this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2025
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I was going through my Wal-Mart+ subscription plan that I got for free and I saw their offers. One of which was EMeals, that was a 60-day trial. I thought that this was like Blue Apron or other meal delivery services so I thought I'd take a crack at it and hope that it would get me on a path to eat better.

Turns out, it's just a meal planner. And it's absurd to me why and how would anyone pay for something when there are countless and countless recipes and meal planners readily available for free. Who'd the fuck would want to pay for a planner? That's like paying for a calendar app.

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[–] Dirk@lemmy.ml 52 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Operating systems and porn.

[–] communism@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 day ago

Free porn tends to be full of abuse towards its actors. Not that paid porn is automatically ethical but there are definitely indie options where no one is being coerced into performing sexual acts they're not comfortable with. Also if you have a niche fetish sometimes the only options are paywalled.

[–] dev_null@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

How is it surprising people pay for operating systems? The vast majority of computers sold are bundled with an operating system license, and most people just use what came with the computer.

[–] Matriks404@lemmy.world 1 points 23 hours ago

Because they pay for a worse experience.

[–] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Uhhhh you answered your own question. Why pay for an OS when it should either be included, or free Linux.

Therefore it's surprising when people pay for an OS.

[–] Firipu@startrek.website 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I use windows. I haven't paid for a windows key since windows 7 iirc. Windows has been free for years. (I know you pay with your data etc. Good luck convincing average Joe who uses all social media services that this even matters)

[–] Soulifix@kbin.melroy.org 1 points 1 day ago

Sames. I haven't paid for a Windows OS since Windows XP.

The only way I ever got to the latest Windows OS, is either being given a machine with the latest version on it or I get a PC built but pirate a serial or a copy.

[–] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Exactly. Which is why it's surprising to pay for windows OS.

[–] dev_null@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Where are these surprising purchases then? People either use it for free, in which case they haven't paid for it, or they bought it in a bundle with their PC, which is again very common.

Who is actually buying Windows standalone?

[–] AgentRocket@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Who is actually buying Windows standalone?

People who build their own PC and want to use an OS that they are familiar with. Especially when you want to game, windows is just easier than any free os and you can get a legit key for 20-30 bucks, while pirating windows has become a lot more complicated since XP.

[–] dev_null@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

Every time I saw someone I know built a PC, they reused the license key from their previous one. And the first one was a free key from their university.

It definitely happens though!

[–] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Exactly. You can buy windows OS standalone without it coming in a package with a pc. It's rare. That's why it's surprising.

[–] dev_null@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Fair enough. To me the fact people don't do it and that it's rare is perfectly expected. In other words, I would be surprised if people commonly did that, but they don't, so I don't see anything surprising. But I can see your point of view, it's looking at it a bit differently.

[–] qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

But "included" doesn't mean free. You still paid for it.

[–] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That's not the point. You're buying a pc, it comes with it and sometimes costs extra.

This sub is about what's surprising things people buy. Buying an OS is surprising, because it's either part of the package deal for a new pc, or you can just use linux.

[–] dev_null@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I think what you are trying to say is "buying an OS not as part of a package deal is surprising". To that I would agree.

But most people are buying an OS as part of a package deal, so most purchases of an OS are not surprising.

[–] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm not "trying" to say anything lol. OP said operating systems. I'm talking about operating systems. Not a pc that is packaged with one.

[–] dev_null@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago

I'm talking about operating systems. Not a pc that is packaged with one.

So yes, looks like I correctly understood what you are trying to say, and agree with you that buying a standalone operating system is weird. But nobody does that.

Looks like you consider buying something in a bundle to not be buying it, which is a valid opinion, though myself I disagree. Most OS purchases happen in a bundle with a PC, and every time I bought a laptop I asked for Windows to be removed from the bundle, which made it cheaper a bit (as I was going to install Linux anyway). If removing Windows from the bundle is making it cheaper, then clearly you were buying it and paying for it for when you don't, as most people do.

[–] Chef_Boyardee@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

I'm currently on Emporium. But I have paid for more porn than I've stolen. And porn is cheap.

[–] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

So many people I know complain about windows having ads, that it's auto installing bloatware, has annoying checks, forces you to login...

I paid the full price about a decade ago and haven't been bothered by any of that. And yes, I've upgraded to windows 11

[–] hightrix@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I’ve had the exact same experience. People on this site don’t like when others don’t hate Windows.

I like it because it just works.

[–] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 2 points 1 day ago

It definitely "just works" alright. And damn do I appreciate that on the machine I like to use to relax