They supposedly can be disabled in settings- but we all know that won’t last. They’re going full Microsoft Skype mode and it’s only a matter of time.

  • @[email protected]English
    38•8 months ago

    The best approach to “free” things is to understand that it’s never sustainable. Eventually it will have to become a paid subscription or ad supported or both.

    And regardless, you’re going to end up being the product if they can discern anything marketable about you from your use of the “free” product.

    But just be ready to jump to the next free product.

    (Obviously it’s possible for there to be FOSS but that comes with some challenges as well.)

    • @[email protected]English
      11•8 months ago

      Eventually it will have to become a paid subscription or ad supported or both.

      The 3rd option is FOSS with donations… But everyone expects everything on the internet to be free (as in beer) these days

      Nothing is truly free/gratis…

    • dinckelEnglish
      5•8 months ago

      It all comes down to capabilities, and expectations. Under current circumstances, they fail to meet the expectations, but vastly exceeded their capabilities, by trying to chase the hype, rather than provide what the users needed. It costs them next to nothing to create a new profile border, but fixing issues from 2019 takes engineer hours

    • @[email protected]English
      4•8 months ago

      The best approach to “free” things is to understand that it’s never sustainable. Eventually it will have to become a paid subscription or ad supported or both.

      It will become enshittified unless that new service is open source and “free as in beer”. With no profit motive, it can grow gradually and be supported by it’s users. Like Lemmy/ kbin / Mastodon.