Heartening to see more people pushing Right to Repair! R2R seems like such a niche topic but it might be one of the more important issues of this century. Like Louis Rossman points out, that an Apple repair guy from NYC is advocating for farmers in Colorado shows how insidious this is- if we don't stand up now, manufacturers will put a stranglehold on everything from food production on down!
The only time I can imagine right to repair becoming a big issue is when people quite literally start dying. Like if a car manufacturer makes subscription heating in a place with intense winters. Right now people treat it like climate change. Until they start experiencing the effects of it directly in their face nothing will change
@@stamzthehuman897 people are dying because hospitals have broken MRI machines, xrays and electronic heart monitors that cannot be fixed due to it being designed for being unrepairable, and then its super expensive to buy a brand new new one. So patients in many countries have untreated issues because hospitals dont have the means to actually detect and diagnose their issues.
It's made niche artificially. It used to be that you could easily repair products but companies eventually pushed out the idea that that should be possible from customers
@@stamzthehuman897 problem is that many see getting a new product as much a positive that not being able to repair one they already owned a bit justifies getting a new one instead of being mad it can't be fixed
Vendors should not be allowed to mislead customer by using words like "Buy" or "Own" when what they are really selling are licenses and subscriptions. 5:15 - well said.
@@singleboostplease no. Rent and lease implies there's a definite end time. Don't give companies the idea that the right to use gets automatically revoked after a certain time and you have to buy it again to still use it.
I wrote EULAs (and EUSAs) for a software company. I have this exact conversation with my friends at least once a year. Thanks for the video and educating people.
There's that one saying that I heard that rings quite true, "eventually, you will own nothing and you will be happy about it". That is becoming more and more true every year with how it seem like everything is going toward the monthly subscription route.
The thing is that wasn't just said at some random place but at the World Economic Forum, although it was without the "eventually" Strangely enough this was said by a politician belonging to a socialist party
I'm a 52yrs Director in a Tech company and I consider myself a high income earner at $350,000 per annum, I have a retirement account account but i still want to explore opportunities for short term gains before i start working less in few years.
In my opinion, IRA is a valuable strategy for retirement planning, providing growth and tax advantages. While the market is promising, expert guidance is essential for portfolio management.
I learnt this when I got disabled from an accident, I had to reach out to a financial planner who devised a plan for me to live off dividends from my investments. Other than Disability Cheque, I earn enough from home and live comfortably with her help.
Sure, the likes of the popular lady ‘’Colleen Rose Mccaffery’’ does a good job. Just look up the name, you’d find details on the web to set up an appointment as she offers free consultations from first timers like yourself.
You forgot the John Deere company, who can remotely destroy your half-million tractor purchase, without any notice (because somebody ordered them to do it, or they thought it was stolen).
For those who are not gamers: In 2013 with the relesease of the new next generation console "xbox one", Microsoft tried to link each physical game disk to the first console it runs in. This way, the game cannot be play in any other console other than yours, so you cant share, gift or resell your own physical game disk The backslash from the fans was huge so Microsoft dumped down tbe system But that was not only an idea That was their central plan with the console
So true. I canceled my ink subscription with HP and the brand new cartridge that I gotten from the subscription did not work because I had canceled my subscription earlier. It took me 3 hours to realize that was the cause and not my printer dying. Such a waste. I'm sure HP also has the option to claim my immortal soul...
That's fair. When subscribed, you have access to unlimited ink, so it makes sense that when you unsubscribe, you lose access. It's like how if you unsubscribe from Netflix, you can't watch the movies you've downloaded. Edit: it has come to my attention that you don't actually get unlimited ink with Instant Ink.
Don't get me started on printers now!😡 Fewer things piss me off more than the world of printer supplies, specifically toner/ink. I'm a high school Economics teacher. I have 2 printers in my classroom: a Canon color laser printer and an Epson color inkjet printer, the latter being that new inkjet technology by Epson. I'm referring to the newer inkjet printers on which you can do auto-duplex printing (that's automatic double-sided printing for the not-so-techie folks in the audience). I also have 2 printers in my home office, both of which are color laser printers: a Xerox and a Lexmark. The cost to purchase toner, and in the case of the Epson, ink cartridges, is significantly higher when purchasing the name brand or manufacturer's supplies. On my Lexmark printer, for example, the cost to purchase a single Lexmark toner cartridge is usually 75% to 100% more expensive than buying an off-brand cartridge. Most people with whom I'd share that information would understandably tell me that they don't believe it. "No way the price of that cartridge is twice as much for the name brand one," I've often heard. Unfortunately, that's the sad truth. P.S. I spent 25+ years in the business world before changing careers into education. In what industry did I work prior to becoming a teacher? I sold reprographic equipment of all sizes and prices: copiers, fax machines, digital duplicators, and printers, among other things. We were always pushed to get the customer to agree to buy supplies directly from us than a 3rd party. The overhead on the supplies was astronomical.
They did the same to me! Made me sick to throw away brand new ink cartridge. But I refused to keep going with their shitty ink subscription service. Felt to good to say „No more!“ and cancel their subscription service.
Should be illegal for companies to change the terms of use and/or service after the time of a purchase. Features advertised on a product, only to get revoked access to unless you pay a brand new subscription a year later needs to be outlawed.
In the EU in consumer contracts‘ general terms and conditions are not allowed to have any unexpected clauses. Consumer rights are usually quite well protected but in the digital sphere the laws aren’t quite as solid yet.
You can “rent” a Citroën Ami for 99€ a month and the last time I checked you couldn’t actually buy the car it was a “subscription” kind of. Same thing for normal cars you can get a subscription and change cars every 3 years. You make a down payment, the car is serviced by (say Renault) it’s all in like a credit loan payment but the car never becomes yours. And if one day you want to unsubscribe I think 🤔 they give you back your down payment… Maybe 🤔 Europe is cracking down on programmed obsolescence so companies are looking for way to build products that last and still make you buy a “new one” every month 😅
This is the same situation as in the United States. EULA are enforceable in Europe as well but European institutions and governments have passed laws restricting the type of language that can go into EULAs and what European courts will enforce. The United States has not passed as many similar consumer-protection laws.
