I think it’s worth noting that this is the effect of the free market behaving as designed, however no one has risen up to challenge Amazon enough along the way. So many retailers ignored e-commerce in the early days and went on with business as usual. Fast forward 20 years and Amazon has eaten into their market shares. A large retailer like WalMart absolutely has the ability to challenge Amazon by investing in the user experience and warehousing/delivery infrastructure. But often the old heads at these companies ignore improving the user experience in favor of making cuts. Amazon didn’t happen overnight. It’s been a steady growth in their business model over decades and the user experience is key to what made them so popular. It takes seconds to find what you want, for often times cheaper than the competition and in many cases the shipping is lower and faster.

What would be difficult is for a start up company with little capital to try and take on these behemoths. Perhaps a coalition of large companies like Target, Best Buy, B&N, Kohl’s, etc. grouping together to create a large distribution network and app platform with a good user experience could compete.

Just a thought.

AWS is a whole other can of worms.

Exactly. The flaw is in the streaming service. They say “upload your music and make money” while skimming the lions share of the profits. But if they use tools that are openly available to all, i.e. generative AI (which uses copyrighted works for it generational algorithms) AND the Streaming service systems themselves, somehow this user is at fault because they don’t like the way he did it and the amount he uploaded. It seems to me it’s a problem with the system and not the user.

That’s the outcome that seems most logical. I want to see real artists get paid for creating real music. The current system is too prohibitive and unrewarding.

If an artist spends hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars creating their work, only to see a return of maybe a few dollars that’s a big problem.

If someone can use AI to game that same system for millions of dollars by creating loads of fake music in a fraction of the time; that’s a symptom of the big problem.

The current system of streaming just isn’t beneficial to artists. I imagine it’s not great for movies either. Yet, these companies are taking in HUGE profits. It was only a matter of time before someone tried to take advantage of a loophole.

If you think about it, it’s kind of like reverse piracy.

He found a flaw in the system and exploited it. Although he didn’t do anything particularly wrong, the tools he used allowed him to do it. Yet, somehow he has to pay the consequences and the companies that made the tools to exploit the system are not liable. Got it.

Windows 10 will be my last Windows operating system. It’s been fine and it works well enough. I’ve already started setting up a drive with Linux Mint 22 for use moving forward.

Chocolate frosty is an amazing salty/sweet pairing!

Knowing what they want and not being shy about it. Confidence, intelligence and honesty.

Any Google smartwatch. I bought 2 at one point. A sport and a dress watch. Both only lasted about a year before the software rendered them useless. I’m now back on analogue watches.

I never had regular crocs, but have had a pair of the sandals and slides. Longest lasting sandals I’ve had and they’re rather comfortable.

Too expensive. Not owner repairable. Too much unnecessary tech baked in.

There’s a path forward for EV’s, but I don’t think the current philosophy is it.

Currently using a combination of Plexamp, WinAmp, Bandcamp and Apple Music.

Spotify is an evil company. Bad for artists, bad for consumers. I’m glad to have quit using their service.

Twitter has never been great, just easy to use and widely adopted. It’s gotten worse under Musk and mostly appeals to the worst people left on the platform.

Just another huge ass company that values short term profits over its employees and customers. Probably won’t be buying any more of their products.

Some say the slam was so hard the shockwaves were felt on the other side of the globe.

The Wind Waker for me. At the time, the open world and sea felt so massive, and the colorful cell-shaded graphics made me feel like I was immersed in a cartoon. I played other Zelda games before, but it was the first one to hold my attention all the way to the end. To me, it’s one of those games I wish I could experience again for the first time.

Dump-truck-ass Pixar Moms are my kryptonite.

03 Ford Focus. Terrible transmission, on board computer fried, all kinds of random engine and sensor issues. Finally found an honest mechanic that said it would cost more to fix everything wrong with it than to just take the L and get a new car. Took a loss on the loan and bought a Camry. Best decision I could’ve made. Nothing but Toyota since.

Tech moves fast ma dudes.

“How Long” by How to Destroy Angels. It’s a better post-apocalyptic story than most theatrical productions in just under 4 minutes.