#consumerchoice — Public Fediverse posts

@b Instead what we find consistently is the tyranny of low cost, where absent some exogenous pressure (regulations, occasionally lawsuits, competition regulation), one or a small number of high-volume, low-cost production centres come to dominate an industry.

I've looked into this a bit, and noticed that interestingly it's the goods and services which are most ephemeral which end up most concentrated, again, absent other factors.

Publishing. Cinema. Music. Banking. Software. Geopolitical hegemony. Advertising. Social media. Increasingly manufacturing, especially anything with microchips.

Many of those are associated with specific locations: New York, Hollywood, Nashville, New York, Silicon Valley, Washington, DC., Taiwan.

Though there may be exceptions. Taking cinema (you could also look at banking): Hollywood is the global capital, but there are regional centres as well: Bollywood, China, and within Europe fairly strong traditions in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, etc. What gives?

Language and culture. Hollywood translates well, but not specifically to other cultures. Bollywood with all its flamboyant ridiculousness caters specifically to Indian tastes. Similar trends have emerged in Japanese, Chinese, Persian, Spanish, and other cultures (widely-used language groups favour this). There are natural cleavage lines.

Banking has a similar split largely due to regulatory regimes. In the US, banking centralisation followed lifting of restrictions on cross-state banking (banks were previously restricted to a single state). Rather than fostering diversity, of course, that promoted monopolisation. And if you look at banking systems, @briankrebs has pointed out that there is a single-digit set of 3--4 vendors for those systems.

Similar software concentrations in ERP (enterprise resource planning): SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, and a bunch of also-rans., or in healthcare with EMR/EHR (electronic medical/health records), with Epic dominating the US.

If you want diversity you've got to regulate, probably with differentiation on a regional basis, to get it, AND break up monopolies.

2/2

#FreeMarkets #Capitalism #ConsumerChoice #Diversity #Monopoly

@b The only one part of that which I have a quibble with is Smith promising diversity.

I've read him pretty closely, and don't recall that being one of his significant points.

Lots of other people have touted technology as fostering options over time, whether geographic (Arthur C. Clarke, in the 1960s, promising that we could work from anywhere), the promise of fully-customised products (1990s/aughts), including repeated failed attempts at custom-fit clothing (there are a very few places offering this, but it's both rare and expensive), etc., etc.

#FreeMarkets #Capitalism #ConsumerChoice #Diversity #Monopoly

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People increasingly choose products that match their values—voicing concerns about privacy, the environment, AI, and monopolistic power. Purchase with Purpose aims to help them switch across tools and industries, starting with key tech categories. Learn more: https://purchasewithpurpose.io/ 🔄🛡️🌍 #PurchaseWithPurpose #ConsumerChoice #DigitalRights #Privacy #Sustainability

⚠️ خطر حقيقي يهدد انفتاح نظام أندرويد: جوجل تخطط لمنع تثبيت أي تطبيق بدون موافقتها المسبقة ابتداءً من سبتمبر 2026

في خطوة وصفتها حملة Keep Android Open بأنها "احتكارية" و"تهدد حرية المستخدمين والمطورين"، أعلنت جوجل أنه اعتباراً من سبتمبر 2026، لن يكون من الممكن تطوير أو تثبيت أي تطبيق على أجهزة أندرويد دون التسجيل المسبق والمركزي لدى جوجل. هذا التسجيل يتضمن دفع رسوم، وتقديم هوية حكومية، والموافقة على شروط جوجل.

🔐 ماذا يعني هذا بالنسبة لك؟

• للمستخدم: سيتم دفع تحديث لنظامك يمنعك من تثبيت أي تطبيق من خارج متجر جوجل بلاي، مما يلغي الوعد الأساسي الذي جعل أندرويد منصة مفتوحة.
• للمطور: لن تتمكن من مشاركة تطبيقك مع أصدقائك أو عائلتك دون الحصول على موافقة جوجل أولاً.
• للدولة: تفقد سيادتها الرقمية لصالح شركة خاصة قد تمتثل لطلبات الأنظمة القمعية بحذف تطبيقات قانونية.

