Edit: Jesus Christ, people. If you buy a $150 Thinkpad made by slave labor instead of a $1,200 MacBook made by slave labor, you’re still supporting a capitalist economy based on slave labor. We all do. We have no choice. The number of smug liberals in the comments saying “well I buy a cheap used laptop” or “well I buy coffee beans and make my own coffee” are completely missing the fucking point.

Don’t tell yourself your consumption is moral. All of us make unethical choices every day because there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Accept your shame and guilt and let it drive you to do better.

  • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    -523 months ago

    Apple is a dumb choice always, but theres no fucking replacement for starbucks and you cannot convince me otherwise.

    • @stabby_cicada@slrpnk.netOP
      link
      fedilink
      34
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      I would think the exact opposite. Apple’s monopoly practices (you notice they just got mega sued by the USG for antitrust violations, right?) mean if you want to effectively collaborate with people inside the Apple ecosystem you need to use Apple products.

      On the other hand, Starbucks is easily replaceable, unless you’re in some sort of food desert urban wasteland, there are local coffee shops everywhere.

        • @Agrivar@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          123 months ago

          Wow. So, you’re just openly admitting to being a selfish prick and that you have shit taste?

          So brave.

          • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
            link
            fedilink
            -6
            edit-2
            3 months ago

            Lol whats selfish about not wanting to support the Mac ecosystem? It has lots of effort for minimal return, it’s completely uneconomic for every use case. Plus, it adds incentive to keep using Apple products, which is harmful to its users.

        • @accideath@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          43 months ago

          I don’t care about the ecosystem but I care about having macOS. And I care about not having overpriced coffee abominations from starbucks, when I can make better coffee at home for less money.

        • @wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          4
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          No one’s talking about diners. We’re talking actual coffee shop or cafe.

          Of course any place that just has a coffee machine alongside everything else they do is going to be shit compared to a place that specializes in coffee.

          And any sugar bomb dessert drink is going to be “better” than a bog standard cuppa joe.

          That’s like going to a sushi restaurant, getting the chicken tenders they have on the menu just so parents can placate picky children, and complaining that it doesn’t stack up to a wings that specializes in wings.

          It’s apples and oranges man.


          Look, my wife’s from a small town where the main employer pulled out almost 50 years ago. Then they spent a shit ton of tax money on trying to build some stuff to become a cargo transport hub, which failed as no companies bought in. 90% of their downtown is empty storefronts and boarded up windows.

          They have two entirely local coffee shops that I can personally vouch to do equal to Starbucks. Personally I think the one blows the pants off Starbucks, but I’m willing to concede in the court of opinion. There’s at least two other coffee places within 10 minutes, two breakfast places, and two sandwich shops that have dessert coffee that stacks up as well, so I’m told.

          You could buy the small mansion that sits on the hill overlooking a forested residential area there for the cost of a small townhouse anywhere else. Lovely town, lovely people in it. Impovershed as all hell. There’s still great options besides “Yeah I think Earl put a new pot on sometime today, let me check”.

          Out on the highway, exits, and rest stops thereabouts, there’s even franchise alternatives to Starbucks. Dunkin Doughnuts are goddamn everywhere. Tim Hortons, at least up in the northern US. East coast from roughly New York down to Virginia (don’t quote me on the specific bounds) there’s Wawa gas stations, where if they have the sandwich counter they have dessert drinks. Pretty sure there’s other gas station chains that are stepping up too, I just don’t travel like I used to, especially since the pandemic. Dunkincs my go to “I don’t know the area and don’t have time” choice. Much more limited menu options, but I feel it holds up.


          Look, you’re more than allowed to have your own fucking tastes and preferences, or maybe you’re literally addicted to Starbuck’s infamously pumped up caffeine levels. Just please don’t pretend like Starbucks is the only option for a good dessert coffee drink.

          Oh no, you support a notably horrible corporation and like their products! Welcome to the party. The overwhelming amount of people, even the most socially and human rights concious, are far from perfect in that regard. Everyone has to make their own choices about the battles they fight and where they expend their effort.

