r/enshittification

Email providers sadly are killing the option to compose plain text mail. Recently, the German email provider "web.de" , even though plain text emails have benefits like saving space and being less likely to be marked as spam.

HTML is for simple text communication, like using a lorry truck to carry a load that a small car could carry. See also .

In any case, having both options is better than having only one option. So why are they killing plain text email? Do they want people to consume the space faster so they are compelled to pay for a subscription?

I know, plain text is still possible through a third-party tool like Thunderbird, but why remove the option from the web interface?

Their removal of plain text mail co-incided with their unfortunate removal of "lightmailer" (lightmailer-bs.web.de), a lightweight non-javascript web interface that worked on old browsers and loaded ten times faster than their bloated JavaScript web app that they are now forcing down the users' throats. It feels like some kind of perverted trend on online services.

I’m 40. When I was growing up, my mentality and the mentality of it seemed like the whole world, was that when a new product or thing came out and wasn’t perfect, it was okay because next year it was going to get better, and the year after that even better.

Each year… Cars would get more fuel efficient. The internet would get a little faster. Video games would get a little cooler. Music would sound a little better. Restaurants that were already good would figure out how to whip up cool new dishes that were cheaper and even tastier than what we had now - their food would improve over time.

I can’t describe it, but it’s just like everyone assumed that technology and humans would slowly ensure that everything each year got a little… better.

Now, I recently realised that I look at the whole world differently. I opened Spotify today, saw how much I was being billed, and thought - without catching myself at first - “oh, I’m sure the price will go up next year and they’ll restrict another part of the app”.

When a new thing is released, I automatically assume this is the best version it will ever be. Each year it will just get worse.

Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone else remember feeling the way I used to feel 20-30 years ago?

Sorry for the rant.

Hard to follow a favorite sports team in the US, everything is about big corporate money all the time, and once you are hooked in they just keep turning the screws to extract cash. NY Knicks are now spread across MSG (not available to me on Sling), Prime, ESPN, Peacock, NBC, ABC...have to keep checking listings to find out where a game is available, adding/deleting $ervices, watching games in bars, etc.

Hell, Seagate is the best example. for instance led the entire consumer sector with its 5-year warranty (unprecedented up to that point since establishing a universal 5-year warranty in 2004 among all Barracudas) and were actually very good drives, but then they acquired Maxtor in '06 and everything went downhill. released late in 2007 with its flagrantly heinous (with its up-sold having the proper 24x7 spec, despite being the same mechanically) and users reported failures within just a year of using them thanks mostly to firmware-related flaws. The 7200.12 series addressed the firmware problems but still inherited from Maxtor's fraudulent DiamondMax/MaXLIne drives and thus were also not good. Their greatest low was evidently the GrenadaBP platform and its tendency to crash, most notably manifesting in the ST3000DM001's that resulted in a class-action lawsuit. While nowadays the Barracudas haven't come close to that low since, they're still very mediocre.

WD, who was generally the most well-respected manufacturer next to Seagate (before Seagate's merger with Maxtor), was unfortunately also dragged down to the same substandard level as Seagate; the mid to late 2000s Caviars (not including the GP's or Greens) were generally solid drives but WD did not boost their warranties to 5 years like Seagate. Eventually, when WD were forced to implement cost-down measures to be on par with Seagate competitively, the warranty on the then Caviar Blues was cut down to a meager 2 years, on par with Seagate's 14th generation Barracudas (the same ones that scored failure rates above 30 to 40 percent in just 2-3 years), and future Blues have since been not as reliable, including the otherwise highly praised WD10EZEX. Caviar Blacks (and eventually WD Black) did however carry 5-year warranties, although they were essentially just lower bins of higher end product segments for the most part (namely RE3/RE4 at the time) and as such were in a different segment on their own terms from the Blues.

At least Hitachi still stood out, though; from 2006 onward they gave all Deskstars 24x7 capabilities in their respective data sheets and product manuals, and continued to carry that torch until they sold their storage division to WD (and the 5-platter flagships were also very well built, even by that time's standards, and subsequently recorded very respectable rates in Backblaze's servers). However, since the Deskstars are no more, we can't have a proper high-quality consumer HDD anymore. The Blues have very much fallen from grace (with some using SMR and actually being reportedly unreliable), the Barracudas aren't great, and Toshiba's alternatives aren't attractive either.

So that leaves the lower binned high-end drives like WD Black, FireCuda (not including the shameless 2.5 inch Rosewoods with their abhorrent quality), and X300 (Pro). They're actually quite good, but still not as good as what used to be. I don't want to promote the shoehorned "NAS" drives either, being that the lower capacity ones are just as mediocre as their mainstream brethren but perhaps a little better stability wise. I'm sure some would recall using HDDs from the early to mid 2000s (largely outside of IBM, but also Maxtor later on) and having pleasant experiences with them, but that luxury is unfortunately no more. Thus, many are convinced to use SSDs, but those also have their own issues.

Just got this email:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for being a longtime Kindle customer. We're glad our devices have served you well for as long as they have. Starting May 20, 2026 — 14 to 18 years after their initial launches — we are discontinuing support for Kindle devices released in 2012 or earlier. Here's what this means for you:

• You can continue to read books already downloaded on these devices, but you will not be able to purchase, borrow, or download additional books on them after that date.

• If you deregister or factory reset these devices, you will not be able to re-register or use these devices in any way.

Affected devices include Kindle 1st and 2nd Generation, Kindle DX and DX Graphite, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle 4, Kindle Touch, Kindle 5, and Kindle Paperwhite 1st Generation.

To minimize any disruption, we're offering a promotional code for 20% off select new Kindle devices as well as a $30 AUD eBook credit that will be automatically added to your account after purchasing a new device (valid through June 20th, 2026, 11:59pm AEST - Terms and Conditions apply). Our newer Kindle devices bring meaningful improvements in screen quality, performance and accessibility — and you'll have access to your complete Kindle library and the Kindle Store. You can also continue to read all your books on our free Kindle apps (Android, iOS, Mac, and PC) and Kindle for Web.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please visit the Help page.

Sincerely,
The Kindle Team

I've got a 2011 Kindle Touch, never had an issue with it. It's a great device.

Luckily, it will continue to be supported by which lets me load on all my eBook backups without any issue.

Like just basic canned goods cans (beans, soup, tomatoes, etc). Seems like everytime I try to open cans these days parts of the lid don't get cut by my can opener and I have to go back over it multiple times or try to sketchily pry the stuck parts of the lid open with a butter knife or something.

I thought it was just that my can opener (basic one with the handles you squeeze and the crank you turn) was getting old and worn out, but I bought a brand new can opener and still the same thing.

The walls of the can seem very soft and flexible so the can kind of comes out of alignment when it's fed through the opener leading to the lid not getting cut.

Hopefully this qualifies.

I get a three day reddit ban for "threatening someone's life" which was nothing of the sort. Not even close. Any HUMAN would have realized how stupid the ban is.

Instead: Note: This content was flagged by Reddit's automated systems. This decision was made using automation.

So they give me a ban and they tell me I can appeal the days long ban anytime over the next six months. LOL. I appealed the ban and there has been no response over the days of the ban. So now I'm back.

Relying on "automated systems" is such complete bullshit, and not having enough actual humans to review the ban is complete enshittification, not to mention there is no way to discuss this with an actual human other than some "appeal" process which takes who knows how long.. AND is there any hope the "automation" will learn from the stupid read of my words? Truly doubt it.

What's a good reddit alternative without enshittification? Anyone?