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Karl Bode Profile picture
Karl Bode
@KarlBode
I write about tech, media, politics, corruption, consumer rights, and sustainable, locally-owned alternatives to telecom monopoly power.
Jun 20, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
trump regulators could lobotomize their own agencies at corporate behest and the beltway press wouldn't notice

some infighting among progressive regulators and you get stories like this awash with terms like "hyper-partisan environment"

politico.com/news/2023/06/2… paragraphs like this in which politico takes jim jordan clown car republican investigations seriously always give me a good chuckle

as if jim jordan genuinely gives two shits about FTC partisanship, ethics, or recusals Image
Jun 20, 2023 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
in case you're new to this kind of rfk jr political ratfucking being backed by right wing billionaires: the goal isn't for rfk to win, or to even inject anti-science gibberish into the discourse.... the goal is to create such a contentious primary you create rifts in the Democratic base and peel support away from Biden, with the goal of aiding DeSantis' chances in the general
Jun 7, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
mindless media megamergers are a pointless, completely idiotic national pastime that profoundly harm markets, employees, consumers, and product quality, but they let a few fail upward types nab tax breaks and put "savvy deal maker" on their resumes please remember all of the CNN, HBO, Mad Magazine, and assorted disasters began when AT&T literally set $200 billion on fire in their disastrous and pointless attempt to become a video advertising giant

techdirt.com/2023/04/12/con…
Jun 7, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
protecting democracy, truth, and marginalized communities is an expensive undertaking, and might upset authoritarians who could someday be in power, so it's better to be feckless little chickenshits

axios.com/2023/06/06/big… that three year GOP performance that they cared about "unchecked corporate power" and were very serious about "antitrust reform" was basically just to scare tech giants away from moderating racist political propaganda, and it worked
Jun 7, 2023 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
as a Seattle resident I genuinely sympathize, I do, but it's hard to not notice how wildfire smoke is suddenly very important now that new york city residents are experiencing it Seattle looked like fucking mordor for several summers running and I recall a lot of yawning on the part of most new york city brunchlords
Jun 7, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
every six months or so the feckless bureaucrats at the FCC come out with some big announcement about how they've finally started cracking down on robocalls and improvement is just around the corner

and yet Image said bureaucrats LOVE to fixate the discourse on "scammers," but the reality remains that the vast majority of unwanted robocalls are conducted by "legit" companies who've co-opted many of the same tactics as scammers Image
Jun 6, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
he calls a $3500 headset a "great value," then when directly asked if most people can afford it he responds with "I don't know."

(?) Image the bar is set so low for this company by this weird segment of fanboy journos it can't help but trip over it
Jun 5, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
can you folks actually hear yourselves talk Image decades of innovation have magically led to this moment: a very expensive VR headset that can't be used by people with an astigmatism and will still probably make you vomit with extended use
Jun 5, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
the VR market is already inherently narrow due to high cost and a high rate of motion sickness, so it's an ingenious move to narrow the market further by making it inaccessible to people with complex eye prescriptions, like say an astigmatism

visionary! I assume most fanboy journos are prominently pointing out that the already whopping $3500 price tag for vision pro doesn't include the additional necessary prescription inserts needed if you wear glasses? Image
Jun 5, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
you'd think these apple events (where reporters discard all objectivity to mindlessly lap up and regurgitate marketing fluff) would increasingly be viewed as tasteless relics in this era of big tech skepticism, yet ye olde reality distortion field stumbles forth unencumbered it's so wild how apple is a pale imitation of the potent innovator it was a decade ago and it just...doesn't matter?

I'd like to boldly declare this expensive set of googles will be doomed, but I've learned not to bet against the collective delusion that fuels this company Image
Jun 5, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
there's always money for pointless mergers, massive executive compensation, or luxury resorts nobody can afford, but I'm sorry, paying writers or hosting WILLOW on a server is just a cost these savvy MBAs can't swallow AT&T executives set $200 BILLION on fire with their bungled Time Warner and DirecTV mergers, yet it's Mad Magazine and old episodes of Sesame Street that somehow get the axe
May 25, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
I still don't really think the public fully appreciates how the next few years are going to see a total and complete lobotomization of already underfunded and understaffed safety, environmental, and consumer protection regulators as it happens you're going to see two general trends among major outlets and big brain policy folks:

-that this isn't that big of a deal and people concerned about it are being hyperbolic

-a general refusal to make politicians own their relentless assault on corporate oversight
May 25, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
if you knew nothing about politics you could wander your way through this entire article without ever once being informed that both men are radical authoritarians "Mr. DeSantis, the Florida governor, is expected to make a series of policy-based arguments."

It's wild how they can simultaneously normalize fascism while also just being genuinely boring writers
May 24, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
he's a right wing billionaire manchild burning cash to wage info-war on people who believe in things like environmental protections and the benefits of diversity

claiming he's cleverly building a "media heavyweight" gives him too much credit kara swisher was pushing this idea he's savvily building a "new kind of media company" as well

he's a right wing meme and ambien-fueled bullshit artist with the media literacy of a walnut who cosplays as a supergenius engineer

stop giving him unearned strategic credibility
May 23, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
feel the unbridled power of completely pointless megamergers and the resulting synergies hundreds of billions of dollars spent on completely pointless megadeals that result in a decidedly worse product, constant layoffs, writer strikes, show cancellations, and general chaos...all so some MBA chud can pretend he's a savvy dealmaker
May 15, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I've been begging for years for a dumb TV with basic, numerous HDMI inputs and no smart internals. I'd even pay extra.

The TV industry's response: A TV with a little second TV that just bombards you with ads, constantly

variety.com/2023/digital/n… The ads are shown even when the primary TV is off. I'm gonna wager that this set also tracks you in new and even more annoying ways that won't be entirely transparent to the end user. And if they're like most "smart" TV companies, they'll do a piss poor job protecting that data. Image
May 15, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
notice how there's oddly never money to pay competent independent journalists and outlets that speak truth to power a consistent living wage, but there's always somehow no shortage of funding for outlets like this: totally coincidental I imagine
May 15, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
not sure how you can write about the new Twitter "CEO" and right wing conspiracies about her, without noting she's a MAGA-faithful Trump appointee who follows and likes right wing content on twitter

but ars somehow does it

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20… the most interesting part of the story is that the right wing conspiracy chuds think she's some kind of radical leftist when it's clear she's fully aligned with 97% of their worldview, and the only reason they're freaking out is because they're conspiratorial misogynists
Apr 27, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
this reflexive claim by the affluent gerontocracy that wanting a cogent rep who knows where they are and what they're voting on is somehow "misogyny" is really the dumbest thing I've seen in a long while

feinstein's absence is causing real, profound harm

thehill.com/policy/energy-… CC: @tedlieu
Apr 27, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Cool to see a broader collection of folks figure out that about 90% of the ban TikTok folks are corrupt bigots who couldn't give any less of a flying shits about consumer privacy or national security See:

techdirt.com/2023/04/25/fcc…
Apr 27, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
guys I'm starting to suspect it was a mistake to base our entire truth and information apparatus on ad-engagement clickbait machines run by a rotating crop of incompetent trust fund brunchlords who have absolutely no idea how anything works just like a gut feeling i have for whatever reason

futurism.com/cnet-ai-plagia…