I really glad to see more creators talking about this Louis Rossman has been putting so much work into this and we can all benefit greatly from the work he's done
I'll just say the following. The movie, music and video game industries have ALL lost my business because of the change from physical to digital media and the loss of places that sold the former. I honestly don't miss their products and have found other things to do with life.
Movies are all meaningless sequals, music is all formulated industrial garbage. I just re-watch and re-listen the old stuff. And watch some free RUclips stuff once in a while. Definitely don’t miss their “products”.
I still vaguely participate in those industries, but I still stubbornly buy physical video games and will continue to do so until they tear them from my cold, dead hands. Re: music and movies, I think I'm beginning to lean towards buying physical copies again. My dad's a musician, so I've heard a lot about how terrible streaming is for artists, especially smaller artists. The payments are abysmal, especially if you don't get millions of listens a month. And movies and shows - that whole thing recently where some movies and shows were removed from streaming services with no warning and no other way to access them. That sucks for consumers but is absolutely horrible for the people who worked on those shows, who poured their hearts and souls into a piece of art that practically no longer exists. I HATE that and don't want to support that bullshit. So I have no subscriptions to streaming services anymore, lol.
I kept a lot of my old DVDs that I have so if I have to go back to entertain myself, so be it! But at the same time, I watch movies online for free, and I listen to my music for free now, win-win!
Love 2cents! I am a software developer and I have been trying to bring this to the attention of my friends and family but I often get a glazed look and people rarely care when I mention it or they get so frustrated because it sounds overly technical that they want to change the subject because they feel like I am droning on again about work. You do such a good job of explaining complex topics in a simple manner! Thank you! Hopefully this gets people riled up and wanting to do something about it! I'm most worried about how cars are becoming integrated with the internet and worried that car manufacturers will start charging subscriptions to even use their vehicle. This wouldn't be hard to do. They can already lock you out if you stop paying your car payment as a means of repossession. Most modern cars can't even be worked on without expensive software that integrates with the car's internal computer. We need to draw lines in the sand people! When they start charging you a fee to use the car you're already paying for, it's putting more hurdles in the way of regular people getting to the places they need to go.
How patronizing. Your friends and family likely understand what you're saying perfectly well, there is simply nothing they can do about it. Relentlessly pursuing them about a factor of their life they can do little to control will get tiring. Why do you assume your own friends and family are too "glazed" to understand your technical mind? Have you thought that your communication could use work, rather than their understanding?
@@RP-uu7oq This is why I am so appreciative of making this topic easy to understand and approachable! Thank you 2cents! They have certainly explained other complex topics to me that I had trouble understanding in the past.
I remember wanting to binge Seinfeld this year and feeling compelled to buy the digital collection. It was only until I read the fine print that i realized i was only paying for the rights to stream it, not to actually own the series on digital if my account gets lost or the service goes under. I was so much happier to have the dvd collection just to own it. It's a shame we fork over possession for accessibility and physical has to die for the sake of profitability
The issue with this is dvds are very low quality by modern standards and not everything has come to bluray. This is why piracy has had such a resurgents in recent years. Its literally the only way to control your own high quality copy of media.
@@ashtech1184 I was just saying this to my husband this morning! These practices are literally stifling innovation. We are literally forced to return to using a lesser form of media by buying something on a DVD.
Right to Repair is an add-on to Rent-Seeking under Anti-Trust laws. Many businesses violate Rent-Seeking, its just Anti-Trust enforcement has been lax since the 80's.
True, we need to stop confusing the law with the legal system. EULAs are just bullshit that hasn't been tossed out yet bc courts would rather side with corpos than with basic human rights.
I've always wondered about how I used to buy a music CD and I was able to use it however I wanted, but now you pay to download the same CD and you really don't own anything. I've kept my CDs and my CD player.
The last part suddenly escalated my fears. Companies would monetize literally anything they can. It's also more possible now because of our massive shift to software dependency. I can't imagine the amount of control an organisation could possess. Phew!
A reason I NEVER pay $60 for a game these days (or more) is because you no longer buy the game you lease it. And games like Madden and NBA2K you are only leasing it for about 2 years before they stop allowing you to play it. Leads to some REALLY awful series (like 2k and madden). Oh no 2k is going to revoke my license to 2k20 because I said something bad about them... Oh wait can't really play it anyway.
Imagine if new houses started to come with Smart House functions built in - everything from digital locks to internal/external cameras to Internet to Home Theatre systems. Buyers are then forced to sign intrusive EULA's and are required to allow third parties to see the video and hear the audio. Being late on a payment or saying anything bad about the builder or HOA could result in your locks no longer working and garage door not opening! Where does it ever stop?
In the EU and especially in Sweden (where the law tradition is that agreements are haggled), EULAs are not enforceable. If they can't prove I read them, they shouldn't let me sign
Is there a consumer rights organisation anywhere that reads these EULAs for us (the big ones anyway) and publishes a summary and things to be aware of? I really, really don't like agreeing things that I haven't read first, but it is just impossible to read EULAs and if there was something I didn't like would I really stop using a service that I now depend on anyway ?
I’m a User Experience Designer and User Researcher (with ADHD so I’ve been struggling with understanding EULAs for years) and I’m working on creating a site/platform that will compile and translate EULA terms (as well as publish any changes and translations) for the biggest and most common clauses. I want to see if the site can be up and running by the end of the year and have lawyers contribute to the site on a volunteer basis and have people spread the word about it!
