Low markups wouldn't be the main issue in the EU, though it would help. It's labor cost because it takes skill, specialized tools, and time.

If the shop could replace the battery with nothing more niche than a torx bit in 5 minutes we wouldn't be talking about this.

I replaced my phone because of the battery life, and I would have replaced the battery if it would have been easy, to offer a counter anecdote.

I had to make the choice of getting another phone (used in great condition, as I do) or pay half the cost I paid to get the battery replaced but also knowing it would still be heaviy used and more likely to fail in other ways because of use.

If labor cost and decreased relaibility weren't factors, swapping the battery would have been the choice.

Now the question is: are there more people like me or more people who need a sealed, hard to repair phone? I don't know but if I did I'd accept keeping the current situation.

Have you had issues because of wear and tear? I trust the water proofing completely until my phone has fallen out of my hands onto the floor.

Then I won't chance any submersion and I can't think of an accurate way to test it.

I have never had an issue, but I certainly wouldn’t do it with a phone that had visible damage.

I assume OP thinks more like me: the EU will move to the next standard in a reasonable amount of time after it's available.

I'll be the first to complain if the new standard isn't adopted in due time, but as a strong example I'm still very content with how the GSM legislation standard has played out.

You miss my point. The ‘new standard’ will be settled on by various committees each composed of different people with different priorities including maintaining the status quo. It will take years to potentially decades to settle on any technologically superior alternatives.

Design by committee is how Europe works. It’s also a reason Europe moves slower and is less innovative than America.

Europe is not less innovative. Many advanced machinery that makes everything else originate and get perfected in Europe.

EU is way more efficient in making citizen-friendly laws too.

The USA just likes to splurge unnecessary amount of money and call that "innovation" where there isn't any. They can do that because they have lots of money and infinite debt limit due to US Dollar's special status. This also makes everything else expensive for other players in the world. Remove the special status and see how the worlds change.

Add sharing a contact to your current message in iMessage to that list.

Do groups still manage to release things before their official release or is that over now that physical media isn’t as prevalent?

Any noteworthy examples in the past five years?

I'm not sure about releases before the theaters, but it definitely happens before streaming. For example, a Russian WebRip of Project Hail Mary with the original English audio overlaid was released on public trackers today, and I am already at a 12:1 seed-to-leech ratio.

So, that is about a month ahead of when it may come to Amazon.

Wouldn't a "WebRip" have to come from a streaming service by definition?

Hmm, that makes sense. It is labeled as, "Project Hail Mary 2026 1080p WEB AC3 H264-DJT.mkv", so I don't know what to tell you.

Death Stranding 2 had a scene release before the official release less than a month ago.

IIRC a few videogames, usually the AAA titles, offer preloaded files on Steam to those who pre-ordered it. The files come encrypted and get unencrypted on launch day. I'm not sure how many times it happened, but do it can happen, like it happened to Death Stranding 2, that some mistake happens and the unencrypted files are served instead.

Edit: besides this example, the only early releases I remember are from a screw up from the online service or a member of the team working on the title, either from the main studio or from other contracted studios. But these aren't really releases from scene groups.

Paying doesn’t have the legal justification requirements that asking does, and it’s faster.

I’m probably overlooking something, but if you have insider info, you just bet on that info with certainty. Why would you need to create a different outcome to bet on it?

If I know my company is going to do something on March 16th, I can bet against it happening until that day, and then bet big it will happen that day. I don’t need to influence the company to change what it’s going to do to make money on it.

The problem comes when there are lucrative odds for some unlikely scenario, which you can influence into realisation, and that outcome might be counter to the company's goals (i.e. sabotage)

The argument against abandoning soft power is that it's going to cost a lot more in hard power to maintain the same status. We'll see how it plays out.

Totally anecdotal but I had a bad burn on my foot and I thought I could manage it with otc stuff. It kept getting worse so I went to have it checked out and was prescribed the silver cream.

From one day to the next it started showing positive effects and a week and a half later I was fine. I was kicking myself for waiting so long.