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Turn off and restrict access to Apple Intelligence features on Mac

353 points · 223 comments · alwillis

  1. bflesch · · focus · HN ↗
    Funny how Apple has reached the crapware maturity level that Microsoft users are quite familiar with: After first boot, go through a long list of things to deactivate so that one can experience at least some feeling of agency and privacy when using your own hardware.
    1. ryandrake · · focus · HN ↗
      It's the "agency" bit that really annoys me. The Computer is no longer Personal. I expect my personal computer to only do things that I choose to invoke. It should not do a laundry list of things that the device manufacturer wants it to do, nor a laundry list of things the OS vendor wants it to do. I shouldn't have to turn things off. They shouldn't be on to begin with, unless I deliberately turned them on.

      Of course this doesn't extend to obvious things like "running the kernel" and "initializing the filesystem." But in general I want to be the person responsible for running things, not some product manager 3,000 miles away in Silicon Valley.

      1. arcanemachiner · · focus · HN ↗
        > The Computer is no longer Personal. I expect my personal computer to only do things that I choose to invoke.

        The internet and its consequences have been a disaster for the personal computer user.

        1. Terr_ · · focus · HN ↗
          Yeah, whatever happened to the personal computer, a kind of capital equipment available to the masses, something you own and can direct towards your goals and wellbeing?

          Instead it's like we're sharecropping on a device companies have established as a colonial outpost to monitor us for profitable compliance.

          1. ryandrake · · focus · HN ↗
            Whenever I run a “modern, online application” I feel like I’m part of some vast behavior modification experiment where the app company is watching me to see if I’m doing what they want me to do.
        2. wartywhoa23 · · focus · HN ↗
          It's like saying that wind blows because trees sway.

          There's clearly an agenda to double down on stripping away all remaining privacy. The internet as we knew it and remembered as free is just the medium to make that happen, if not purely a byproduct of this.

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