I just told my husband, who is also called Philip by the way, all the "Terms " in the beginning of the video. He is at work now, I'll check his phone 2hen he comes back to make sure he is subscribed because yes! Two cents is my most favourite money channel
I think copyright law is definitely gonna be one of the biggest legal battlegrounds in the next few years. With so many notable works coming into the public domain, I wouldn’t be surprised we see new legislation changing the law (like we did back in the 90s with the sonny bono act)
Technically speaking, there is an alternative. When you purchase digital media, you own the right to access it and download it-thereby giving you the means to manufacture your own digital media. This was a point of contention in the videogame market for years, but under the current grayness of emulation provided you own a copy of the ROM in question, you can download another for your own personal use.
As far as gaming is concerned, unless you're required to launch through an "always online" launcher, you effectively have access to the software for as long as it's on your machine. It doesn't matter if the hosting service ever goes down when I can just execute my local copy. And if I ever lose it, that's no different than breaking my physical copy. Technically, we don't "own" this software. But there are more than enough legal measures available to ensure that we'll always have access.
Do not buy digital media! Only by physical media. A buddy of mine had his RUclips account terminated, and he used to purchase all his movies off of there. They would not give him a refund. So you do not actually own the digital copies of anything you purchase. Only by physical!
Problem is, Blu-Ray players are really expensive and not at all portable, and portable ones are even more expensive. Even portable DVD players cost over £40. And the built-in screens they come with probably aren't very good. But £40 isn't that much to own your movies, and DVDs are often cheaper than digital.
I wonder, could AI be able to help with this topic? One could copy and paste a EULA into an AI system like ChatGPT and ask it to summarize the most important terms, like a tldr, and while imperfect could give us a better understanding to what we're agreeing to
That won't happen if the government starts regulating AI. They would probably not allow AI to damage the economy in this way. And the government is quite likely to regulate AI, with all the people complaining about losing their jobs.
"Unless you want to opt out of all pop culture" Absolutely. I kicked out anything TV-like incl. streaming, almost 20 years ago. Also was prepared to say farewell to some 95% of gaming when I switched to Linux a few months back. Turned out, that wasn't even necessary, gaming under Linux works just fine most of the time.
How to get around EULAs: pirate/stream everything as much as possible and buy "dumb" products that don't use subscription models. Send the message that this has to stop.
Everything digital are just "rents", servers will come down one day. It is a lie when digital services have buttons that say "Buy" (unless they actually provide DRM free files you can download), they should all say "rent". If you want to own media, and have the chance, physical media at least gives you an actual copy you can preserve.
@@h0laPlanetaThat's no better. The movie studio could pull the movie from a certain region and order you to return the disc with no refund, if the contract you signed allows them to do that.
If it's something you can only access through Amazon, then you don't own it. If it's a digital copy that exists on your local machine, then you do. Digital ownership is a thing, you just need to be aware of how access to those products is handled.
I dropped all my streaming services and exclusively watch stuff that I buy physically. It's the only way to ensure that I OWN my favorite movies and shows.
Renting instead of owning is essentially neofeudalism. In middle ages in many countries, farmers didn't have right to own anything (maybe except wife, children, and personal belongings). Their hut and tiny field was rented from a nobleman in exchange for enormous taxes. Today the same problem is in property market, more and more people are forced to rent most (or whole) life, some even live in their cars or on the streets. This eventually leads to total elimination of middle class, leaving only the poor and aristocracy, and "brain drain" where almost no progress is made, as it was e.g. whole middle ages.
Reuters came after me for sharing one of their articles on FB about an event that I was attending. I made no money. It wasn't for anything other than sharing a lifelong dream that I was finally fulfilling. Talk about sucking the joy out of something. They can bite me regarding payment. Someone needs to talk to Ford about their ownership of the Ford GT Mk IV. They are still telling people what to do with cars the customer paid full price for. They disallow reselling or trading the car for 2 years.
BMW wants to sell heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month. Should tell you everything you need to know about this fad. Buy the car. Own the hardware. But because you didn't pay your monthly stipend, no tushy toaster for you.
Yup - so many issues with HP and their ink subscription service. Don't pay it and your printer is remotely bricked. Start using store bought cartridges again and the printer won't accept them. Try to unsubscribe from the ink subscription and you get en error screen every time you click the confirm cancellation button.
2:24 the two craziest I know of are Elon basically putting "free and independent mars" into the star link ToS and I think it was the Unity game engine stating I agreed not to use their tech to make WMDs. I wasn't planning on it, but it really stuck out as odd.
Thats why I absolutely refuse to "buy" digital copies of anything, and refuse to buy devices that require an online connection to use (with few exceptions - routers make no sense offline, after all). Whether or not EULAs are enforcable depends a lot on jurisdiction too. Courts in Germany for example have held incomprehensible legal-speak EULAs to be unlawful and unenforceable. In the US, some EULAs (Microsofts for example) have been struck down by courts too. The issue is that these scumbag tech "companies" - which is ALL of them - know that the average consumer doesn't have the financial means to fight these things in court. The US legal system is basically giving all rights to the rich, and leaves the poor in the dust.
Pawn shops aren't really selling DVDs anymore, and that's all I use. I have no subscriptions, just a dumb TV and a DVD player. But eventually they won't make any of those things anymore. :(
Would be interesting to know what percent of the income is actually not some kind of tax. After all whatever is taxable is "taxed" from the customer (by increasing the price).
Exactly why my newest car is 10 years old. Why any new appliances are not internet capable. Give me most basic stuff now. I bought a router that required an account to set it up. Returned, got something else.
Game developers are actualy not selling you the game but rather just giving you access to play it because if you lose your account but still have your payment info you are not getting the game back and because of this some people say if buying isn't owning then pirating isn't stealing
I like Phil’s tattoos and the fact he shaved 🪒 his mustache off. But I do think he looks better with shorter hair. I’m Andrew. Thanks for your videos. They’re really helpful.
So a book publisher can't put in noticeable text that you don't have the right to your stuff, but a manufacturer can hide in a EULA? Lol the American legal system is wild
It sounds like we need to abolish intellectual property then, If they can control your property after you purchase (this includes the right to copy) then you don't actually own what you purchase.
