All the fediverse has to do is stick around and keep developing. As every new shiny corporate app inevitably begins to enshittify itself into unusability, some percentage of folks will choose the decentralized alternative over whatever new toy the oligarchs are dangling in front of them.
We just have to be here to welcome them each time it happens. We don't require constant, massive growth to survive over time. We just need staying power and solidarity.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from thekitmalone@hoosier.social
@thekitmalone In a race to the bottom, standing still becomes progress.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kralcttam@mastodon.social
@kralcttam @thekitmalone
Like the Brother printers. They were the so-so option 20 years ago. It just did no-frills printing. But all other printers went down the hole of printing as as service, to squeeze more money. Brother didn't do that and became the best just by being stagnant.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from ScottStarkey@hoosier.social
@ScottStarkey @thekitmalone
Yep- All these companies racing to put AI into everything have also missed the lesson of the Brother printer. When everyone is racing to the bottom you can win by doing nothing.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kralcttam@mastodon.social
@kralcttam @ScottStarkey @thekitmalone
I remember shopping for a toaster and Ms. Killick said find one with the fewest features and least number of buttons.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from killick@dmv.community
@killick @ScottStarkey @thekitmalone
Yeah in a similar vein we just bought a Speed Queen washing machine.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kralcttam@mastodon.social
@kralcttam @killick @ScottStarkey
This is a really fun side convo considering how much effort I'm putting into finding sustainable alternatives to the stuff in my house and in my pocket. I love this!
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from thekitmalone@hoosier.social
@thekitmalone @kralcttam @killick @ScottStarkey I worked in VARs during the transition 20 years ago and led charge in NYC Metro for HP (and Canon). Fwiw at the time it was lower total cost of ownership, more ecologically efficient & less destructive technology, and helped poor bastards struggling w 50 yr old copiers (e.g. my mom in her union job running the xerox room for a large Brooklyn high school) with their quality of life. Before "everything as a subscription" some made sense (Netflix)
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from dannybloomfield@fosstodon.org
@thekitmalone @kralcttam @killick @ScottStarkey I was given a filter coffee machine as a wedding present. It had one button (the power switch). It did not have a clock, a timer, and of course no AI. After 16 years, the pot was dropped and cracked. I went hunting for a replacement. We kept using it another 6 years. I estimate it made around 8000 pots of coffee before the element gave out.
Best coffee appliance I've ever owned. RIP coffee mate.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from jdmcg@mastodon.nz
@ScottStarkey @kralcttam @thekitmalone
With many products like laser printers and clothes washers, the commercial/business class models are still the way they were made 20+ years ago. HP "business" laser printers for instance, don't have DRM, etc.. and commercial grade clothes washers are built to last with minimal if any microprocessors. They're more expensive but so were quality products 25 and 45 years ago. They also last forever.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from Frances_Larina@sfba.social
@Frances_Larina @ScottStarkey @kralcttam
Yup - I hade like an HP Laserjet III for like twenty years before I had to leave it behind in a hurried move. I don't even think I ever had to clean the rollers tbh.
It can be a barrier for non-techies though - you've gotta know where to find surplus, have confidence that you can deal with whatever hurdles you might face in setting it up.
I do think wider community activism to educate and offer help in re-using old tech is still so seriously needed.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from thekitmalone@hoosier.social
@thekitmalone @Frances_Larina @ScottStarkey There's definitely a gap here. For example for washing machines, Consumer Reports only tests for reliability to five years. Most people would be disappointed if their washing machine only lasted five years.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kralcttam@mastodon.social
@thekitmalone @ScottStarkey @kralcttam
I had a LJ3 also, they were indestructible.
Even for techies, for too many tech products the drivers get left behind, rendering them useless. That happened to many early USB products. All it takes is the OS changing how they handle something and boom, a generation of hardware is dead. And it was often very nice hardware.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from Frances_Larina@sfba.social
@ScottStarkey @kralcttam @thekitmalone
I have an old Brother laser printer from circa 2009. You can turn off all the alerts and tell it to keep printing using the toner until it runs out.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from KrissyKat@hoosier.social
@ScottStarkey @kralcttam @thekitmalone there's a lesson in being good at something and just keeping on doing it.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from cachondo@defcon.social This content has been proxied by September (3851b).Proxy Information
text/gemini