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Heroes Community > Other Side of the Monitor > Thread: The Big Five
Thread: The Big Five
friendofgunnar
friendofgunnar


Honorable
Legendary Hero
able to speed up time
posted July 25, 2018 08:03 AM

The Big Five

I was reading something recently and they mentioned "the big five tech companies, you know who they are", and it struck me how much society has changed because of them.

So this thread is your opportunity to give your opinion on the big five.

Microsoft: has given me astonishing amounts of aggravation and tech rage in my lifetime.  has produced shoddy products for most of its existence. A couple of winners though, like Visual Studio for example, have proven to be extremely useful and vital to my life. 4/10

Amazon: can't really think of any reason to hate Amazon.  They really have their **** together.  Have made buying just about anything way easier.  Am leery of the monopoly they've been developing though. 9/10

Apple: My only real interaction with them has been the Itunes and the Itouch, both of which are subpar products.4/10

Google: I use a lot of their stuff a lot of the time and it mostly works well.  I'm taking a point off for google maps though which used to be awesome and now is just unuseable.  8/10

Facebook:  Suxxorz Ballzorz.  barely even works on my PC it's so slow.  2/10

oh I forgot about Yahoo

Yahoo: This zombie needs a shotgun blast to the face.  0/10

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Neraus
Neraus


Promising
Legendary Hero
Pain relief cream seller
posted July 25, 2018 11:52 AM

If I started talking about them I couldn't stop complaining and raging.

But here I am, in my little corner raging at the giants because I'm powerless to do anything else.

Let's start with Microsoft, the guys holding a virtual monopoly on operating systems, sure, there are both Linux distros and Macs, but it's not like they have the same wide distribution that Windows holds, as well as the wide array of programs, of which some don't even exist for other platforms. After all the classic meme is: "A Mac for gaming?", and WINE still needs work to keep up with the recent developments (Or so I'm led to believe). So what do you do with your position as the hegemon? You push out mediocre products and ruin good products with your awful business decisions. Just this week I was forced to update my Skype since my tech illiterate mother updated her own, and in turn she couldn't receive our webcam feed, good things... And so they ruined the interface, they amputated the settings and now it starts the incoming call jingle when you call somebody, just... WHY? I haven't used it yet, so I don't even know what its performance is, so I won't express myself on that.
And then there's their fixation on trying to control a portion of the gaming market, pushing their own platform and locking those who refuse to use their service, as a child I loved playing Age of Empires II, but now I can't play the remake of the first, and likewise for a long time I couldn't play Killer Instinct, the long awaited third installment of one of my favourite games back then. And then there was the Halo franchise, I loved the first and second, but couldn't play the third because we refused buy a 360 just for a single game (we're proud fans of Sony and we only have Playstations, all of them bought on sale, and we got the fourth because our cousin gifted us one), and from that we stopped even caring about it, but apparently, Halo has also been ruined, which is a damn shame, that game rocked. To this day I haven't yet played Halo 3.

There's this project, called ReactOS, and I bloody hope it gets more coverage, since it's supposed to be an OS with full compatibility with Windows, the problem is that they have to reverse engineer everything, and as such progress is much slower, add to that that they're all volunteers, so they'd need a bigger team, I'd even help, but I'm ignorant when it comes to programming. But this would be the perfect alternative to Windows, and a bloody good blow against that juggernaut.

Ok, we got my most hated out of the way... Wait, Google's still there.
Did I mention Microsoft's little spy agency? I'm one of those paranoid guys who hate telemetry in all its forms, and the fact that Microsoft wants to get my data worries me and angers me, I took my own precautions, but who knows if they actually hold up. Now multiply that a hundred-fold and you have Google, and that's the company I'm attempting to migrate from, as long as it's possible, since they are another of those bloody hegemons. Compared to Microsoft though, they have good services, and the alternatives don't hold up as well as they do. I still use Gmail for example, since it's the most accessible, and I use Google search since it's the fastest and with the most results (also, who uses Bing?), and Androids are leagues better than IOS phones, so that's another point in their favour. But Google collects so much damn data, I have my GPS shut off 24/7 otherwise it's gonna ask me how was my experience in that little restaurant along the coast, sure it's not life-changing, but it does make you uncomfortable that they're becoming so bold about their tracking.
I've at least swore off Chrome, and everytime I can I use DuckDuckGo, and I also block most cookies, so I'm a little better? Who am I kidding, of course it's not enough, those jackals know who my contacts are.