Even with Europe stricter rules EULAs are the one reason I'm not buying smart stuff, if it connects to the internet I will avoid it. Even my laptop was bought without an operating system on which I installed Ubuntu, sadly phones is where they got us locked pretty easily
Side tangent but i feel like abandoned software should get it's own limelight- who says my product needs to be bricked because the developer doesn't want to support it anymore? I'm looking at you Spotify Car Thing™️
We know these vampires will suck us dry, but continuously buying there products is telling them to drink me. Take more, we as the consumer hold all the power.
I have an Xbox series s, so have to buy just digital. But I never pay for anything full price, I wait for the sales. Yes I’m at the mercy of them but where I live I don’t have space for loads of discs, and some of the games I want to play don’t have a physical copy. Other then that I’m more careful of other things. Any music I want I have either a bought copy, or I’ve backed up mp3 downloads onto a hard drive.
You mentioned video games; this is a constant debate in that field. You can void warranties trying to repair a console, for example, and personally, I HATE the movement towards all games (and media in general) becoming digital only. Part of the issue is, yes, reselling games when you no longer need them. With AAA games now costing $60 or even $70 now, I want to be able to pass it on if I don't like it!! Also, digital games, imo, are more prone to glitches and stuff. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were apparently horrible messes when they came out. My copy was fine... apparently because I was playing off a cartridge instead of a downloaded copy. There was some issue with memory when it was fully digital that hard copies didn't struggle with as much. And heck, I like being able to pick up my game and start playing at midnight, versus starting the download at midnight, lol, but that's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. So yeah, I still buy hard copies of any major game I plan to play. Between the glitches, the resale potential, and just being old enough to want a physical copy in my hands... I don't want to switch to all digital yet. :/ I feel the same way about books, too. I buy and sell back books all the time. I think that's great for the industry. Also, speaking of which, my roommate has started buying CDs again... he uses Spotify and listens to a lot of unusual bands, and apparently songs or artists he listens to disappear off of Spotify ALL THE TIME. Plus all the drama about shows being pulled from streaming sites and basically being impossible to access anymore. So he's getting fed up and trying to find and purchase physical media again. However... my 2016 car doesn't have a CD drive, nor do my desktop or laptop computers. The whole industry is trying to phase out physical media and it's awful. It's going to have bad consequences for artists of all sorts, as y'all said.
Yeah. A Blu-Ray drive costs about $90 on Amazon. I can understand not including one in computers because of all the space they take up, but companies should really start putting their stuff on USB Flash drives. Then people can watch it without an expensive player. As for warrenties being voided if you repair your stuff, that's understandable. Companies shouldn't be responsible for damage you do to your stuff by mistake when you repair it.
There's always the option of buying the digital and then downloading your own version to save on a harddrive just in case the streaming service decides to just drop the songs or the distributor has a spat with the streaming service and they can it all. That way you paid them money but you don't have to store all of the physical media. That can take up a lot of space.
![MISSING: SLIM SHADY [Expanded Mourner’s Edition Trailer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xh8qgHrOO1g/mqdefault.jpg)
Heartening to see more people pushing Right to Repair! R2R seems like such a niche topic but it might be one of the more important issues of this century. Like Louis Rossman points out, that an Apple repair guy from NYC is advocating for farmers in Colorado shows how insidious this is- if we don't stand up now, manufacturers will put a stranglehold on everything from food production on down!
The only time I can imagine right to repair becoming a big issue is when people quite literally start dying. Like if a car manufacturer makes subscription heating in a place with intense winters. Right now people treat it like climate change. Until they start experiencing the effects of it directly in their face nothing will change
very true.... right to repair should be an absolute right. people should have the right to repair their own property however they like.
@@stamzthehuman897 people are dying because hospitals have broken MRI machines, xrays and electronic heart monitors that cannot be fixed due to it being designed for being unrepairable, and then its super expensive to buy a brand new new one. So patients in many countries have untreated issues because hospitals dont have the means to actually detect and diagnose their issues.
It's made niche artificially. It used to be that you could easily repair products but companies eventually pushed out the idea that that should be possible from customers
@@stamzthehuman897 problem is that many see getting a new product as much a positive that not being able to repair one they already owned a bit justifies getting a new one instead of being mad it can't be fixed
Vendors should not be allowed to mislead customer by using words like "Buy" or "Own" when what they are really selling are licenses and subscriptions.
5:15 - well said.
selling licenses rather than a product itself should be heavily restricted
I agree. Someone should sue or lobby to make companies use the words rent or lease instead of buy and own.
@@singleboostplease no. Rent and lease implies there's a definite end time. Don't give companies the idea that the right to use gets automatically revoked after a certain time and you have to buy it again to still use it.
I wrote EULAs (and EUSAs) for a software company. I have this exact conversation with my friends at least once a year. Thanks for the video and educating people.
Did you put in the contract a clause about owning their immortal soul?
@@b.cdrisk2035 no answer for more than two months... Either the corps killed him, or he did put in a paragraph about the soul.
There's that one saying that I heard that rings quite true, "eventually, you will own nothing and you will be happy about it". That is becoming more and more true every year with how it seem like everything is going toward the monthly subscription route.
I can't wait till we have to purchase a monthly subscription for air.
no kidding.. everything is going to be this way eventually for sure
The thing is that wasn't just said at some random place but at the World Economic Forum, although it was without the "eventually"
Strangely enough this was said by a politician belonging to a socialist party
I'm a 52yrs Director in a Tech company and I consider myself a high income earner at $350,000 per annum, I have a retirement account account but i still want to explore opportunities for short term gains before i start working less in few years.
In my opinion, IRA is a valuable strategy for retirement planning, providing growth and tax advantages. While the market is promising, expert guidance is essential for portfolio management.
I learnt this when I got disabled from an accident, I had to reach out to a financial planner who devised a plan for me to live off dividends from my investments. Other than Disability Cheque, I earn enough from home and live comfortably with her help.
