TurboTax is good for 5 returns (federal; only one state) and they send enough data back to "Momma" linked to your serial number to make damn sure you don't cheat on that. They don't give a shit WHO'S returns, just that its only five. That's fine. My kid can do hers, I do mine, when my Mom was alive we did hers, and if I have a couple of friends who want to use it they're welcome to, once I'm done with mine and those who I care about. They can sit in front of the machine here for the 30 minutes and have at it.

I used to buy the boxed Quicken every few years -- latest at the time. They got rid of the boxed option; subscription, annual and only. Ok, fuck you. So you think. Except then they turned off all downloaded access to data for older versions; either pay the subscription fee or you have to manually enter everything.

Adobe tried to do this to me too but so far I've avoided it. However, it means no more new Canon camera purchases. Why? Because without their subscription I can't read any of the new camera CR2 formats. I will not pay their annual extortion; I bought a license, and I will use said license. I don't need their "enhancements" such as they are, but they do everything they can to force you, if you're a working professional, to pay up.

Build something that runs on AWS. God Help You if you use any of their APIs. Base OS stuff, fine. Use any of their APIs, which are handy, and oops -- you just made the application proprietary -- at whatever cost Amazon wants to charge in the future. Or worse - what if they de-platform you? You're INSTANTLY out of business.

VW tried this crap on me with my 2003. Prior to 05 or thereabouts they GAVE YOU the SKC (4-digit code) needed to match keys. Then they changed their DEALER tool so it was "online" when the dealer made you a key and thus neither he or you ever saw the code -- and they refused to give it to you. That bullshit continues to this day. I found a piece of software that could hack the cluster and extract it, but it only works on cars up to 2003. Good, that's the year I have. Fuck them, I'm not paying that extortion. On my '02 GM you CAN pair you own keys without the dealer bullshit. It's takes quite a long time, which is clearly a "stealing car becomes hard enough that said thief is likely to get caught" thing, which is fine. If its YOUR car then you don't give a shit if it takes 20 minutes to match the key. Just that you can do it. But the newer ones? Forget it. And ALL the vehicles with so-called "driver assistance", irrespective of brand, are now locking all this bullshit up with crypto keys only the MANUFACTURER has, which are VIN-specific, and the private key is in the MANUFACTURER's possession (not even the dealer's) and you cannot have it; the dealer service tool uses it online directly from the manufacturer when you take the car in. Not at the dealer? Tough SHIT.

You think health care isn't doing the same thing?

Sure it isn't.

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