So... What about Facebook, since we're in the topic of mass information gathering? I despise them too of course, but at least I don't use it, so I'm a bit more shielded, but let's not kid ourselves, there ought to be pictures of me floating around from gatherings with friends, or pictures of my family for that matter, and so the giant knows my face, it just can't collect the data I'd share. They do own Whatsapp tho, and that's unfortunately for me a requirement to maintain contacts, so... Not safe, again. But I've become so careless that I've even sent a pic of Hitler to my best buddy because he was still celebrating France's victory at the world cup, at this point I'm provoking them.

Let's finally take off the tinfoil hats, and let's stop talking about spying, and let's talk about Apple... I've only used an Ipod for myself, it was good company. Tho I did have bad tastes in videos (What the hell was I doing? Watching Sonic videos on the road?). We did win an Iphone in the family, and that ended up being taken by my brother, a good piece of technology and pretty reliable. Wait am I praising Apple? Well the 3G was good, to be fair, and it allowed us to watch YTP during the summer, because at the time it was a priority. Then my brother also got an Ipad, and that also was a good product. Summing up, they used to be the best in their field, but now they're overpriced hipster gadgets. But we did enjoy their reliability back then.

And finally Amazon, what will probably spell the doom for my business (since apparently Amazon will be allowed to sell pharmaceuticals ), but that's my only qualm with it, apart from the usual and obvious "it's ruining the small businesses", otherwise it's a good service, and it allowed me to get things that I would have had a lot of trouble to get at the price I bought them at. I never had a problem with it, and I even got things earlier than expected sometimes, which is really great. I bought my glorious flag of the Kingdom of Sicily there after all, so how can't I praise them?

Good lord, I needed to vent all that frustration.

____________
Noli offendere Patriam Agathae quia ultrix iniuriarum est.

ANTUDO

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Zenofex
Zenofex


Responsible
Legendary Hero
Kreegan-atheist
posted July 25, 2018 05:05 PM
Edited by Zenofex at 17:06, 25 Jul 2018.

Microsoft: You can hate them all you want, sometimes I do too, the world's most successful OS is theirs and that's not changing anytime soon. I'm talking about Windows 7 by the way. MS Visio is a nice piece of software too (and the Corporate Greed Department acknowledged that recently by introducing individual licenses, praise the human race).

Apple: Don't care about them - never used their products and I'm not planning to start in foreseeable future.

Google: I'll literally be unable to do my job efficiently enough without their search engine. This is the best thing they have developed and actually the only one I'm using 99% of the time.

Facebook: See Apple.

Amazon: From my fairly limited interaction with them, they seem to be doing what they're doing nicely.

What's the point of the thread by the way?

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Kipshasz
Kipshasz


Undefeatable Hero
Elvin's Darkside
posted July 25, 2018 07:37 PM

I guess to went the rage.

Microsoft - Well, they do something right, for the most time, with an occasional flop (Windows Vista and 8, the recent Xbox launch stuff). At one point I considered getting both the original Xbox, and the 360, but budget, and other problems put a stop to those plans.

Apple - overhyped, overpriced garbage, since for the most part their competitors offer better products for the price/quality aspect. a fine example was the first iPod shuffles. for the same price, you could buy a Creative Zen Stone+ which had more storage in it (up to 4gb), required no additional software to transfer music into it(it did come with one, but it was optional) and came with a little LCD screen to boot. or save up for a better MP3 player. also some dumb decisions they've made on their latest hardware.

Amazon - never used it.

Cuckbook - used to be ok, untill Trumpster got elected. my main account has been zucced for more than half a year now. which is somewhat related. but while they ban certain people, online extortion gangs are allowed to run rampant.

Google - same as cuckbook in some cases (remember the Goolag thing?) but it is convenient I'll give them that.
____________
"Kip is the Gavin McInnes of HC" - Salamandre
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior

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friendofgunnar
friendofgunnar


Honorable
Legendary Hero
able to speed up time
posted July 26, 2018 07:20 AM

Yeah this thread is mostly to complain.

I guess you can complain about any tech company given that I gave Yahoo a headshot.

re WIN7, it's definitely been the most durable.  I've gotten WIN10 to an equivalent level of functionality but it took some 3rd party mods. am dreading the next iteration of ********

@Kip what do you mean by online extortion gangs?