Impressive can you share more info?
Sure, the likes of the popular lady ‘’Colleen Rose Mccaffery’’ does a good job. Just look up the name, you’d find details on the web to set up an appointment as she offers free consultations from first timers like yourself.
Thank you for this pointer. It was easy to find Colleen handler, She seems very proficient and flexible. I booked a calI session with her.
During my final year of Highschool our teacher showed us Two Cent's Videos every week in Finance Class. Very good videos, shout out to Mr. Gates!
You forgot the John Deere company, who can remotely destroy your half-million tractor purchase, without any notice (because somebody ordered them to do it, or they thought it was stolen).
For those who are not gamers:
In 2013 with the relesease of the new next generation console "xbox one", Microsoft tried to link each physical game disk to the first console it runs in.
This way, the game cannot be play in any other console other than yours, so you cant share, gift or resell your own physical game disk
The backslash from the fans was huge so Microsoft dumped down tbe system
But that was not only an idea
That was their central plan with the console
So true. I canceled my ink subscription with HP and the brand new cartridge that I gotten from the subscription did not work because I had canceled my subscription earlier. It took me 3 hours to realize that was the cause and not my printer dying. Such a waste. I'm sure HP also has the option to claim my immortal soul...
@@Gnomezonbacongod isn’t real 😂
That's fair. When subscribed, you have access to unlimited ink, so it makes sense that when you unsubscribe, you lose access.
It's like how if you unsubscribe from Netflix, you can't watch the movies you've downloaded.
Edit: it has come to my attention that you don't actually get unlimited ink with Instant Ink.
Don't get me started on printers now!😡 Fewer things piss me off more than the world of printer supplies, specifically toner/ink. I'm a high school Economics teacher. I have 2 printers in my classroom: a Canon color laser printer and an Epson color inkjet printer, the latter being that new inkjet technology by Epson. I'm referring to the newer inkjet printers on which you can do auto-duplex printing (that's automatic double-sided printing for the not-so-techie folks in the audience). I also have 2 printers in my home office, both of which are color laser printers: a Xerox and a Lexmark.
The cost to purchase toner, and in the case of the Epson, ink cartridges, is significantly higher when purchasing the name brand or manufacturer's supplies. On my Lexmark printer, for example, the cost to purchase a single Lexmark toner cartridge is usually 75% to 100% more expensive than buying an off-brand cartridge. Most people with whom I'd share that information would understandably tell me that they don't believe it. "No way the price of that cartridge is twice as much for the name brand one," I've often heard. Unfortunately, that's the sad truth.
P.S. I spent 25+ years in the business world before changing careers into education. In what industry did I work prior to becoming a teacher? I sold reprographic equipment of all sizes and prices: copiers, fax machines, digital duplicators, and printers, among other things. We were always pushed to get the customer to agree to buy supplies directly from us than a 3rd party. The overhead on the supplies was astronomical.
They did the same to me! Made me sick to throw away brand new ink cartridge. But I refused to keep going with their shitty ink subscription service. Felt to good to say „No more!“ and cancel their subscription service.
@@TylerG7777 You were supposed to return the ink in their postage-paid envelope.
Should be illegal for companies to change the terms of use and/or service after the time of a purchase.
Features advertised on a product, only to get revoked access to unless you pay a brand new subscription a year later needs to be outlawed.
I wonder how true is it in Europe as you cannot give up many rights you have by agreeing to the EULA and law is always above it.
If you have to wonder, you might already have agreed your soul away 😂
In the EU in consumer contracts‘ general terms and conditions are not allowed to have any unexpected clauses. Consumer rights are usually quite well protected but in the digital sphere the laws aren’t quite as solid yet.
You can “rent” a Citroën Ami for 99€ a month and the last time I checked you couldn’t actually buy the car it was a “subscription” kind of. Same thing for normal cars you can get a subscription and change cars every 3 years. You make a down payment, the car is serviced by (say Renault) it’s all in like a credit loan payment but the car never becomes yours. And if one day you want to unsubscribe I think 🤔 they give you back your down payment… Maybe 🤔 Europe is cracking down on programmed obsolescence so companies are looking for way to build products that last and still make you buy a “new one” every month 😅
This is the same situation as in the United States. EULA are enforceable in Europe as well but European institutions and governments have passed laws restricting the type of language that can go into EULAs and what European courts will enforce. The United States has not passed as many similar consumer-protection laws.
I think you missed the main point of the video.
I really glad to see more creators talking about this
Louis Rossman has been putting so much work into this and we can all benefit greatly from the work he's done
I'll just say the following. The movie, music and video game industries have ALL lost my business because of the change from physical to digital media and the loss of places that sold the former. I honestly don't miss their products and have found other things to do with life.
Only have ourselves to blame. It's the market that decided most people would rather pay for a subscription than buy physically.
Movies are all meaningless sequals, music is all formulated industrial garbage. I just re-watch and re-listen the old stuff. And watch some free RUclips stuff once in a while. Definitely don’t miss their “products”.
I still vaguely participate in those industries, but I still stubbornly buy physical video games and will continue to do so until they tear them from my cold, dead hands.
Re: music and movies, I think I'm beginning to lean towards buying physical copies again. My dad's a musician, so I've heard a lot about how terrible streaming is for artists, especially smaller artists. The payments are abysmal, especially if you don't get millions of listens a month. And movies and shows - that whole thing recently where some movies and shows were removed from streaming services with no warning and no other way to access them. That sucks for consumers but is absolutely horrible for the people who worked on those shows, who poured their hearts and souls into a piece of art that practically no longer exists. I HATE that and don't want to support that bullshit. So I have no subscriptions to streaming services anymore, lol.
The allure of convenience will be the modern fight for freedom.
Our society loooooves convenience
I kept a lot of my old DVDs that I have so if I have to go back to entertain myself, so be it! But at the same time, I watch movies online for free, and I listen to my music for free now, win-win!
