this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2026
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Before the internet became de rigueur, more or less. So much of this kind of top-down-control culture has oozed into the PC world by showing up on phones -- those always-on, internet-connected devices -- first.
So when AT&T owned telecommunications?
I don't think the ownership of telecom was the important bit. It was the fact that, before 1996 or so, most PCs were not connected to the internet 100% of the time.
The security implications of pervasive, persistent internet connections meant software vendors had genuine security reasons to push frequent updates. That situation, with vendors pushing constant changes in the name of security, wound up offering vendors a lot of influence they didn't have before.
This is exactly how, to choose just one familiar example, Microsoft is pushing users to have internet-validated Microsoft accounts, even to log in to their personal computers at home. "Want the security updates that come with Windows 11? You'll have to let us watch you." Which is just the way phones have been for longer.
I think this is the exact part you are illusory truth effected by, since that has never been the case. Security has always comes second to profit driven software vending.