📌 هل هناك "حل" من جوجل؟ الجواب: لا

جوجل قدمت ما يسمى بـ "التدفق المتقدم" للمستخدمين المحترفين، ولكنه:

1. يتطلب أكثر من 10 خطوات مع شاشات تخويف وتأمين لمدة 24 ساعة.
2. يتم تسليمه عبر Google Play Services (وليس نظام أندرويد)، مما يعني أن جوجل يمكنها تعديله أو إزالته في أي وقت دون علمك أو موافقتك.
3. لم يظهر حتى الآن في أي نسخة تجريبية من أندرويد، وهو مجرد "منشور مدونة" حتى الآن.

🚨 المصادر والمراجع الهامة (للاستزادة)

• الموقع الرسمي للحملة: https://keepandroidopen.org/
• الإعلان الرسمي من جوجل (أغسطس 2025): Elevating Android Security
• التفاصيل "المتقدمة" المزعومة من جوجل (مارس 2026): How the advanced flow works for users
• تحليل تقني من F-Droid: "An Open Letter Opposing Android Developer Verification"
• تقرير من مؤسسة EFF (حدود الربحية الإلكترونية): Application Gatekeeping: An Ever-Expanding Pathway to Internet Censorship
• تقرير من ACLU (الاتحاد الأمريكي للحريات المدنية): Your Smartphone, Their Rules: How App Stores Enable Corporate-Government Censorship
• تغطية من Ars Technica: With developer verification, Google’s Apple envy threatens to dismantle Android’s open legacy
• تغطية من The Register: 37 groups urge the company to drop ID checks for apps distributed outside Play

💡 كيف يمكنك المساعدة الآن؟

1. قم بتثبيت F-Droid (بديل لمتجر جوجل بلاي): f-droid.org
2. قدم ملاحظاتك مباشرة لجوجل عبر استبيانهم: Android developer verification requirements survey (ابحث عن رابط الاستبيان داخل المقال)
3. وقع على العريضة على Change.org: Sign this change.org petition (ابحث عن "Keep Android Open" داخل الموقع)
4. تواصل مع الهيئات التنظيمية في بلدك (القائمة الكاملة موجودة في الرابط الأصلي وتشمل دولاً عربية وأجنبية).
5. انشر الوعي على وسائل التواصل باستخدام الهاشتاج #KeepAndroidOpen ورابط الموقع: https://keepandroidopen.org/

خلاصة: هذه ليست مجرد تحديثات أمنية، بل هي تحول جذري في فلسفة أندرويد من منصة مفتوحة إلى نظام مغلق يشبه نظام آيفون، مما يمنح جوجل سلطة مطلقة على البرامج التي يمكنك تثبيتها على هاتفك. الوقت المتبقي حتى سبتمبر 2026 هو فرصة للضغط والتغيير.

**#KeepAndroidOpen #افتحوا_أندرويد #StopGoogleLockdown #أوقفوا_قفل_جوجل #AndroidOpenness #انفتاح_أندرويد #SaveF Droid #أنقذوا_FDroid #NoToDevVerification #لا_للتسجيل_الإجباري #FreeAndroid #أندرويد_حر #SideLoadingRights #حق_التثبيت_الجانبي #GoogleMonopoly #احتكار_جوجل #ConsumerChoice #خيار_المستخدم #StopTheLockdown #أوقفوا_الإغلاق #gnutux

Canada’s tariff wall on Chinese electric vehicles is deepening dependence on the U.S.
#Canada #China #Trump #USA #ChineseEVs #BYD #EV #TradePolicy #CanadaUSTrade #Tariffs #TradeWar #ClimateGoals #AutoIndustry #CleanEnergy #Business #ConsumerChoice #Economy
https://the-14.com/canadas-tariff-wall-on-chinese-electric-vehicles-is-deepening-dependence-on-the-u-s/

📢 BREAKING: American buys Chinese watch, feels like Benedict Arnold! 🇺🇸➡️🇨🇳 In a shocking twist, our brave patriot is now the proud owner of a #Huawei gadget, *gasp*, immediately questioning allegiance to the homeland. Because nothing screams "traitor" like opting for Chinese tech over an American-made Casio. 🙄⌚
https://musgrave.substack.com/p/oh-no-i-betrayed-america #AmericanTech #Patriotism #Gadgets #Controversy #ConsumerChoice #HackerNews #ngated