Love 2cents! I am a software developer and I have been trying to bring this to the attention of my friends and family but I often get a glazed look and people rarely care when I mention it or they get so frustrated because it sounds overly technical that they want to change the subject because they feel like I am droning on again about work. You do such a good job of explaining complex topics in a simple manner! Thank you! Hopefully this gets people riled up and wanting to do something about it! I'm most worried about how cars are becoming integrated with the internet and worried that car manufacturers will start charging subscriptions to even use their vehicle. This wouldn't be hard to do. They can already lock you out if you stop paying your car payment as a means of repossession. Most modern cars can't even be worked on without expensive software that integrates with the car's internal computer. We need to draw lines in the sand people! When they start charging you a fee to use the car you're already paying for, it's putting more hurdles in the way of regular people getting to the places they need to go.
How patronizing. Your friends and family likely understand what you're saying perfectly well, there is simply nothing they can do about it. Relentlessly pursuing them about a factor of their life they can do little to control will get tiring. Why do you assume your own friends and family are too "glazed" to understand your technical mind? Have you thought that your communication could use work, rather than their understanding?
@@RP-uu7oq This is why I am so appreciative of making this topic easy to understand and approachable! Thank you 2cents! They have certainly explained other complex topics to me that I had trouble understanding in the past.
I remember wanting to binge Seinfeld this year and feeling compelled to buy the digital collection. It was only until I read the fine print that i realized i was only paying for the rights to stream it, not to actually own the series on digital if my account gets lost or the service goes under. I was so much happier to have the dvd collection just to own it. It's a shame we fork over possession for accessibility and physical has to die for the sake of profitability
I had the exact same feeling recently, I think after this, I've officially decided to just buy hard copies.
The issue with this is dvds are very low quality by modern standards and not everything has come to bluray. This is why piracy has had such a resurgents in recent years. Its literally the only way to control your own high quality copy of media.
@@ashtech1184 I was just saying this to my husband this morning! These practices are literally stifling innovation. We are literally forced to return to using a lesser form of media by buying something on a DVD.
@@misterhoeflak I disagree, because you can easily share or sell your dvds and you can't do that with streaming
Right to Repair is an add-on to Rent-Seeking under Anti-Trust laws. Many businesses violate Rent-Seeking, its just Anti-Trust enforcement has been lax since the 80's.
It hasn't been lax. They just use it for political gain instead of actually protecting consumers.
True, we need to stop confusing the law with the legal system. EULAs are just bullshit that hasn't been tossed out yet bc courts would rather side with corpos than with basic human rights.
I've always wondered about how I used to buy a music CD and I was able to use it however I wanted, but now you pay to download the same CD and you really don't own anything. I've kept my CDs and my CD player.
The last part suddenly escalated my fears. Companies would monetize literally anything they can. It's also more possible now because of our massive shift to software dependency.
I can't imagine the amount of control an organisation could possess. Phew!
"you will own nothing and be happy" #greatreset
"hold my consumer rights"
A reason I NEVER pay $60 for a game these days (or more) is because you no longer buy the game you lease it.
And games like Madden and NBA2K you are only leasing it for about 2 years before they stop allowing you to play it.
Leads to some REALLY awful series (like 2k and madden).
Oh no 2k is going to revoke my license to 2k20 because I said something bad about them... Oh wait can't really play it anyway.
Thank you so much! So many people are not aware of the dangers of EULA.
A collab with Louis Rossmann on this would be fun
Imagine if new houses started to come with Smart House functions built in - everything from digital locks to internal/external cameras to Internet to Home Theatre systems. Buyers are then forced to sign intrusive EULA's and are required to allow third parties to see the video and hear the audio. Being late on a payment or saying anything bad about the builder or HOA could result in your locks no longer working and garage door not opening! Where does it ever stop?
Things like EULAs are why I happily pirate everything.
In the EU and especially in Sweden (where the law tradition is that agreements are haggled), EULAs are not enforceable. If they can't prove I read them, they shouldn't let me sign
Is there a consumer rights organisation anywhere that reads these EULAs for us (the big ones anyway) and publishes a summary and things to be aware of?
I really, really don't like agreeing things that I haven't read first, but it is just impossible to read EULAs and if there was something I didn't like would I really stop using a service that I now depend on anyway ?
I’m a User Experience Designer and User Researcher (with ADHD so I’ve been struggling with understanding EULAs for years) and I’m working on creating a site/platform that will compile and translate EULA terms (as well as publish any changes and translations) for the biggest and most common clauses.
I want to see if the site can be up and running by the end of the year and have lawyers contribute to the site on a volunteer basis and have people spread the word about it!
@@rachel_sj this sounds great!! I wish you success and can't wait to check out what your site comes up with!
Commenting for any updates on this site! @@rachel_sj
Physical media community, this video is for us.
Diabolical, but thank you for the info! I suspected as much every time the operating system is upgraded!
I am never getting over my stupid PetNet food dispenser that bricked after the company screwed everyone over.
I just told my husband, who is also called Philip by the way, all the "Terms " in the beginning of the video. He is at work now, I'll check his phone 2hen he comes back to make sure he is subscribed because yes! Two cents is my most favourite money channel
"You will own nothing and be happy"
- Klaus Schwab, Chairman of the World Economic Forum
Libraries often have great collections of movies and video games.
Also books of course, including physical, e -book. & audio
I think copyright law is definitely gonna be one of the biggest legal battlegrounds in the next few years. With so many notable works coming into the public domain, I wouldn’t be surprised we see new legislation changing the law (like we did back in the 90s with the sonny bono act)
Wow look at man’s majestic hair. Boutta brush it like a doll.
I do. On the reg.
Technically speaking, there is an alternative. When you purchase digital media, you own the right to access it and download it-thereby giving you the means to manufacture your own digital media. This was a point of contention in the videogame market for years, but under the current grayness of emulation provided you own a copy of the ROM in question, you can download another for your own personal use.
