“This totally amazing new product that everyone will definitely want might turn into a total failure if everyone doesn’t actually want it. Clearly, this is your fault for not wanting it hard enough, and not our fault for shoving a totally unwanted product down everyone’s throats.”

I just switched to Lawnchair recently, and I really like it. I’ll definitely give Dragon a look.

But what about the zero people who used it? Whatever will they do?

I agree, but my point is that even in the minds of the people who think it’s OK to invade privacy like this, I still don’t see how this is supposed to produce useful results.

Meta cutting previous failed ventures to pay for next failed venture.

Even if you can somehow get past the absolutely horrendous privacy implications, how the fuck is this even supposed to work? They want to prevent “digital flashing” (eg, dick pics), but how the fuck is any system supposed to be able to tell the difference between consensual and non-consensual content? What if someone wants to see a picture of someone’s dick? Even assuming you can create a computer model that can accurately identify a dick pic every single time (you can’t), it would also have to be able to infer context to a level that would require effectively human level intelligence and the ability to make judgements across the entirety of a person’s communications. This is so far beyond impossible, from a purely technical standpoint, that I cannot begin to imagine how it was ever allowed to become law.

That depends what you’re trying to solve. For a lot of people, they’re still gonna need their phone. I don’t think “Just use a walkie talkie bro” would read as very helpful advice to the average person.

If, however, you are the sort of person organizing a protest or other similar activity, yes, absolutely, walkie tallies are great. A lot of people who do serious political activism talk about how radio is still the most resilient communication method. Not fool-proof, you definitely need to study up on the limitations, but an invaluable tool to be aware of.

If you are going to a protest as a group, and you have the resources to invest a few hundred bucks, getting a set of walkie-talkies for the group plus a dedicated burner one responsible person to carry (maybe someone who will be in radio range but clear of the actual happenings) is also a solid strategy, but we also shouldn’t be acting like “Going as a group” and “spending a few hundred dollars” are prerequisites for being politically active. There need to be solutions for everyone.