🎉 Welcome to 2025, where Teenage Engineering thinks it's reinventing #capitalism by letting you choose how much to pay for their overpriced bleep-bloop toy! 🤔 "Vote with your wallets," they say, as if the average consumer is yearning to be part of a capitalist social experiment that’s as reliable as a wet paper towel. 💸
https://teenage.engineering/ #TeenageEngineering #Innovation #ConsumerChoice #BleepBloopToy #HackerNews #ngated

One of the main fallacies propagated repeatedly by companies and brands is the overemphasis on #consumerchoice as the real driver of the #ecologicaldamage being done to the planet. In reality, there’s a clear lack of meaningful action from large #companies when it comes to taking responsibility.

https://www.rethinkeconomics.org/blog/2025/05/24/food-and-the-myth-of-consumer-choice/

Next up is the EU is demanding Apple to allow you to mix and match your earbuds! Imagine buying ONE AirPod and pairing it with a Samsung or Sony earbud on the other ear—and they'd actually work together!

This will be the next chapter in the EU's push for tech interoperability.

#TechNews #EURegulation #Interoperability #ConsumerChoice​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Since there's no way to opt-out of Youtube's ridiculous new #UI designed for children on touchscreens, I'll just not watch #Youtube

Sometimes, it really is that simple. The choice is yours.
#consumerchoice #darkpatterns

It's time to join forces!

#TrumpTariffs #US #Tariffs #TeslaCybertruck #ElectricVehicles #AutomotiveIndustry #ConsumerAwareness #SustainableLiving #EthicalChoices #TeslaCritic #TradeWar #ConsumerChoice #TeslaNews #Tesla #ElonMusk #ConsumerAwareness #EthicalChoices #TeslaCybertruck #TeslaCritic #ElonMusk

不要买特斯拉汽车。它们一点也不酷。
Bù yāo mǎi tè sī lā qìchē. Tāmen yīdiǎn yě bù kù.

Don't buy Tesla cars. They are not cool at all. (This is a very literal and straightforward translation from Chinese). Let's help the Chinese people make up their minds! Please share!

#teslaTakeDown #tradewar #electricvehicles #Tesla #automotive #carbuying #consumerchoice #TeslaCritic #TeslaReview

Italy is losing its mind because of copyright: it just made its awful Piracy Shield even worse

Walled Culture has been writing about Italy’s Piracy Shield system for a year now. It was clear from early on that its approach of blocking Internet addresses (IP addresses) to fight alleged copyright infringement – particularly the streaming of football matches – was flawed, and risked turning into another fiasco like France’s failed Hadopi law. The central issue with Piracy Shield is […]

#consumerChoice #dns #football #freedomOfSpeech #google #infringement #ipAddress #italy #overblocking #piracyShield #prison #security #streaming #transparency #vpn

https://walledculture.org/italy-is-losing-its-mind-because-of-copyright-it-just-made-its-awful-piracy-shield-even-worse/

I declare the push to make environmentalism a #consumerchoice a failure. A failure both in results & social structure.

Environmentalism-as-consumerism has not only failed to stop environmental decay, but it has created deep divisions that have become political.

A grave mistake.

We injected taking care of the environment into the forever class war between the haves and the have-nots.

I conclude the only real ecological action is to make the environmentally friendly a cheaper option.

Just dusted off my newsletter to publish a proposal for the glut of consumer AI we're seeing now, with a simple proposal:

Build as much AI as you would like into your products, but do so in a way that allows users to bring their own AIs, instead of being forced to use the platforms':

https://www.notesfromthevoid.cc/p/consumer-ai-a-simple-proposal

#GenerativeAI #Enshittfication #LockIn #ConsumerChoice #UserControl #Antitrust #ArtificialIntelligence #LargeLanguageModels #Android #GoogleIO

What if AI is the broccoli of technology? Tech companies keep saying it's good for us, but maybe we're just not ready for that much fiber! #AIEthics #AIControl #ConsumerChoice

Parliament, member states strike deal on ‘breakfast directive’ to combat food fraud https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/parliament-member-states-strike-deal-on-breakfast-directive-to-combat-food-fraud/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #consumerchoice #Foodlabelling #foodlabels #FruitJuice #healthydiets

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#MetalInjection
DAVE MUSTAINE Justifies Expensive Ticket Prices
Not the fees. Just the prices.

https://metalinjection.net/news/dave-mustaine-justifies-expensive-ticket-prices

#Megadeth #DaveMustaine #ConcertTicketPricing #MusicIndustry #ConsumerChoice #LiveEntertainment