I didn't comment on Android, though in the case of Android you can at least bypass the Android market and install arbitrary apps without revocation. (I don't have an Android device, though; still looking for a comparable replacement for my n900, since it won't last forever.) I use quite a few digital services, just not any that control my access to bits I've already purchased. And I use a pile of mobile apps, all FOSS.
I wouldn't even consider the entirety of mobile apps ported to the N900 a pile, but whatever. GP commented on Android and you followed up pretty directly, so I just assumed.
True, I should have said the vast majority of popular digital services, not ones targeted towards the kind of people that would use an N900 to make a point.
At the time I wrote my comment, the original post hadn't actually mentioned Android; that appeared in a later edit.
> True, I should have said the vast majority of popular digital services, not ones targeted towards the kind of people that would use an N900 to make a point.
I don't think services offering the not-quite-purchase of data represent "the vast majority of popular digital services". Also, services like Netflix don't have this problem, since they very clearly position themselves as analogous to a rental, not a purchase. iTunes, the Android Market, Xbox Live, and Steam all very much position themselves as purchasing mechanisms, which makes the ability to retroactively revoke purchases unacceptable.
(And I don't use an N900 to make a point; I use it because it does the things I want it to do better than anything else I've tried, and that includes Android devices. I only mentioned it because you seemed to assume that since I didn't use iTunes or Android I must not use mobile apps at all.)
I'm looking at the truest scotsman in the world right now.
> I don't think services offering the not-quite-purchase of data represent "the vast majority of popular digital services".
I would, assuming you aren't counting rental services. Netflix isn't really the same thing. I'm referring to purchasing digital goods tied to an account.
> And I don't use an N900 to make a point; I use it because it does the things I want it to do better than anything else I've tried
Right...
> and that includes Android devices. I only mentioned it because you seemed to assume that since I didn't use iTunes or Android I must not use mobile apps at all.
Nope, I assumed you use an N900 or something similar the moment you said you didn't use an Android device. You seem like the type. I stand by my original comment, there are very few mobile apps published for MeeGo. I didn't say you utilized no mobile apps, I said a small handful. Still true. Hell, for MeeGo a handful might even be overly generous.
Gotta love the "run through and downvote everything I said" response because I was being honest. I guess a certain HN member is channeling reddit a little today.
Certainly wasn't me; users don't even have the ability to downvote replies to their own comments. I do find it surprising that someone would systematically downvote everything you said (and AFAICT systematically upvote everything I said in the process). I certainly don't think your comments need to disappear; mostly I'd say "I resemble that remark". :) I've upvoted them to compensate.
I realized after I posted it that the "certain person" remark made it sound like I was accusing you. I wasn't, I literally meant a certain person, as in some random other user.
It's true that if you use no digital services and buy almost no mobile apps, you can avoid this. That kind of blows, though.