If we put aside the environmental damage and the capitalist aspects of LLMs, I fail to see why I should change the way I use my devices to let some hallucinating algorithm do stuff. The only times I use it is when I’m really stumped coming up with relevant search results, and even then there’s more than 50% chance that it’s not gonna achieve some break through.

I don’t want Gemini. I want Google to Keep Android Open.

Brain: You know, she looks like Vi- Sees comment -cky. Yeah.

Don’t download from a shady looking website, go to reputable sources. Fitgirl, Internet Archive, etc. Read the comments if the website has them, don’t have to read thoroughly, just a quick skim to see if other people reported things and whether they’re false positives. Don’t download things before they’ve released, or download things for other platforms but "for Windows"somehow. Make sure what you’re downloading takes up the kinda space you’d expect from that game, (don’t download GTA V but it’s a 40mb download).

Yeah, we basically rely on blind faith. Honestly I trust pirates to keep their stuff clean more than the developers and the publishers themselves who just so often inject the malware called DRM in the first place.

The cruelty really is the point, huh?

Do you have an issue with desktop Cromite where the browser just straight up freezes except for maybe the menu button? I’d chalk up to being a Debian Linux weirdo, but my work-provided Windows 11 laptop also has this particular issue in the flesh. I switched back to Ungoogled Chromium because of it, and also cause I want uBlock Origin and no less.

At least Cromite Android has extensions.

Yeah, that was a thing. They planned to shut down the store and that didn’t come to pass for the Vita and PS3. Plan went through for the PSP though.

And I love my Vita! Still wish I got a PSP along with it though, always wanted one as a kid.

They’ll be shut down this year? Have you got a source I could look at, cause that’s news to me.

Same. Wouldn’t have even known it was Han Solo’s line myself.

The majority of people

Stop using such shit excuses. Keep Android Open!!

It only sounds like magic because all of you succeeded at speedrunning “you will own nothing and you’ll be happy” into coming true, music, videos, games, books and even OSes (reminder for keepandroidopen.org). But it’s not magic. If you can download cat photos and memes, you can save and play MP3s. I’ve taken this feature for granted, and so can you.

Bandcamp lets you download music in several formats. I think Apple Music and Amazon are still viable for MP3s (but eugh supporting US oligarchs, Bandcamp is also US). Some people graciously offer MP3s on SoundCloud. When all else fails, use NewPipe or an app to convert YouTube videos into local MP3 files - in fact you may find links to buy and/or free download music albums in the description. Nothing about this is magic, and shouldn’t be.

The author is unnecessarily making the rebellion against enshittification harder, and neglecting to mention you can start now with current hardware to achieve the same desired results. You don’t need an iPod.

I went ahead and read the rest. It’s like the author is pretending Android only has Spotify and clones, and nothing to do the iPod’s thing. If you don’t have a system music player, go find one on Google Play or F-Droid. I had PowerAmp and ditched it because of its online activation DRM scheme, and for a while I had Musicolet before it had a subscription tier attached to it, and jumped apps until I settled on Retro Music, for now. A better app might dethrone it. Come to think of it, that’s a pro over the iPod, it’s stuck with Apple’s idea of the music player back then, but Android lets you choose upcoming and past players.

The intentionality of putting gigabytes of tracks and curating them after the fact is definitely way easier with Android, too.

Okay. I read a bit of the article. By a bit I mean I made it to the part where the iPod HDD and battery have been modded. This dude is leaving out half his side of the story.

You need to get MP3s for the iPod. Did the dude even try to put those same MP3s on their phone? Who knows. They spent a lot whinging about streaming apps and their enshittification, really funny. Local music apps are set up and forget affairs, I use Retro Music from F-Droid - zero enshittification, no subscription fees, and that version is free. The author can use it too.

I’m certainly no iPod modder, but I’m pretty sure you needed to install iTunes to get it to play literally anything. Android lets me play whatever from the SD card root, phone memory root, Download folder, or even if it’s lost in my screenshot gallery for an absurd example.

Heck, you can’t watch videos unless they’re encoded/converted in a way that the Pod can play them. Any modern phone can play anything with the system video app or VLC or something.

Not a concern to me at all, but the pod doesn’t have Bluetooth, so you’re practically required to use something with the 3.5mm jack. A decent phone should have both.

If you don’t want to receive a LinkedIn notification, turn off LinkedIn notifications. Android’s notification system has matured tremendously, no app will send anything unless YOU have allowed it in the first place. Or turn on Do Not Disturb, which the author says they did, but I don’t believe them. Bedtime Mode is an even stronger option, as it can hide your notifications. For the nuclear option, just turn off WiFi/mobile data - of course streaming apps will be unable to do anything in this case, but… Local music players will keep trucking on.

TL;DR Just download and use a LOCAL music player you’re comfy with and play the MP3s you already put on your iPod.

The iPod isn’t something you’re gonna hold constantly in your hands, like a classic handheld console where you can argue that you prefer playing GBA, PSP or Vita games on their original hardware, screen, buttons and all. You will most likely pocket it and only interact with it using your wired earphones. Your phone is still the best option here.

And just manage to push it unilaterally too. This shit must be opposed.

I have a fair bit of gripes with them, but they stay out of the way instead of embedding yourself into the system. Buy game, download it, we’re both done. You know, like an actual store, and not a parasite? Plus they’re not US-based and giving the Epstein class less tax dollars is always good.

I’m worried about its new ownership but apart from some LLM shenanigans which they quietly backtracked on they’re still way better than the rest.

And private companies still exist in and play by the rules of a capitalist system, yes. A system that encourages being unethical and chasing profits. So you bet worker-owned is the best bet. That or a lot of regulation, which the US is deliberately lacking.

So yeah as a Linux user I’m not putting 1% of my faith in a US corporation.

Just because a capitalist US corporation is “not public” you figure they’re not chasing next quarter? Really?

Yay a Luanti mention!

That user’s Linux is in bed with a US private corpo run by a billionaire? Tsk.

Valve not being dickridden for once? I’m breathing fresh air and I’m loving it.