You know what, that's fair.

Agreed, it's an odd move when so much else about the phone is being marketed as having the user's interests at heart. If you scratch a bit and squint at the wording they're using, though, it feels more and more like the CEO has his own idea of how people should be using their phones and is pushing that. The fact that it is more privacy respecting is incidental to the fact. I could be wrong, but that's the vibe I've certainly gotten.

It's too bad. I wouldn't mind having a phone with no social media but no browser is probably going to be a dealbreaker for me. Their FAQ says it's basically a way of 'cheating' to get to social media sites and that's incredibly condescending. I probably just want to look up if a nearby store is still open or something.

US gov wanted to institute a policy that only Americans can use the latest model "including those based in the US" aka forcing everyone to verify their identity, so Anthropic just turned it off.

https://www.engadget.com/2193656/anthropic-blocks-access-fable-5-mythos-5/

Never been happier to hate grapefruit.

I'm starting to look into the 'other' as you say here, but there's a lot to learn, and it can be hard to figure out at times. I tried to get Yggdrasil set up on my computer and just kept running into wall after wall, it was very disheartening. Going to take a break from it and learn about onion addresses instead, I guess.

Agree, but highly recommend checking out Privacy for temp cards.

Actually it's not just the nostalgia talking! Things actually are worse

Read about this in today's Corey Doctorow blog post: https://pluralistic.net/2026/06/11/lapsarianism/#nostalgia-is-a-toxic-impulse

Crazy the weird, fucked up things some places will do to their employees. One of my very first jobs, we got a little cubbyhole where they'd give us our paychecks or in-office notices and the thing I saw most of: What You Fucked Up Last Shift, You Big Fuckup

Glad you are working in a nicer place, and me too, and it sucks we'll always carry that around.

I remember the last time this post made the rounds and I think it was uncertain whether she consented or not.

You're one step closer to Unauthorized Bread