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0 pointsrobertlagrant4y ago0 comments

> Capitalism killing innovation by making it another homogeneous device that doesn't respect you doesn't surprise me.

What is this weird fascination with capitalism on HN? If a socialist government thought collecting data was a good idea and directed its resources that way, would that okay?

My read is (rightly or wrongly) they want to have cloud services, and cloud services require identification.

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8 comments · 5 top-level

JKCalhoun4y ago· 2 in thread

> What is this weird fascination with capitalism on HN?

It's the one doing the data collecting in our lives.

noduerme4y ago

Parent's point is that you'd be a lot less likely complain about even worse data collection if you lived in China, and it was done in the name of the "people" - but you wouldn't be quieter because you really believed it was for the people. You'd be quieter because you were scared to say things about the System.

You're lucky to live in a System that pays you to have a public opinion about it.

brightstep4y ago

The alternatives being worse doesn't make a critique of a system less valid. Yes, it's good that we have free political speech and yes, it's true that capitalism's incentives drive decisions like invasive data collection.

2 more replies

tome4y ago· 1 in thread

> > Capitalism killing innovation by making it another homogeneous device that doesn't respect you doesn't surprise me.

> What is this weird fascination with capitalism on HN?

"Comments on the internet" make a lot more sense to me now that I've started reading "capitalism" as "unbridled pursuit of profit". It's a shame that the general internet population seems to think those concepts are one and the same but I'm not sure I have the energy to try to do anything about it.

robertlagrantOP4y ago

Makes sense, but even then, not much. An unbridled pursuit of profit would mean quite a few business owners would be having their competitors killed and forcing people to work at gunpoint, with no repercussions.

AstralStorm4y ago

No they don't. You could and should provide a baseline experience with no account. The account could be used for extra, like say sharing favorites across devices.

Even storing payment details or favorites on the device is trivial. It's not done because it's not trackable and the user data sellable.

brightstep4y ago

It's the global economic system, and it's incentives and structures drive decisions that individuals and companies make. Seems pretty relevant to this discussion, and most discussions since many if not most of our choices are economic ones.

noduerme4y ago

> My read is (rightly or wrongly) they want to have cloud services, and cloud services require identification.

On this, no one ever bought a Roku because they expected it to upload something.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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8 comments · 5 top-level

JKCalhoun4y ago· 2 in thread

> What is this weird fascination with capitalism on HN?

It's the one doing the data collecting in our lives.

noduerme4y ago

You're lucky to live in a System that pays you to have a public opinion about it.

brightstep4y ago

2 more replies

tome4y ago· 1 in thread

> > Capitalism killing innovation by making it another homogeneous device that doesn't respect you doesn't surprise me.

> What is this weird fascination with capitalism on HN?

robertlagrantOP4y ago

AstralStorm4y ago

No they don't. You could and should provide a baseline experience with no account. The account could be used for extra, like say sharing favorites across devices.

Even storing payment details or favorites on the device is trivial. It's not done because it's not trackable and the user data sellable.

brightstep4y ago

noduerme4y ago

> My read is (rightly or wrongly) they want to have cloud services, and cloud services require identification.

On this, no one ever bought a Roku because they expected it to upload something.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse