this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2025
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PC Master Race

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Why do people insist on doing this? (infosec.pub)
submitted 2 days ago by renzev@lemmy.world to c/pcmasterrace@lemmy.world
36 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
  1. Family member has 720p webcam
  2. Family member buys shiny new 1080p webcam
  3. Family member plugs in shiny new webcam and gives me a videocall to test it
  4. New camera works flawlessly. I get to keep the old 720p cam. Yippee!!

...BUT THEN

  1. Family member goes to the website listed on camera's packaging and clicks the big blue download button
  2. download button installs custom usb driver and companion app
  3. companion app has twenty quadrillion toggles and dials spread across fifty billion tabs and sub menus. Family member spends all evening twiddling with it.
  4. No matter what, the image looks like crap. Too bright, but not enough contrast. Worse than it did originally.
  5. next day family member asks for his old 720p webcam back, I get to keep the 1080p webcam

I'm happy with my new webcam so I'm not complaining, but why do people do this?? Why do manufacturers make these shitty custom driver? The whole point of USB is to be plug-and-play without any custom software.

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 132 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Not mentioned:

  1. The manufacturer-provided "companion app" also installs spyware and adware.

And that's the real reason they do it. They lure unsuspecting users in with promises of enhanced functionality, but it's all a ploy to get their data.

[–] Shanmugha@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

That part I could have guessed, but why manufacturer driver is worse than generic... wait, for it to be better it has to be coded better. Mystery solved, I guess

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 40 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Comes with an EULA longer than Ron Jeremy and twice as invasive

[–] iamdefinitelyoverthirteen@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I am stealing that line! Clever!

[–] sleen@lemmy.zip 16 points 2 days ago (2 children)

At this point, making the longest EULA is a competition. Realistically, no one sane would try to read a EULA from such companies.

[–] MathematicalMagpie@lemmy.zip 13 points 2 days ago

Most of it likely isn't even legally binding. But who has the time, energy, and capitol to hire a lawyer to challenge it?

[–] artyom@piefed.social 7 points 2 days ago

The longer it is, the less likely the user is to actually read it and object to it.