Planned Obselescence: A thread for Luddites

[lvc]

As I'm currently wrangling with car trouble that would have been literally unimaginable 10 years ago (computer glitches leading to disruptions in fuel flow and an inaccessible fuel filter), I am reminded how much I hate just about every technological advance these days. But rather than a generalized screed, I'll just focus on cars and wait for others to bemoan other things so I can ruefully pile on.

I absolutely loathe how impossible it is to maintain newer cars yourself these days. And why the eff do you need a touch screen inside a vehicle? When literally every transportation-related entity is trying to get people to STOP looking at screens in the car, manufacturers think it's cool to put literally every control in the car behind a touch screen that you can't navigate without staring at (just because some moron named Musk put one in a Tesla). It's illegal to drive distracted, how on earth is there not a regulation against building the same technology into the car?

I have a 2006 Volvo XC90 that I got for super cheap from a friend. It started to have this weird loss acceleration/stalling issue especially when fuel got low. We took it on a road trip because I'm a moron and said, knowing of this issue, "If it breaks down, we'll deal with it." And it finally broke down completely in north Alabama. A literal hero at the only Autozone I could coast to immediately said, "Sounds like the fuel filter." They didn't have one in stock but one 15 miles south had one. Drove there, bought it, installed it, and the car has never stalled again. Cost like $30 and 15 minutes to swap it out.

Given that the 2006 has lasted forever (over 230K miles), we opted for a used newer Volvo (2020). It is a literal nightmare. The stupid windshield wipers stopped working because of a software bug. And now it's having the same issue. I bought a fuel filter (already nearly 3 times the cost of the older model one) and waited like 2 weeks for it to ship. Go to install it, find the compartment where it's supposed to be and, while the compartment is still there, it's empty. No fuel filter in sight. Turns out on American Volvos, they integrated the filter into the fuel pump and hid it all inside the actual gas tank.

The only logical explanation for making a filter (a device literally designed to get clogged) inaccessible for the average vehicle owner is to drive up revenue at the dealership's repair shop. Damn you, Swedes. Damn you, economics of making things increasingly expensive, complicated, and disposable.

[LoathedVermin72]

I'm fucking pissed Windows is trying to force me into replacing my perfectly fine PC by setting ridiculous hardware requirements for their new OS. I'm also pissed that the new OS is probably going to try even harder to force AI on me when I don't want to see that shit anywhere.

[VinylGuy]

capitalism dudes!!

just buy stuff and shut up!! all hail our lord Bezos and their friends.

[lvc]

I'm fucking pissed Windows is trying to force me into replacing my perfectly fine PC by setting ridiculous hardware requirements for their new OS. I'm also pissed that the new OS is probably going to try even harder to force AI on me when I don't want to see that shit anywhere.

Yes. There has got to be a growing market for dumb phones and computers that just make calls/run software. They'd almost have to be cheaper. Where are the new businesses cropping up to meet that demand? Isn't that the whole premise of capitalism? Hell, I'd be happy enough with socks that don't wear through at the heel after 6 months.

capitalism dudes!!

just buy stuff and shut up!! all hail our lord Bezos and their friends.

No. And, while not exactly Luddism related, I think it's hilarious that Amazon will try to get me to choose "eco-friendly" shipping when their founder has generated more carbon that I could in 10 lifetimes by launching his girlfriend into space for 10 minutes.

[oasisfan35]

I'm fucking pissed Windows is trying to force me into replacing my perfectly fine PC by setting ridiculous hardware requirements for their new OS. I'm also pissed that the new OS is probably going to try even harder to force AI on me when I don't want to see that shit anywhere.

Why do you need the new OS?

[coptheriotact]

I'm fucking pissed Windows is trying to force me into replacing my perfectly fine PC by setting ridiculous hardware requirements for their new OS. I'm also pissed that the new OS is probably going to try even harder to force AI on me when I don't want to see that shit anywhere.

i only recently upgraded from win7. it took me about 6 hours but i managed to install a clean win11 without almost all of the copilot/AI/telemetry/app store/apps and other junk that comes built in with it. pretty happy with it

[LoathedVermin72]

I'm fucking pissed Windows is trying to force me into replacing my perfectly fine PC by setting ridiculous hardware requirements for their new OS. I'm also pissed that the new OS is probably going to try even harder to force AI on me when I don't want to see that shit anywhere.

Why do you need the new OS?

I don't want it but they're going to stop support for the current OS.

[coptheriotact]

they probably will still do major security updates for awhile longer after support ends. hold out as long as u can brother

[LoathedVermin72]

they probably will still do major security updates for awhile longer after support ends. hold out as long as u can brother

Oh, will they? Well, I hope so. I definitely plan to hold out as long as I can. I don't want to spend money on a new PC.

[oasisfan35]

I'm fucking pissed Windows is trying to force me into replacing my perfectly fine PC by setting ridiculous hardware requirements for their new OS. I'm also pissed that the new OS is probably going to try even harder to force AI on me when I don't want to see that shit anywhere.

Why do you need the new OS?

I don't want it but they're going to stop support for the current OS.

How often do you actually utilize official support?

they probably will still do major security updates for awhile longer after support ends. hold out as long as u can brother

Agreed, they should most likely keep security updates going for threeish years.

If you're happy just keep it.

[coptheriotact]

another option is to use third party tools to modify the win installation ISO to remove the system requirements block, and then unintall the CPU intensive bloat that makes it need the requirements to begin with.

[LoathedVermin72]

who the fuck do you think i am

[coptheriotact]

Just a bloke fighting the good fight against Planned Obselescence

[spike]

My grandmother used to refer to Volvos as Vulvas. The Greatest Generation had no time for foreign cars.

[96583UP]

only buy Toyota/Lexus

never any other brand again

ever

[spike]

There are some pretty spiffy Toyotas in Australia.

[96583UP]

I'm Open

[lennytheweedwhacker]

I can't believe you were in north Alabama and didn't call me.

[contamination]

You could just install Zorin OS or some other Linux distro to replace Windows 10. Of course it depends on what you do with your computer. But if you just need a browser, email, spotify and a printer then I'd go with Linux.

[lvc]

I got another one. I bought a TV a while back (like 10 years ago) and, like an idiot, put in the wifi password when it asked. Fast forward through 5 years of a TV that works just fine to an unannounced software update (not even an alert that software was being updated) and now I have a TV that works incredibly slowly (if you're watching broadcast received via antenna it takes several minutes to load and a few more minutes before you can adjust volume or change channels).

Like cars, why do TVs need to be computers? I mean, I'm not stupid I know it's because computers harvest data and TV sales need data sales to stay in the black apparently.

So now I never put the wifi password into a TV. The Roku can have the password, the TV is a glorified monitor that you can plug an antenna into.