> but no doubt other times it’s changing behavior in the app itself, OS decided to wipe cache, app has bad info, whatever
GaiaGPS, which advertises is offline capability, after an update (but not immediately after the update) recently required users to login to continue using the app. Which was impossible if you happened to be out of cell phone range 10 miles from a trailhead when this login popup happened. Incredibly bone-headed move, and dangerous for hikers that aren't smart enough to carry backup map sources. But Gaia has been trending this way for several years.
I wish there was a way to write a poison pill clause into a company's founding charter, such as "We will not be evil, and should the day arrive when we become evil, the company shall be liquidated and all its IP shall become open source under the MIT license. 'Evil' is described below..." and one of the many ways to be evil would of course be to require users to be online and/or to log into an account before using the service. Or to suddenly decide to make a profit after starting as a nonprofit, like OpenAI. Such a clause would have to be completely understood by VCs and investors prior to investing. If no investors wanted to invest under these circumstances, so be it. This is the only kind of company I'd ever want to be a founder of.
That’s what Benefit Corps exist for - but it’s a very rarely used vehicle. Anthropic is a well known example of a B Corp.
The structure provides a way for leadership to refuse to act in ways that counter the company’s charter.
More here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefit_corporation
TIL that Anthropic is a Benefit Corp. Thank you!
Their end-user privacy policy says "We will not use your Inputs or Outputs to train our models" (followed by carve-outs, which seem reasonable).