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chevron-preplan-29 OP t1_iwwgd46 wrote

Reply to comment by DavetheHick in [Request] Cell Phone that isn't a scam by chevron-preplan-29

Yes, products being made only if they're profitable is a huge problem with how we organize our economy. Perhaps it would be better overall if we had some unprofitable products, but noooooope some billionaire's bottom line is more important! Sounds like a hypercapitalist shithole to me. If it was just this one issue then whatever, but it's time and time again in every part of my life I am forced to organize my life around some billionaire's, or if I'm lucky millionaire's, bottom line. Fuck that shit.

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mildOrWILD65 t1_iwwidsu wrote

So, imagine asking a question similar to this, 15 years ago, and getting a phone that matched your requirements.

Would you still be satisfied with the capabilities of such a phone?

Some things, by definition, cannot be BIFL because technology changes so much, at least in our experience. Computers are another good example.

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chevron-preplan-29 OP t1_iwwmlml wrote

Sure, perhaps I might not be. But, I'm totally fine with buying new products if they genuinely are better. What I have a problem with is being forced into buying new products regularly when I am happy with the older technology. A 15 year old phone is too old, but a 5 or 10 year old phone perhaps isn't. I just want to watch videos, browse social media, make phone calls, and send/receive text messages. I don't care about the aesthetics, it being thin, having a fancy camera, etc. I don't need the latest and greatest to do any of the things that I actually care about. If I get a phone that matches my requirements, and then 15 years from now some advancements take place and I want a new phone while my old one still works perfectly, I'll do that and have no problem with it.

To give a concrete example of this working properly, I have some 25 year old computers sitting in my basement that still work as well as they did the day I bought them (mostly, a few easily swappable consumables like mechanical drives are bad). I could probably even install Linux on them to make them secure, but I still daily drive a modern computer from like 2019 or so. Given that it's a desktop that I can build myself due to better availability of modular parts, it hasn't fallen apart or suffered any such problems, so I am free to keep it for as long as it does what I need or want. Eventually, I will upgrade in some way, but it's my choice, and I don't need a whole new computer since I can just upgrade the specific parts that need it.

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ActualYogurtcloset55 t1_iwwqt57 wrote

Unprofitable products? Generally an unprofitable product is something no one wants.... Similar to the phone you are describing.

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chevron-preplan-29 OP t1_iwx4h3s wrote

No, an unprofitable product is one where the product doesn't serve to extract the most money from someone else. Who doesn't want a phone that they can buy once and then never buy again? I'd also like a streaming service that just has every show (and even more so than the phone, who wouldn't?!), without that bullshit where you need a musical chairs of services just to watch stuff, but that doesn't exist since it is more profitable for each IP holder to make their own service.

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FollowJesus2Live t1_iwzra3j wrote

Go to Cuba or north Korea. See how many great products they're producing

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BornAgainSpecial t1_ix4evsd wrote

No, he can stay right here in America where our government spends far more per capita than Cuba and North Korea combined.

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FollowJesus2Live t1_ix4h20w wrote

It's nice when your capitalistic system creates such a massive surplus that you can have Communists dipping into the cookie jar, and STILL maintain 10x better quality of life.

Cuba and NK wish they could blow as much $ as the radical leftist Communists in the American government

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BornAgainSpecial t1_ix4fooz wrote

New York Times runs at a loss. So does Impossible Burger. When something isn't bound by the market, that's when you start getting the agenda driven stuff. Woke corporatism is what's making people unhappy. It's the lack of capitalism. You're not even legally allowed to buy a car that doesn't costs $1,000 per radar in the bumper for a fender bender.

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