, people own nothing and are happy.

[–] qevlarr 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Accepted isn't the right word. I think consumers "voting with their feet" just isn't that relevant when it comes to these issues. This model of thinking works when it's about the product offering. Bad product? Too expensive? Demand dwindles.

But the issue doesn't directly impact the product offering, consumers won't "vote with their feet" in significant numbers. Worker exploitation? People will still buy cheaper clothes. Oil money dictatorships? Cheap luxury airlines. Privacy invasion? But all my friends are on there. I could go on.

The self-correcting market model is flawed. For these issues, strong government intervention is needed. It's possible that a competitor comes along and they're able to capture the market, but that will only happen with a superior product offering. But not because of different TOS or whatever people don't consider part of what they're buying.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Finally, someone gets my point. Capitalism inherently makes products worse and more expensive, the flaw in your argument is you think it can ever be contained.

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