Looking at this a day later, I can't really see a valid reason for doing this. It costs them nothing to post to X. In fact, X was one of the places I saw the *most* engagement with them. Bluesky is not a nice place, Mastodon has limited engagement. I would think that they'd want to remain on a platform where some folks really needed to see what they were saying. Now they've cut themselves off from a potential audience.

Looking at their board of directors, and into their past associations, it's now a lot more obvious. They pushed John Gilmore out in 2021.

Remember this? https://yro.slashdot.org/story...

First comment is "a time of transition. Wonder if they will make it through with their integrity intact? Only time will tell."

Now we know the answer.

At least where I am (California) Apple News is a solid product. I've been a very happy Apple One subscriber and enjoy it. One reason for me anyway is that I can read our local papers with no paywall, and I use the magazine selection as well. And yes, I've been a huge Apple fan for years. :)

but I certainly get value out of it.

and only if I could hide literally every other trace of unverified content.

Knowing I was dealing with actual human beings might be kind of nice for a change.

The reality is that I'd probably just delete my reddit account and not think twice about it.

It's ruining sports across the board for many people, and I really hate that it's leaked out of Vegas the way that it has.

Nothing like seeing FanDuel and Draft Kings ads on what feels like every sporting event under the sun.

I'm so sick of seeing gambling advertisements.

That's the thing about Google Maps right now. At least on the desktop, for me, I barely even notice aside from the "Sponsored" label.

At this point I'm willing to see what they actually do with it. Apple knows users generally hate ads and want more of an ad-free experience now.

If anything, they need to fix the dumpster fire of ads in News.

If you are saying that perhaps the ongoing "healthy at any size" and body positivity advocates may be a part of the problem, I think that you are correct. Over my years, I have noticed that there was a social shift at some point and it feels like nowadays we almost glorify obesity and shame folks that are in shape.

Google has become one of the worst companies on the internet, and the worst *for* the internet and I'm worried about how much farther they will sink.

They're an advertising company that wants to *be* the internet, via Android & Chrome/etc.

There are few values to Chrome. It is simply a vehicle which Google has driven to enshit-ify the internet even further.

I'm 100% for this, as long as it works. The fact that shitty companies like Spokeo (or whoever) require you to register with them just so you can hope they delete the information they've collected on you is ridiculous. I work in a job field (healthcare) where some privacy is important because people really are batshit crazy and absolutely will stalk others. Having to try to figure out which website is selling my home address and personal contact information today shouldn't be this damn difficult, but here we are.

Microsoft had their change with Skype to integrate it into the Xbox Live world, add a camera, and absolutely dominate the space that we thought that FaceTime was going to rule.

They seemed *so close* but never quite got across the finish line with Skype. Now with so many other apps making data calls, it seems almost pointless., which is sad.

There will never be a "year of the desktop", because the desktop is dead. The reality is that such a large percentage of the population use mobile devices for the majority of their interactions that whatever happens on the desktop is irrelevant. I find it bizarre because the mobile experience is so abysmal compared to a proper desktop. But I've never understood the mainstream, and I guess this is just another example of that.

Alas dying. Jorg had a heart attack a few days ago.