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Kipshasz
Kipshasz


Undefeatable Hero
Elvin's Darkside
posted July 26, 2018 08:22 AM

'Member McCarthyism?

Once Slavmalia descended into chaos, bleeping again, some "righteous" bleeps rose up to defend teh interwebz from "wrong opinions". in essence if you don't support Slavmalia and Lithuania's cuckservative commie nepotist party, you're a traitor in their eyes.
There were several attempts to create lists of such "traitors" or "vatniks", and to get your name and other personal info off the list, the group of "Yorkshire Elves" demanded bitcoins.

Your basic extortion with a side of blackmailing and smearing.
____________
"Kip is the Gavin McInnes of HC" - Salamandre
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior

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artu
artu


Promising
Undefeatable Hero
My BS sensor is tingling again
posted July 26, 2018 11:06 AM

Microsoft: To quote Steve Jobs, “it’s McDonalds.” Nothing more, nothing less.

Apple: Even their worst OS is more reliable and bugless than any Windows, no virus, always tasteful, elegant interface that turns looking at your computer into a joy. If money isnt an issue, (gaming isnt since they went Intel, because you can also install Windows on a Mac and reboot to it anytime you want), mac is the way to go. They have some issues regarding user control over apps since Jobs died but, a mac is still much more enjoyable to use than anything else.

Google: They are sufficient at whatever they do. Wonder how much Big Brother stuff is going on though.

Facebook: Practical for staying in touch with long lost friends, having debates in thematic groups, storing photos you need available (I got no instagram), even following the recent news if you dont mind the echo chambers. I also use it to meet girls, my last ex and I met on facebook during a debate under the page of an old professor of mine. Right now, a beautiful Kurdish girl and I are having a vacation here and there was no way I could invite her to my place or even meet her, if it wasnt for Facebook.

Amazon: Since I dont use credit cards, this is seldom useful to me but I can see they have a great variety and they are also quite sufficient at what they do. Never heard anybody complaining about a failed Amazon delivery.
____________
Are you pretty? This is my occasion. - Ghost

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Trogdor
Trogdor


Legendary Hero
Words in a custom title
posted July 27, 2018 04:32 PM

Microsoft - Though I have no qualms about most of their products or Bill Gates as a person, they tend to drop the ball in regards to web browsers. Internet Explorer deserved to be the butt of all jokes aimed at it, and Edge isn't much of an improvement. Also, their operating systems tend to vary in quality, more so in recent years.

Apple - Although I have an iPod and use iTunes regularly as it can be useful for finding new music, the latter is suffering a decline of user-friendliness. I have no other desire to purchase their other offerings as there is more competition outside of portable music devices. Another problem I have discovered is the snottiness of many Apple purists. One even told me that he only downloaded Windows for his iPad was for Autodesk 3DS Max, and even then he was disappointed with the end result.

Google - Another mixed bag. While useful as a search engine and the fact I like the customisation aspects of Chrome, Sometimes the lead searches can be categorised as clickbait. They're also very easily led by governments with more strict controls on what be can seen online, especially with the great firewall of China.

Facebook - Even more clickbait, only this time with a plethora of fake accounts posing as women looking for a quick root thrown in for good measure. I still use it to converse with Aussie rules fans about the state of the game and so on and so forth.

Amazon - I've never personally used it, but lately there has been some gripes about its recent Australian launch. Not only is ours a watered down version of the original, Bezos and company decided upon themselves to stop us Aussies from using US Amazon. The same thing happened with Netflix a few years back.
____________
"Through the power of the dollar you can communicate with the dead." - Artu

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Galaad
Galaad

Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
posted July 27, 2018 05:19 PM
Edited by Galaad at 17:24, 27 Jul 2018.

artu said:
mac is the way to go


I noticed a drop in quality ever since Jobs died and do not find it as reliable as before. For instance you had a full series covering two years of macbooks that had a graphic card issue rendering you a black screen, straight after warranty expires. Apple acknowledged it and there was an option to get refunded but if you didn't do so within a short delay, up yours.

In terms of stability, security, respect of privacy, customization, speed and I pass, I'd say Linux is the way to go. Sure you need to spend a short time initiating yourself to it but clearly you don't need to be a guru to use it for your everyday tasks. The basics are fairly simple and anyone can learn it fast. You can evidently dual or even triple boot if you want all three Oses on same machine for exclusive softwares or gaming purposes.
____________

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Stevie
Stevie


Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
posted July 27, 2018 06:41 PM
Edited by Stevie at 18:43, 27 Jul 2018.

