Things Newly Enshittified

[Irrev-Black]

I like my tellies like I like my phones: dumb, not bristling with the malign will of others.

https://kolektiva.social/@burgerdrome@a ... 9261253797

[stylofone]

I like my tellies like I like my phones: dumb, not bristling with the malign will of others.

https://kolektiva.social/@burgerdrome@a ... 9261253797

When I bought my TV about 5 years ago there was a nearly identical model for a few dollars more with "smart" features, and the sales warrior was taken aback at the vehemence of my response when she pushed it on me. SHe said most people were very keen.

[stevebrooks]

Self checkouts........

"It hasn't delivered anything that it promises," says Christopher Andrews, associate professor and chair of sociology at Drew University, US, and author of The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkouts, Supermarkets, and the Do-It-Yourself Economy. "Stores saw this as the next frontier… If they could get the consumer to think that [self-checkout] was a preferable way to shop, then they could cut labour costs. But they're finding that people need help doing it, or that they'll steal stuff. They ended up realising that they're not saving money, they're losing money."

So, when they came up with this brilliant idea did no-one tell them that actual human beings would be using them? Have they actually met any of the human beings that shop in these shopping centers? Do these people actually shop? There are questions that should have been asked the moment someone brought the subject up, things like, "are you an actual fucking idiot?" I spent many years dealing with computer problems, and while there are many people who could get on fine with self checkouts.....the system also has to deal with the others, and no thought was given to asking the relevant questions regarding people who aren't good with technology.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20 ... technology

[Irrev-Black]

Windows 11 - the Great Enshittifier.

4h
kevinrns@mstdn.social
MostlyTato@mstdn.social
Kevin Russell @kevinrns@mstdn.social

BECAUSE of "Windows 11's Strict Hardware Requirements"

Not security requirements, not safety, not usefullness, but let it show these new "bells we ring."

A Windows 10 machine from a business running Linux will run more Securely safely powerfully, than the new "11" computers they're being forced to buy.

If companies can't linux themselves up, there MUST BE a massive program of saving these dvices for cities and schools, the world around.

https://kolektiva.social/@kevinrns@mstd ... 9844367314

https://www.makeuseof.com/cant-upgrade-pc-windows-11/

[stylofone]

Self checkouts........

I like them and I find the queues are shorter, but it is remarkable how much they malfunction and require the harried staff member to reset them. Often the ones that stuff up are those that use weight to confirm that the process is done properly. I note the newer ones which seem to have more cameras and other anti-theft tech don't seem to require the weight of scanned items on the output shelf to match the database.

I also note that Aldi don't have a self-scan option. The Aldi system is interesting because it tries to speed the human conveyor belt by not providing any space to pack your items into bags after they are scanned. It's best to slam them back into your trolley and POQ to the bench at the front of the shop. It's a low-tech form of enshittification to make the customer do more of the work. But Aldi love profit as much as the next psycho vampire company, and this reinforces the idea that self-scan is not doing what it's designed to do.

[stylofone]

Windows 11 - the Great Enshittifier.

4h
kevinrns@mstdn.social
MostlyTato@mstdn.social
Kevin Russell @kevinrns@mstdn.social

BECAUSE of "Windows 11's Strict Hardware Requirements"

Not security requirements, not safety, not usefullness, but let it show these new "bells we ring."

A Windows 10 machine from a business running Linux will run more Securely safely powerfully, than the new "11" computers they're being forced to buy.

If companies can't linux themselves up, there MUST BE a massive program of saving these dvices for cities and schools, the world around.

https://kolektiva.social/@kevinrns@mstd ... 9844367314

https://www.makeuseof.com/cant-upgrade-pc-windows-11/

My last PC purchase was a "refurbished" thingy. I expect these will come down in price and the specs will improve, which is good for people like me but won't make much difference to the criminal levels of waste.

[Irrev-Black]

Self checkouts........

I like them and I find the queues are shorter, but it is remarkable how much they malfunction and require the harried staff member to reset them. Often the ones that stuff up are those that use weight to confirm that the process is done properly. I note the newer ones which seem to have more cameras and other anti-theft tech don't seem to require the weight of scanned items on the output shelf to match the database.

I also note that Aldi don't have a self-scan option. The Aldi system is interesting because it tries to speed the human conveyor belt by not providing any space to pack your items into bags after they are scanned. It's best to slam them back into your trolley and POQ to the bench at the front of the shop. It's a low-tech form of enshittification to make the customer do more of the work. But Aldi love profit as much as the next psycho vampire company, and this reinforces the idea that self-scan is not doing what it's designed to do.

If I am forced to use self-checkouts, there is a 100% chance there will be an error requiring staff intervention: I see it as a duty to maintaining a human presence at the salepoint.

I find the Aldi self-pack model to be satisfying as I know the eggs are going on top, etc...

[stevebrooks]

I do think self checkouts have a place, in the 12 or less items area for people who know how to use them they would be excellent, but making them for everyone to use they do have issues.

[stevebrooks]

Self checkouts........

I like them and I find the queues are shorter, but it is remarkable how much they malfunction and require the harried staff member to reset them. Often the ones that stuff up are those that use weight to confirm that the process is done properly. I note the newer ones which seem to have more cameras and other anti-theft tech don't seem to require the weight of scanned items on the output shelf to match the database.

I also note that Aldi don't have a self-scan option. The Aldi system is interesting because it tries to speed the human conveyor belt by not providing any space to pack your items into bags after they are scanned. It's best to slam them back into your trolley and POQ to the bench at the front of the shop. It's a low-tech form of enshittification to make the customer do more of the work. But Aldi love profit as much as the next psycho vampire company, and this reinforces the idea that self-scan is not doing what it's designed to do.

If I am forced to use self-checkouts, there is a 100% chance there will be an error requiring staff intervention: I see it as a duty to maintaining a human presence at the salepoint.

I find the Aldi self-pack model to be satisfying as I know the eggs are going on top, etc...

Oh lol, Coles have installed a new feature in the self checkout lanes to help reduce thievery, a special gate that only opens if you can prove you aren't a thief! They're called smart gates, you can already see where this is going right? It appears they aren't so smart and people in wheelchairs and pushing prams have reported that the smart gates have been closing on them and trapping them in between.

The gate began to beep to alert staff of the incident and only reopened when the customer continued to push their way through.

Apparently they beep a song of victory on successfully trapping their prey!

I can imagine the conversation at the Coles high level meeting now.

Coles exec: so these machines only open when a person has paid, to let them through?

Vendor: yes that's correct, it's the perfect solution to thievery at the self checkout.

Coles exec: and what about wheelchairs and prams, you have tested it fully with those?

Vendor: Wheelchairs? Prams? Do people take those with them when they're shopping?

https://www.news.com.au/finance/busines ... 872c9943a7

[Irrev-Black]

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Country road dust and a hairy, coat-shedding Dog means fluff in the fans.

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Some of that fluff is in places I can't reach without taking the fan shroud off.

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Our big, new 50cm Arlec fan needed its first pull-apart service today.

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And I had to drill out two of the eight screws because some minion of the dark lord No-User-Serviceable-Parts insisted that those be three-lobed "can't get me" types.

I'll be looking very closely at my next purchase, Arlec or otherwise: sabotaging the owner's access is one of the worst forms of enshittification.