    • @luves2spooge@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      83 months ago

      Please tell me how I can build ios apps, test multiple browsers (including safari), and test on any iPhone without mac? I don’t want to use a mac but it’s not “always a dumb choice”. Sometimes (by design) there is no choice.

      • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        -3
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        Here is an idea for you, don’t build iOS Apps. If iOS users want to use regular apps or browsers then they’ll have to jailbreak their devices or stop using devices that intentionally limit them. Enabling their poor decisions doesn’t help them.

        As a bonus it removes your apple developer fees as well as cuts your development costs by maybe half or even more.

          • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
            link
            fedilink
            -53 months ago

            I assure you everybody has a choice with every action they take, but purely for the sake of argument if you didn’t choose then your superiors did and in that case I’m criticizing your superiors stupid decisions, savvy?

            • @RogueBanana@lemmy.zip
              link
              fedilink
              English
              03 months ago

              It is so damn stupid if you’re developing a product and limiting yourself to a specific group because of some stupid moral that not everyone shares. Makes 0 sense in business context but sure go for it.

    • @hydrospanner@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      63 months ago

      Here I am being more judgey about Starbucks.

      I’m no Apple fan but I’m no hater either. They’re overpriced but most people who have them are buying them for the style/aesthetic/image…and while that may indeed be shallow, if that’s what they want and the apple stuff delivers it for them and makes them happy, I suppose it’s money well spent (to them).

      The coffee on the other hand, if they’re in any city or suburb of any decent size, there’s probably a small local option that’s at the very least as good as Starbucks coffee and likely significantly better.

      • @Facebones@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        63 months ago

        Exactly, one of the main complaints about macs (being so proprietary and locked down is one of the main selling points. They’re the king of “just works” because they don’t allow a damn thing that might make it not.

        I like to tinker so obv that’s garbo, but if you want to get your grandma something and not have to come around once a month to “fix,” Mac might be the answer. 🤷

        • @exocrinous@startrek.website
          link
          fedilink
          English
          33 months ago

          In my experience locked down hardware just works until it doesn’t just work, and at that point it’s much harder to get working. When my auntie wants to know how to make sure she doesn’t delete her iphone contacts by accident, I need to have the device in my hands and figure out the answer. If she had an android like a normal person, then I could just tell her because I know the answer off the top of my head.

          I tried to play Warframe with a friend whose only gaming device is a Switch last year, and it was a massive pain. We eventually got it working, but my friend came close to giving up many times. If she’d had a PC, it would have just worked.

        • borari
          link
          fedilink
          13 months ago

          Macs are not really locked down fyi. I can sudo to root and do literally anything I can do on Linux. iPhones sure, but not Macbooks.

      • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        -7
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        Alright but if you’re driving 6 hours across the USA you can get consistently good starbucks in every other town you pass by, but yes I’m sure there might better tasting gourmet options for similar price range in the most populous cities in the nation.

        Apple is still a detriment to the end users, though, so I don’t care if it gives them momentary happiness.

      • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        -83 months ago

        oh wow what a novel concept, never have I heard of such a thing like eight times in this thread, thank you for sharing your incredibly useful opinion.

    • ma11en
      link
      fedilink
      53 months ago

      Starbucks along with McDonald’s has the most throat ripping base coffee of any chain in the UK.

      If I have use a chain I’ll go to Costa but I’d rather use a local trader.

      • @Deceptichum@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        33 months ago

        McCafe coffee is actually pretty decent in Aus, if i had to get something fast food it’d be maccas anytime, but we have so many thousands of cafes that i never have to go more tgan a street or two for a good one.

      • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        03 months ago

        Yeah the coffee and most of the food items at Mickey D’s is garbo, but I’d fight a dude for a more ethical means of obtaining a big mac in less than 10 minutes.

      • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        13 months ago

        I wish it were possible for an ethical restaurant chain in general at the scale of what we have in the USA, I bet the good timeline has those.