@ljpuk I can relate to this feeling — I weened myself off the urge to Buy More Stuff, but now I notice those siren calls a lot more, and recent experience has shown how reliability and durability are no longer seen as desirable features in products we’re offered.

@ljpuk I have fond memories of the old skeumorphic UI of iOS from my first few iPads (1st gen 2010-12, 3rd gen 2012-17) and my first iPhone, the 4S, from 2012-18. And of course, the two classic iPods I owned in the 2000s. 🙂 I really hope that the pendulum swings back soon!

@jsonbecker Looking from the other side of Atlantic 🇬🇧 I’d suggest the Tea Party had already demolished any backbone the GOP had, Trump took out their brains. 🧠 The Conservative Party here has gone down the same path. 🤪 No wonder they’re urging a ‘deal’ with the US…

@Miraz I get called up for my Winter Flu and Covid booster every September-October here in the UK, as I’m on immune-suppressant medication. Got my spring Covid booster last Saturday. 💉

@LJPUK For me, Brainwave Studio is the best background noise / meditation app I’ve ever used, and hasn’t been updated in nine years. The Mac version will stop working once Rosetta2 goes away, but hopefully the iOS version will keep going for a good while yet. 🤞🏼

@jsonbecker I also got a refurb 2024 Air at end of last year, very happy with performance.

@LJPUK I think “conspicuous minimalism” best describes the target market for products like the LightPhone. For the rest of, cheaper to buy refurbished older phones, prune unnecessary apps and notifications.

@lmika They do accept donations, and I’ve started doing so because it’s worth it for me. (I used to donate to Mozilla, but given how things are going there lately, I’m unlikely to do so again…)

@artkavanagh That looks suspiciously like they tried to open a DOCX file as text. 🤦 At least a PDF would be slightly intelligible, albeit still unreadable, unless you can read PostScript. (Ask me how I know this…)

@amerpie Pretty much, but they’re the Industry Standard that ‘everybody’ uses (thought I suspect many do so through gritted teeth). They’re extractors now, just like Microsoft and Google, using their monopolies to do whatever they like.