Basically, the rundown as far as I'm concerned is this:

Microsoft - use, can't do without for PC gaming (unfortunately the alternatives lack support for games more often than not).
Apple - don't use, never felt the need. A bit expensive.
Google - use out of convenience and habit.
Facebook - don't use, wouldn't use, I dislike it with a passion.
Amazon - use infrequently, where I got a stable version of Creature Quest back in the day. Heard it works employees to death.
Yahoo - still use for e-mail, however outdated it might be.
____________
Guide to a Great Heroes Game
The Young Traveler

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mvassilev
mvassilev


Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
posted July 27, 2018 08:10 PM
Edited by mvassilev at 21:07, 27 Jul 2018.

Microsoft: They've had their ups and downs over the years, but I still find myself using Windows on my desktop. The gaming advantage is obvious, but I could try using Wine in Linux, not a perfect substitute, but probably mostly adequate for what I want. But I don't, because, despite everything, the Windows UI just feels more polished. The windows move and snap to stuff in the way they're supposed to, while Linux and Mac feel sluggish. Their problem is that every time they try to appeal to the "common man", they produce garbage, like the Windows XP default theme, Windows 8, Cortana, and so on, and they've made it more and more difficult to get rid of it. After a lot of tweaks, I got Windows 10 into a usable state, but it's still inferior to, say, Windows XP. And I still use Office 2003 because the "new" (2007 is new, right?) Ribbon interface is garbage.
I've heard their developer tools are really nice, but I've never used them enough to tell.

Apple: Yeah, they're overpriced (though not as much as several years ago). And they do a lot of nannying. But I have to commend them for figuring out how smartphones should work, which was then copied and improved on by Google. Also, the iPad is the only good option for tablets - sure, you could get an Android tablet (in the Year of Our Lord 2018), but it'll be low-quality. I still use iTunes even though it's been years since I've owned any Apple hardware, because it's hard to switch away from and it's adequate for the task.

Google: Their search is great. Android is better than the alternative, though it's gone downhill in the past few years. Their ecosystem is well-integrated, which is nice but makes it difficult to switch away from one part you don't like.

Amazon: I have no complaints. Amazon Prime is great, their product selection is excellent, and the Kindle got me back into reading books after I hadn't for several years. That said, I wouldn't buy any of their non-Kindle hardware.

Facebook: The product was too good, so they keep crippling it. Real names only! No joke/offbeat groups! Algorithmic, non-chronological timeline. And they keep banning/silencing their non-normie users. I still find it worth using, but it's fallen from its peak of several years ago.

Yahoo: lol


There's a common theme of trying to appeal to normal people and/or appease image-conscious advertisers. Everything must be simple and non-functional, and they have keep up with design trends, otherwise dumb people will be scared off. Everything controversial must be removed or hidden, lest a soccer mom/SJW/alt-right crowd starts making bad PR. And they have financial incentives against admitting that they've created a good product, are done, and need only to maintain it.
____________
Eccentric Opinion

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markkur
markkur


Honorable
Legendary Hero
Once upon a time
posted August 09, 2018 05:14 PM

Better use your voice or you will not have one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_En2pDiY6w

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JoonasTo
JoonasTo


Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
posted August 09, 2018 07:58 PM
Edited by JoonasTo at 19:59, 09 Aug 2018.

Apple
is pure garbage. It's made to inhibit your use of their devices.


Their technology itself is fine though. It's just the design philosophy that sucks balls. I've got an iPhone from work and I absolutely hate it.


Microsoft
is OK. They've gotten better at their engineering all the time. Now they're getting worse at their philosophy though. More and more limits on user customisation. If they keep going like this I will drop them in the next ten years. Design wise XP was their highpoint, all the customisation you could want without any extra baggage. Engineering wise it was still a nightmare (less than the previous ones though.) 10 is their best engineering wise, followed by 2000 and 8.


Google
still the best search on the internet but their censorship and youtube policies are getting on my nerves. Maps is great as well. I couldn't live without google drive and their shared docs. Best thing on the planet. All-in-all a great company so far but starting to slip to the wrong direction.

Yahoo
Finance was still the best free service a few years back. Losing geocities hurt like crazy. Did you know I had Mysti on yahoo messenger?

Amazon
Great TV-series lately. Not much else to say, they don't really have a presence in Finland yet. Alibaba and ebay are much more commonly used here.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.

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