Which is why it is a priority for Republicans to lock in long term bans on regulation of AI. Damaging society has become their highest priority, almost as if they are controlled by our primary adversary.

You can't seriously , actually believe this....can you????

If so, you might wanna quit talking to the bot(s)....go outside and get some fresh air....log off awhile, get away from the TV and your echo chamber....

"Companies have one job in a capitalism - make money. Thatâ(TM)s their *only* societal responsibility..." This is false, it is merely a claim made by sociopaths. A companies "job" is to perform in the way its owners desire, in the past there were differing goals that companies would have (and that's still true of smaller companies). The "make money at any cost" approach comes from Wall Street, not capitalism, it is human nature.

With most any company of any decent size, the "owners" are the stockholders.

And with stockholders....pretty much the sole obligation the people working the company for the stockholders is to make money for the stockholders.

I mean, that's pretty much the ONLY reason anyone buys stock in a company.....why else would they do so if not to make a profit?

That's why I would never lock myself into a limited smart tv. Id rather grab an old laptop and use that.

Or just get a streaming "box" like FireTV or AppleTV....those generally seem work fine, have a remote and an easy to use interface.

I'll stick with them, as long as they aren't that iPhone17 orange abomination.

I'm with you on this one....WTF was up with that orange color???

That AND...no Space Grey or Black?!?!

That's pretty much one of the only things keeping me from upgrading my 12 pro max to the 17 pro max.

I'm hoping in a few months maybe they'll offer better colors....?

I tend to buy top of the line loaded ones....I'm currently on the iPHone 12 Max Pro...loaded storage available at the time...I think 1 TB?

Before that I had the iPhone 6 Plus (did they have a pro?)....and IPhone 3GS before that....

Right now, not seriously in the market....my phone still had plenty of space on it, runs as fast as I need, I don't see any speed or battery degradation on it yet.

I will admit I'm looking at the 17's camera and ability to shoot RAW video...that is starting to tempt me.

I guess my phones are not well over $1K, I generally just put it on Apple Pay, get my 3% cash back and pay it off interest free over 12 months.

I have the cash, but figure why not use "free money" if given the opportunity, eh? I keep may cash for it in an interest bearing account or invested, etc...

I frankly don't give a fuck what anyone thinks of my phone, if they think anything at all.

As I'd written earlier, I think in the US, phones are such a commodity, no one looks at them as any sort of status symbol and hasn't for a long time now...

In fact you HAVE to use external storage if you want to shoot video in RAW format.....

HTH.

Really? I would expect the opposite.

- Owners of flagship devices concerned with their image and having the latest tech would be more likely to replace devices more often to get access to the latest gear, perhaps handing the old device down to a spouse or child if they aren't getting a trade-in credi

I can't speak for places outside the US, but here....the cell phone has become some a commodity that no one here really uses or sees any of the phones as a "status symbol"....

No one pays attention to what phone you have....at least not in most of the US.

Maybe remove tariffs and have more good paying jobs, then Americans will be excited about buying a new phone, new laptop, and new car.

How about in parallel to tarrifs we have federal incentives (maybe from tariff revenues) to help businesses set up and manufacture back in the US again,with US workers with good paying jobs?

Kill two birds with one stone.....

May I ask why the fuck you seem to give as much of a damn as you do on how we live our lives here in the US?

And yes if we want things we get them.....CA wanted something...BUT they apparently didn't want it enough to secure the rights and to properly guard against overspending, etc. It looks to me that the politicians in CA wanted a boondoggle to funnel money from the public coffers more than they wanted a high speed rail system.

But that latter part is just my opinion.

But again....why are you so hyperbolic about how the US does things if you're not over here and part of us?

Live your own life...we really don't give a fuck how you want to do it....just leave us alone, you know?

It doesn't. What it means is cutting through a lot of big parcels whose owners have big money, so they can be big impediments. There has to be a happier medium than this between respect for individual private property ownership and the needs of the many, but we are clearly uninterested in finding it in this country.

The greater good...for who?

I mean, in an example....high speed rail from NYC to LA.

I don't know exactly which states they'd pass through, but let's just pick Iowa for shits and giggles.

Now...to keep things "high speed" that means you're NOT going to be stopping much at all between the two end points.

So, this would benefit people in CA and NY, but it gives NO benefit to people in Iowa who would have cities, farmland,all sorts of private properly they'd have to give up for the system.

Why the fuck would anyone in Iowa vote to give things up for this rail system they do not benefit from and actually gain hassle from...?

I wonder if HSR could be placed on parts of the existing interstate highway system to save costs and time.

You're going to just piss off the majority of people that currently use those to drive....those people are also known as "constituents" and can get a politician fired pronto.

Why does everything have to be profitable?

Well, if you want private industry to build it, they need incentive and "profit" is usually the driving motive historically.

Our current US railways were built by private industry.

The govt would just fuck it up and end up being massively expensive with everyone trying to get their cut of it.....especially if it were Federal.

Most roads, water, utilities...that are public...are LOCAL....city, state funded....

As the OP pointed out, the problem is political and social, not technical.

And well...that's PLENTY enough to derail any efforts in the US.

You start mass eminent domain cases taking land from people and cities and well, you're gonna easily have 50+ years alone before the majority of those are settled one way or another.

Also, unless you get long straight shots of track...you're not going to have true High Speed Rail....and part of the obsticals for that is having to stop many times in many cities, turning to go to each one of those.....and if you don't do that and don't have service to many spots along the way.....those cities and states and localities aren't going to go out of their way to help take away land just to have something go speeding by them and be of no use to them there...

And if you can't really get true High Speed rail in.....most of the US will do "so, why bother? We already have highways, cars and planes to travel long distances fast...why do through the huge expense, litigation and hassle of doing rail?

There would be little perceived ROI to the average US citizen.

I mean, why would someone in Iowa give a flying fuck if someone in NYC could ride a fast train to LA?

The US has no excuse. The only reason the US can't do it is corruption and/or incompetence.

Does it not ever occur to you that we in the US might actually LIKE/ENJOY the transportation system we have?

If we wanted all public transport....we'd get it. If we all wanted to live in extreme urban cities stacked on top of each other like rats and sharing walls....we'd do that.

We simply prefer our way of life....with individual transportation.

It also is likely part of a culture difference....that those in the EU never seem to be able to comprehends...in the US we prioritize the individual....whereas ya'll prioritize collectivism....the masses.

You prioritize the 'state'. And we prioritize the person.

And you act as if you way is the only true and "right" way to live.

Why not step back and think that some free people might want to live differently than you do....?

I also very much doubt you will find any blue haired teachers.

I see PLENTY of them, blue and other neon like hair colors on YouTube and TikTok......tons of them teaching kids and ranting far left ideals....