When you find a piece of software that is boring —that does one thing, does it well, doesn't track you, and charges a flat fee—overpay for it. Buy the $5 ticket for the weather app. Donate to the open-source maintainers. Cynical software thrives on the ad economy. The subscription economy. The "free then hook" economy. Strip it of oxygen by rewarding boring utility.
You bought a physical panel. You own the glass. But the software inside is designed to serve ads. The "Input" button is buried three menus deep because the manufacturer makes $0.02 every time you accidentally click on a "recommended" streaming trailer. Your TV is no longer a display; it is a billboard that happens to show your PlayStation signal if you fight for it. cynical software
Open your phone. Delete any app where the primary interaction is "dismiss the upgrade popup." If the app spends more time asking for money than doing the job, it is not an app; it is a tax collector. When you find a piece of software that
The technical capacity to build honest software still exists. The source code is still free. The protocols are still open. Cynical software thrives on the ad economy
You download a puzzle game to kill five minutes. Level 1 takes 3 seconds. Level 2 takes 4 seconds. Level 3 takes 6 seconds. Level 4 takes 12 seconds. By Level 10, the game announces you have no "energy" left. You can either wait 4 hours or watch a 30-second ad. This is a training regimen. The game is perfectly tuned to frustrate you at the exact frequency that maximizes ad revenue. You are not playing a game; you are working a shift as the product.