>people do care enough to stop but they don't know how
I'd guess the vast majority of HN users will be primarily users of Windows/Mac OS and proprietary software. Many HN users will use GMail, Google Maps, Google Play Services... an so on.
Are we going to pretend that your average HN user doesn't understand the pros/cons of their software choices? Personally, I'd prefer to credit them with the intelligence to have made a balance and reasoned decision (albeit one I fundamentally disagree with).
This trickles down to less tech savvy users too. Many of my colleagues in Medicine are more than aware of such issues due to rules and regulation on data storage and the like. They know, for example, why patient data should never be on Google Drive or GMail. They still continue to use those services for personal use, despite being aware, because they simply aren't sufficiently motivated to change their habits. GMail is familiar, and hence easy, so why switch to ProtonMail (for example)?
>How can you get a job if you don't have a phone? How can you get a job when literally every affordable phone tracks you?
I have a very good career and have used Replicant OS and Lineage OS. I now use a dumbphone because I dislike smartphones for other reasons. There are many, many successful people who can function perfectly well without the latest iPhone.
>People that say that consumers don't care enough to stop is living in their own bubble insulated from real people.
Please don't resort to ad hominem attacks on Hacker News. It is uncalled for, and there are more appropriate ways to put your point across.
> Are we going to pretend that your average HN user doesn't understand the pros/cons of their software choices?
I am not pretending that the average HN doesn't understand the pros/cons of their software choices. I own my own domain and with it I provide my own email, calendar, and the like. It's nowhere near as simple as it could or should be. It increases the barrier to entry in both cognition and technology required while hiding the actual cost of the decision to offload that data to a third party.
> They still continue to use those services, despite being aware, because they simply aren't sufficiently motivated to change their habits.
Again: bubble. Is it that they're insufficiently motivated to change their habits? Or is it that they've been trained (whether personally, or educationally, or through another employer) for something easier and haven't been given a solution just as easy?
> GMail is familiar, and hence easy, so why switch to ProtonMail (for example)?
For me, personally: both of them are off-site and not owned by me. For many others: they don't know of ProtonMail. For many of them: they can't afford ProtonMail.
> There are many, many successful people who can function perfectly well without the latest iPhone.
I wasn't talking just about phones. Computers, even your employer's computer, can track you; my employer uses GSuite.
> Please don't resort to ad hominem attacks on Hacker News.
I don't believe this was an ad hominem attack; I believe it was an observation.
> I now use a dumbphone because I dislike smartphones for other reasons. There are many, many successful people who can function perfectly well without the latest iPhone.
I'm curious - how do you handle navigation (both in car and on foot) with a smartphone?
In the car I have a Garmin satnav unit which I can use. They are great quality and I paid about £20 or 30 for it used. I strongly dislike this modern trend for using phones in cars. They are too distracting (I hate this modern trend of huge tablet interfaces in cars for the same reason).
On foot... I honestly don't need maps that much. I struggle to recall ever needing to have live directions while walking. I have a good in-built navigation brain through - probably from growing up doing lots of hiking, orienteering, and so on. I also think that reliance on blindly following a screen stunts the development of such skills. I find I have a very good mental map of my city compared to younger friends.
I spent my teens and 20s without technology like this. I find it quite depressing when this question gets raised.
I'd guess the vast majority of HN users will be primarily users of Windows/Mac OS and proprietary software. Many HN users will use GMail, Google Maps, Google Play Services... an so on.
Are we going to pretend that your average HN user doesn't understand the pros/cons of their software choices? Personally, I'd prefer to credit them with the intelligence to have made a balance and reasoned decision (albeit one I fundamentally disagree with).
This trickles down to less tech savvy users too. Many of my colleagues in Medicine are more than aware of such issues due to rules and regulation on data storage and the like. They know, for example, why patient data should never be on Google Drive or GMail. They still continue to use those services for personal use, despite being aware, because they simply aren't sufficiently motivated to change their habits. GMail is familiar, and hence easy, so why switch to ProtonMail (for example)?
>How can you get a job if you don't have a phone? How can you get a job when literally every affordable phone tracks you?
I have a very good career and have used Replicant OS and Lineage OS. I now use a dumbphone because I dislike smartphones for other reasons. There are many, many successful people who can function perfectly well without the latest iPhone.
>People that say that consumers don't care enough to stop is living in their own bubble insulated from real people.
Please don't resort to ad hominem attacks on Hacker News. It is uncalled for, and there are more appropriate ways to put your point across.