Naming and shaming all "recurring spending models" where a one-time fee (or none at all) would be appropriate and logical.
Expect use of strong language.
Follow the basic rules of lemmy.world and common sense, and try to have fun if possible.
No flamewars or attacking other users, unless they're spineless corporate shills.
Note that not all subscriptions are awful. Supporting your favorite ~~camgirl~~ creator or Lemmy server on Patreon is fine. An airbag with subscription is irl Idiocracy-level dystopian bullshit.
New community rule: Shilling for cunty corporations, their subscriptions and other anti-customer practices may result in a 1-day ban. It's so you can think about what it's like when someone can randomly decide what you can and can't use, based on some arbitrary rules. Oh what, you didn't read this fine print? You should read what you're agreeing to.
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Some other groovy communities for those who wish to own their products, their data and their life:
Some other useful links:
Louis Rossman's YouTube channel
Look at content hosted at Big Tech without most of the nonsense:
It really is insane how subsriptions are everywhere... And it's not like they are cheaper !
Now you need to buy the product AND subscribe.
Wait... I understand you subscribe to the instructions/instructor, but you don't need to subscribe to use the hardware you purchased... right?
I believe most of them have a "free" mode, but it's just a matter of time. Peloton was floating bricking their treadmills without a subscription but I think they backed down. Still, why would I buy anything that could be remote bricked?
Fortunately a lot of normal countries have laws against stuff like that. We may have to buy Australian treadmills in the future.
AFAIK at least on some of them you need subscription to unlock some features like higher speeds.
I think with Peloton there was this whole mess a few years ago where they needed to recall a lot of units because they were falling apart, and later (or at the same time?) introduced subscription to unlock the features that cause more wear and tear on the machine... Something along those lines. And then other manufacturers followed.
consumer buddy? more like consumer WHORE by LEMON DEMON!!!