not OP but I believe they’re “soft” in the sense that they don’t have moats/high electric fences/battalions of armed guards around 24/7

an old user who hates to change his ways

Ain’t we all? this is why I use MATE btw

Just like with watershed TV/movie/music, it seems quaint and overhyped as their innovations become the norm.

There is even a trope that describes that

If you launch the game outside steam the time isn’t accounted for. I know this because I love playing Timespinner with a randomizer. Inside steam I have 40h of played time. If the timer counted my randomizer sessions I’d have at least 4x that

All these involve learning and maintaining skills more removed from power than skills of more industrial professions (monotonous work).

I tend to disagree. There is something gratifying in making something with your own hands/tools. I could buy a table, or a drawer, or a pre-built computer. But I kinda enjoy making/assembling mine own. There are other people out there that enjoy gardening, and plenty other “monotonous work”.

If two guys are hanging out and one says “hey I think I think I should take more drugs” and the other says “hell yeah brother do it” they aren’t responsible if the first guy ODs

They are indirectly responsible. Dangerously close, depending on circumstances, of being criminally responsible.

But today’s money doesn’t really have any frontiers our boundaries. If a corp is being openly traded in the stock market, it belongs to the very same assholes that own the americans megacorps.

No, I actually loved her at first. Then it turned out she only ever wanted me for money.

Sad to hear that. I hope you meet someone better in the future

You can reach 1 million in assets over a decade or so as a middle class worker.

This might be true in a rich 1st world country. For a small subset of “middle class worker”, most live paycheck to paycheck, barely scraping by.

Capitalism, when unchecked, tends to create those giant monopolies you’ve mentioned. It is capitalism at its end game, total consolidation.

and he’s just repeating himself ad nauseum

this is usually how you build mindshare of anything

I only browsed to see if using “services” would be cheaper than the upkeep on my ex was. It would be.

This is quite the misogynistic take, dude. Did you marry only to fuck someone? People usually marry for many reasons beyond just sex. Love, companionship, shared dreams.

not OP, but I’m almost certain that’s xkcd (and it’s an antique for sure)

on average that’s the expected outcome, but sometimes there’s a regression here and there for specific apps

forced to undergo mental health treatment

Greed is not a mental health issue, is a character flaw

and their fortunes confiscated

100% agreed

Downvoted because it’s an ad for a stupid, gimmicky and pricey product that relies on proprietary software to work.

The iPod did well.

“No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.”

In the mid-nineties I passionately believed that the internet would democratize information and usher in a wonderful new era of well-informed critical thinking and general enlightenment

The profit motive killed this dream. Capitalism seems to wither anything it touches.

Some refunded games are indeed defective. Others are refunded because of false advertising. There are people that abuse the system, of course, but I still see the possibility of refunding as pro-consumer.

Even if it boils down to pure frustration at some point

…the point where many people simply give up and refund? Maybe they’re trying to avoid something like that