They wouldn't need to run the ad business. Downsize and replace it with taxpayer dollars.
The reason to nationalize something existing in these spheres rather than build something new is because the network effects of these platforms make it near impossible for something competing to get a foothold. And if anyone could fail to compete against big tech, no one could fail better than the government.
Best would be if they nationalized these systems and then migrated them to their FOSS alternatives over time.
As much as I love seeing Trump get into hot water, how is this different than a TV station interviewing him?
It's traceable but also possible to hide your identity, especially if you are a major criminal or government under sanctions. Especially when compared to the traditional finance system (in which they also tend to be pretty good at hiding their identities and transactions).
It's a great platform for being able to transfer money that would otherwise be under sanctions and for storing criminal profits. And that's probably what it will always be for.
The only way to get this rich is by exploiting others and almost definitely breaking laws. These people all have a screw loose somewhere.
Yeah, even my $50-$60 logitechs will probably last me at least 5-10 years so even $1 would be steep but would be nice for example just to get a new case as the rubbery stuff starts wearing off which is something I'd probably just put up with otherwise.
Yes the idea of fixing is less compelling for a mouse than other technologies. But I would still feel better if I knew they did fix just the part that was broken rather than chucking the whole thing out.
Really, I'm not against this model if it were simply a low monthly fee to rent hardware and have it perpetually fixed and maintained. For a mouse I couldn't imagine more than $1-2. I would feel good paying that knowing that the mouse wouldn't go onto the trash heap when it stopped working well.
But of course that's not what they are thinking. They are thinking you still pay an exorbitant up front cost, plus you pay an exorbitant subscription on top of that.
Well if all the good mods leave and you only have the bad ones left or people who come in just to profit, you get this.
What do people use to replace Microsoft Office these days? Have they got wine working well enough to run them yet or are you still stuck with open source alternatives?
I can't wait to see the level of grifts that will come when they really start to get desperate.