What kind of pre-enshittification tech do you all use? Stuff where ppl look at you like you’re an alien b/c nobody does it that any more.
Me ->
Oldschool offline mp3 player rather than Spottify or other streaming or phone app, to use when running.
Paper books rather than e-books.
DRM free games I buy on GOG to avoid rootkitting my own comp.
Wired speakers rather than smart speakers.
Old ass pre-connected car.
Prob more but I can’t think of it all rn.
You must log in or # to comment.
RSS feeds instead of algorithms
Old ass pre-connected car.
this is me and i think now that i’m going to keep this thing until i die. lol
same for mine. max amount of electronics i’m willing to tolerate in late stage capitalism is EFI.
Wired headphones.
Component hifi with floorstanding speakers.
Older car with cable-driven throttle and clutch.
Rotary-dial landline phone (not even kidding)
Vinyl records.
Home theatre PC.
Component desktop tower PC.
Basic Casio digital watch.
I use more post-enshittification tech. I’ve replaced most of the apps on my phone with open source versions.
I’ve never used proprietary software on my Linux computers so there’s no enshittification there. But I have stopped using my enshittified android TV in favor of Kodi on Linux.
For the love of god. I just started repairing a Huawei P10 for my own use (was my mom’s). I had to ADB pm uninstall --user 0 a bunch of Huawei shit and play services. The (last) 2021 upgrade made it so it redownloads some apps I removed occasionally (Facebook, Instagram, Petal, …) fuck this. Why does it keep doing it?
I think I also uninstalled something too much since it doesn’t pair to bluetooth devices anymore.
And why can’t I just unlock the bootloader and replace the os (well, I could with PotatoNV, but i could only get a GSI, so I lose most features and the camera quality). And it’s also stuck on Android 9 - somehow (the phone is from 2017).
Still more usable than my Redmi 4x (4+64) with some motherboard issues, and cheaper than the decent grapheneos compatible phones on ebay (300 - 400€ in EU).
IPod classic 5th gen with a 512gb sd card and higher capacity battery
Gameboy advance with a backlit screen, rechargeable battery and a flash cart
Library card for borrowing cds and dvds to rip
2022 thinkpad running arch
Film camera
And I dont connect my tv to wifi
Thanks for reminding me to fix my old iPod!
I miss my GBA :/
A CRT is mandatory for videogames! Also many old audio stuff is superior in quality, like old portable CD players or wired headphones, it doesn’t surprise me that many people today still want vintage tech.
Old audio stuff is definitely higher quality in a lot of ways. Also I so need to get a CRT :3
My grandma has a Phillips CRT tv. It’s way better than any of my family’s LCDs I hope I could inherit it and not let it go to waste when she dies (but hopefully she lives longer than the TV - since it’s indestructible).
pair that CRT with a softmodded Wii and a component cable
you will be able to emulate almost any retro console with great image quality
pair that with an 8bitdo M30 and you have nearly perfect experience until 4th gen gaming
The car is a 2014. Not internet connected but still has a black box.
I’ve been playing local mp3 for decades. Along came streaming but I didn’t see a reason to switch.
My laptop is a 2017 T-470 Thinkpad running Fedora44. Old machine, new software.
I use Syncthing and external hard drives instead of cloud storage.
I don’t own a TV.
Not a single smart appliance in the house.
Nothing but everything I do run people still think I’m weird. Self hosted music, vacuum running valetudo speakers connected music assistant and home assistant.
If computers count then a phone with GrapheneOS and a laptop and a PC with a custom NixOS config.
- lynx
- vim
- pen & paper for my notes/scratch pad
- a book (made of paper)
- wired everything
- old washing and drying machines (40 years old+ and still kicking!)
- lynx
lol you win, but it’s the only weird thing on your list
Side note, there was a gui version of lynx that ran on the early Mac.
- TI-89 calculator. Got mine for college, wouldn’t trade it for any other calculator
- Thinkpad X230, quad core modded
- Librebooted HP Z220 desktop in authentic 2001 beige case and 1600x1200 beige monitor
- 90s-era UI via Chicago95 on XFCE
- Early 90s car with intact tape deck
- Personal website in pure CSS/HTML
- Beige speaker-subwoofer set with added mixer for multi-device connectivity
- Cash. Don’t worry, I won’t waste your time counting out coins; I save them up and deposit into my bank account at the end of each year
- Palm Pilot. Tbh, taking notes on my phone is just as easy, but I’m afraid it doesn’t look nearly as respectable in front of the speaker.
- If I need to deeply comprehend literature, I have to read it on paper. My mind defaults to skimming anything on a screen.
The one piece of old tech I don’t miss are bulky charging bricks. I use my GaN USB-C charger whenever possible, sometimes with the help of adapters.
Termux on Android devices
To give an example yesterday walking down the street I had an idea for a prototype (basically every morning my phone would generate an ePub with calendar, map of the area, notes, articles to read, etc) but I didn’t use some fancy voice assistant, no I started Termux on my phone, mkdir, echo idea > file, etc.
I have notes on my wiki on https://fabien.benetou.fr/Content/SwappingPartsOfTheRestrictionStack on doing this kind of stuff on more than phones, VR headset, IoT, etc. Typically the heuristic is to still by modern hardware flash an open source firmware or OS then connect it to your tools that are already not enshittified or de-enshittified
They’re from before my time, but I collect cassette tapes. Other than that, I try to buy digital stuff DRM-free, and use FLOSS over proprietary slopware. I really hate bluetooth for audio because it sounds so bad.
Oh and I have a pocket-watch.
Alphasmart keyboard to type notes when I’m out and about then transfer it to a VimWiki journal entry when I get home with a single button
iPod video modded with things like USB C and more storage
Retro “inspired” tv. Essentially, my old CRT didn’t survive a move and I replaced it with a replacement iPad 3 screen, a 3D printed body, and an analogue scaler so I can still plug my ps2 into it. It’s not really the same but it was a fun project.
Original gameboy with LSDJ so I can make chiptunes (though at this point, I’ve replaced it with the Dirtywave M8 entirely)
Tech of the non-electric variety:
Inkle loom, rigid heddle loom, and floor loom for various weaving
Spinning yarn on a spinning wheel and drop spindles (also have a 3D printed DIY e-spinner because the spinning wheel is so temperamental)
i like e-books on an e-reader. i wouldn’t consider them enshittification, can read them offline and even get some drm free books
anyway my boomer and luddite habits and devices:
an e-book reader that’s always offline, with drm free books
gog games just like you (just hoarded plenty of older games yesterday from the sale hehe)
lemmy and mastodon instead of modern social media with addicting algorithms, invasive tracking and ads
a retro emulator handheld (anbernic rgsp) to play gameboy, gameboy classic and gameboy advance games offline. aux earbuds with it ofc if i use it in public
no ai usage
i use qwant instead of google cus it’s a lot closer to an old school search engine
youtube without algorithms (pipepipe, freetube) just like the way it used to be
pay with cash instead of card or google pay etc nonsense
no loyalty cards or loyalty apps even if i lose money monthly from groceries and such
avoid apps and usage of the smartphone in “smart ways” whenever possible
don’t play any games with a rootkit anticheat
no modern car, i use public transportation. i pay for my ticket without an app whenever possible
no consumption of short form content