I'm watching this video with my Steam library open next to it. Still shiver to think what would happen if they go down
As far as gaming is concerned, unless you're required to launch through an "always online" launcher, you effectively have access to the software for as long as it's on your machine.
It doesn't matter if the hosting service ever goes down when I can just execute my local copy. And if I ever lose it, that's no different than breaking my physical copy.
Technically, we don't "own" this software. But there are more than enough legal measures available to ensure that we'll always have access.
I got scared and tried to check for "Terms and Conditions" under the description!!
Do not buy digital media! Only by physical media. A buddy of mine had his RUclips account terminated, and he used to purchase all his movies off of there. They would not give him a refund. So you do not actually own the digital copies of anything you purchase. Only by physical!
Problem is, Blu-Ray players are really expensive and not at all portable, and portable ones are even more expensive. Even portable DVD players cost over £40. And the built-in screens they come with probably aren't very good.
But £40 isn't that much to own your movies, and DVDs are often cheaper than digital.
A lot of content isn't available in physics form
The fact that people don’t know this is baffling. If you didn’t have your account, where would all your stuff go??
He now has every right to pirate all lost media. If fact, stop buying media.
The stuff is digital. It can just be on our devices. We don't need their launcher.
Great video! Digital services are very dissapointing to me. I will always prefer physical media.
I wonder, could AI be able to help with this topic? One could copy and paste a EULA into an AI system like ChatGPT and ask it to summarize the most important terms, like a tldr, and while imperfect could give us a better understanding to what we're agreeing to
That won't happen if the government starts regulating AI. They would probably not allow AI to damage the economy in this way. And the government is quite likely to regulate AI, with all the people complaining about losing their jobs.
If you don’t own digital media if you 'buy' it, then piracy of digital media can't really be called theft IMO
hmm.... clever concept.
If you don't own a car when you rent it, then stealing the car can't really be called theft.
"Unless you want to opt out of all pop culture"
Absolutely. I kicked out anything TV-like incl. streaming, almost 20 years ago. Also was prepared to say farewell to some 95% of gaming when I switched to Linux a few months back. Turned out, that wasn't even necessary, gaming under Linux works just fine most of the time.
Piracy and Hacking tis the way we do things now.
How to get around EULAs: pirate/stream everything as much as possible and buy "dumb" products that don't use subscription models. Send the message that this has to stop.
"You can't really own an Apple product. Never was... and never will be." -Steve Jobs
In Mustache We Trust!
The South Park episode should be a warning to people of what can happen if you just click accept without reading.
So if I buy a movie on Amazon do I actually own it ? What happens if Amazon goes bankrupt? What happens to the Digital media?
Everything digital are just "rents", servers will come down one day. It is a lie when digital services have buttons that say "Buy" (unless they actually provide DRM free files you can download), they should all say "rent". If you want to own media, and have the chance, physical media at least gives you an actual copy you can preserve.
@@h0laPlanetaThat's no better. The movie studio could pull the movie from a certain region and order you to return the disc with no refund, if the contract you signed allows them to do that.
If it's something you can only access through Amazon, then you don't own it.
If it's a digital copy that exists on your local machine, then you do. Digital ownership is a thing, you just need to be aware of how access to those products is handled.
I always thought those contracts were sketchy.
Good to know!
Love how "disparage" was cleverly inserted to the start of the video. 😂
As a fellow long haired man I will NEVER say anything negative about Phillips hair and for the record I believe he is incredibly HANDSOME
I dropped all my streaming services and exclusively watch stuff that I buy physically. It's the only way to ensure that I OWN my favorite movies and shows.
A People's History of Native America sounds awesome! I'll check it out and maybe watch it with my classes. Thank you!
"The things you own end up owning you" - F**** C***
Renting instead of owning is essentially neofeudalism. In middle ages in many countries, farmers didn't have right to own anything (maybe except wife, children, and personal belongings). Their hut and tiny field was rented from a nobleman in exchange for enormous taxes. Today the same problem is in property market, more and more people are forced to rent most (or whole) life, some even live in their cars or on the streets. This eventually leads to total elimination of middle class, leaving only the poor and aristocracy, and "brain drain" where almost no progress is made, as it was e.g. whole middle ages.
Reuters came after me for sharing one of their articles on FB about an event that I was attending. I made no money. It wasn't for anything other than sharing a lifelong dream that I was finally fulfilling. Talk about sucking the joy out of something. They can bite me regarding payment.
Someone needs to talk to Ford about their ownership of the Ford GT Mk IV. They are still telling people what to do with cars the customer paid full price for. They disallow reselling or trading the car for 2 years.
The coffee maker example. Manufacturer is selling me a whole peace Can I charge them for running their software in my coffee machine?
No, but you can probably uninstall their software and install your own.
Modern digital media is now marketed as a digital key to access it for a limited time at the discretion of the manufacturer.
BMW wants to sell heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month. Should tell you everything you need to know about this fad. Buy the car. Own the hardware. But because you didn't pay your monthly stipend, no tushy toaster for you.
Yup - so many issues with HP and their ink subscription service. Don't pay it and your printer is remotely bricked. Start using store bought cartridges again and the printer won't accept them. Try to unsubscribe from the ink subscription and you get en error screen every time you click the confirm cancellation button.
superb, I love this channel always to the point and inspiring! keep it up you two awesome beings.❤
2:24 the two craziest I know of are Elon basically putting "free and independent mars" into the star link ToS and I think it was the Unity game engine stating I agreed not to use their tech to make WMDs. I wasn't planning on it, but it really stuck out as odd.
Thats why I absolutely refuse to "buy" digital copies of anything, and refuse to buy devices that require an online connection to use (with few exceptions - routers make no sense offline, after all). Whether or not EULAs are enforcable depends a lot on jurisdiction too. Courts in Germany for example have held incomprehensible legal-speak EULAs to be unlawful and unenforceable. In the US, some EULAs (Microsofts for example) have been struck down by courts too.
