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Say the new Googlebook is perfect. It isn't, far from it, but stick with me for a moment.
Here's what goes through my head: my Chromecast / Google TV was, when I bought it, an excellent streaming device that did almost exactly what I wanted. Sure, I had to tweak my router's settings and run my own DNS stack to keep it from phoning home so often, but still.
But then the on-screen keyboard stopped working unless I gave it mic permissions, which I did not do. And now the search button is gone.
@xgranade One of the more insidious aspects of the 'needs an internet connection to be even vaguely useful' design of such things; You can't actually make it *not* enshitify - it will do so whether you want it to or not, less you block it from the internet, in which case it is effectively just e-waste.
@miss_rodent @xgranade you can *occasionally* dnshole a given always online piece of tech (my boox tablet, for example) so it cannot update itself without explicit permission....
But that is hardly a solution for the average human
@cthos @miss_rodent DNSholing Google devices only works if you also block outgoing 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1 at the router.
[edited to add: I know both of y'all know that, just saying for the folks following along at home, and as a gripe that I have to do the chore of blocking those outgoing routes]
The latter one is confounding. It's Google, for fuck's sake, search is kind of Their One Job. So why in the hell would the *search* button just disappear?
Ah, because they replaced it with a "Gemini" button.
Now, when I look at Google hardware, I can't just evaluate it on the basis of what it is when I buy it, but what it could turn into when Google's org chart next shuffles around.
Not that Google is alone in that, they're just the latest example to annoy the piss out of me. Tech is just *like that* now. I don't think that's inevitable, I'm only describing the current moment, not trying to limit future moments.
But gods. This moment in tech sucks, and it's because tech is *just like that*.
@xgranade Yup. For every piece of hardware, and every piece of software, I now find myself doing threat modeling and having an exit plan for when (not if) it inevitably transforms into user-hostile bullshit. This is energy I should not have to spend! I am tired all of the time!
@joshsutphin @xgranade I find myself doing the same even for FOSS programs install, in case they turn to slop or other evils. It's pretty sad if you stop for a moment and think about it. I am seriously thinking about exit plans for emacs...
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