The issue is that these scumbag tech "companies" - which is ALL of them - know that the average consumer doesn't have the financial means to fight these things in court. The US legal system is basically giving all rights to the rich, and leaves the poor in the dust.
More people need to talk about this!!!
Bring back the Stache!
Excellent video! I've been wondering what this is about since it has come up in recent news with Apple supporting it supposedly.
Pawn shops aren't really selling DVDs anymore, and that's all I use. I have no subscriptions, just a dumb TV and a DVD player. But eventually they won't make any of those things anymore. :(
It all starts with the listener licence...
Excellent to see R2R advocacy here!
Would be interesting to know what percent of the income is actually not some kind of tax. After all whatever is taxable is "taxed" from the customer (by increasing the price).
Anyone who is optimistic about this getting better is naive. Most politicians are bought and paid for
3:37 You can't sell someone a gun and then tell them what they can shoot with it.
@denislomtev1469 Touché 😄
6:40 what's scary is HP ink jet printers already reject non-HP cartridges (or refilled ones)
Exactly why my newest car is 10 years old. Why any new appliances are not internet capable. Give me most basic stuff now. I bought a router that required an account to set it up. Returned, got something else.
Game developers are actualy not selling you the game but rather just giving you access to play it because if you lose your account but still have your payment info you are not getting the game back and because of this some people say if buying isn't owning then pirating isn't stealing
You cannot even own word processing software. You have to subscribe to it. I wish i kept my old typewriter.
2 cents is great, thanks for the content guys 😊
I like Phil’s tattoos and the fact he shaved 🪒 his mustache off. But I do think he looks better with shorter hair. I’m Andrew. Thanks for your videos. They’re really helpful.
So a book publisher can't put in noticeable text that you don't have the right to your stuff, but a manufacturer can hide in a EULA? Lol the American legal system is wild
What legal system?
Right to repair babe! 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Love how you even PBS is, like, "yeah, no. This is fucked up."
Is there a petition to sign or something? Great information but what do we do with it?
The new Mustang is a combination of badboy vehicle and hall monitor. Creepy.
It sounds like we need to abolish intellectual property then, If they can control your property after you purchase (this includes the right to copy) then you don't actually own what you purchase.
I do and if they take away what I paid for I compensate that via torrents. Justice shall prevail.
What a flex! I would need some sweaters for the next year for some gift giving ❤. Yeah I'm one of those crazy loyal fans
Even with Europe stricter rules EULAs are the one reason I'm not buying smart stuff, if it connects to the internet I will avoid it. Even my laptop was bought without an operating system on which I installed Ubuntu, sadly phones is where they got us locked pretty easily
Not gonna lie, Lawyer Julia is kinda fire 🔥
LOL. Why thank you.
Side tangent but i feel like abandoned software should get it's own limelight- who says my product needs to be bricked because the developer doesn't want to support it anymore? I'm looking at you Spotify Car Thing™️
You should read the contract to buy seeds to plant....
ironically, it is the high end or expensive products that usually have the most restrictions.
The most anoying part is when the company goles bankrupt and You end up with a unusable software
Isn't rent just a "subscription fee" for a house? 🤐 Sad... people would like to own one some day.
Push companies to stop this crap, if enough people complain they will have to adapt.
We know these vampires will suck us dry, but continuously buying there products is telling them to drink me. Take more, we as the consumer hold all the power.
And thats why i continue to purchase Blu-rays.
I have an Xbox series s, so have to buy just digital. But I never pay for anything full price, I wait for the sales. Yes I’m at the mercy of them but where I live I don’t have space for loads of discs, and some of the games I want to play don’t have a physical copy.
Other then that I’m more careful of other things. Any music I want I have either a bought copy, or I’ve backed up mp3 downloads onto a hard drive.
Thanks guys!
You mentioned video games; this is a constant debate in that field. You can void warranties trying to repair a console, for example, and personally, I HATE the movement towards all games (and media in general) becoming digital only. Part of the issue is, yes, reselling games when you no longer need them. With AAA games now costing $60 or even $70 now, I want to be able to pass it on if I don't like it!! Also, digital games, imo, are more prone to glitches and stuff. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were apparently horrible messes when they came out. My copy was fine... apparently because I was playing off a cartridge instead of a downloaded copy. There was some issue with memory when it was fully digital that hard copies didn't struggle with as much. And heck, I like being able to pick up my game and start playing at midnight, versus starting the download at midnight, lol, but that's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
So yeah, I still buy hard copies of any major game I plan to play. Between the glitches, the resale potential, and just being old enough to want a physical copy in my hands... I don't want to switch to all digital yet. :/ I feel the same way about books, too. I buy and sell back books all the time. I think that's great for the industry.
Also, speaking of which, my roommate has started buying CDs again... he uses Spotify and listens to a lot of unusual bands, and apparently songs or artists he listens to disappear off of Spotify ALL THE TIME. Plus all the drama about shows being pulled from streaming sites and basically being impossible to access anymore. So he's getting fed up and trying to find and purchase physical media again. However... my 2016 car doesn't have a CD drive, nor do my desktop or laptop computers. The whole industry is trying to phase out physical media and it's awful. It's going to have bad consequences for artists of all sorts, as y'all said.
Yeah. A Blu-Ray drive costs about $90 on Amazon.
I can understand not including one in computers because of all the space they take up, but companies should really start putting their stuff on USB Flash drives. Then people can watch it without an expensive player.
As for warrenties being voided if you repair your stuff, that's understandable. Companies shouldn't be responsible for damage you do to your stuff by mistake when you repair it.
There's always the option of buying the digital and then downloading your own version to save on a harddrive just in case the streaming service decides to just drop the songs or the distributor has a spat with the streaming service and they can it all. That way you paid them money but you don't have to store all of the physical media. That can take up a lot of space.