Not concerned about porch pirates at all, people shouldnt order stuff like this.

Yep still glad I've never trusted "smart-home" tech.

Your arguments are all valid and fine, wouldn't argue with them. BUT understanding the underlying reasons doesn't really change the fact and my point.

I can empathise with speeders, murderers, scammers and whatever. But know why someone does something, or even truly empathizing with it, doesn't change the fact that it's bad.
I could understand a society of murderers and their reasons for murdering. But they'd still destroy their society.

And sadly I really see no way for the government (any gov anywhere) to really pull the rudder. Capitalism just won. And, as you already stated, their goals align excellently with the average Joe/Jane having no clue about the stuff that's thrown in their faces and are worked to death so that'll never change.

Why do people want to see who comes to the door?

My brother installed one of these at his house and it makes me uncomfortable, but I know he probably feels safer and more in control by having it, and would value that over my comfort.

Then I start to gaslight myself, "why am I uncomfortable with the surveillance apparatus getting regular identifiable videos of me at a known location"?

Yes.

And in capitalism right now there's no obvious way to reverse the trend. That said, if the critical theory of capitalism (and history) holds any water, the victory is very likely to be temporary, followed by mass unrest and significant change. What kind of change is not so clear but we may have a say if we're educated enough and organized, so at least we know who to support when the time comes.

Not today anymore. Social-media and the state-of-stupid of the web inhibit that. The masses don't even know what to protest for or against. And without MASSIVE numbers you'd achieve nothing. Someone just needs to throw enough moneyz at the problem (or pay thousands to flood the net with "I love our overlords because XYZ") until it's gone.

It was hard to topple a king some 100yrs ago, but today? We don't even know our kings anymore. Besides those few media-clown-babies that so desperately crave attention to fill a bottomless void of darkness inside them.

Not concerned about porch pirates at all

Not everyone has been blessed with the same gift of blissful ignorance that you have.

I agree that people shouldn't order Ring, it's a shitty product for the reasons laid out in this thread and article. But "just be nicer to everyone around you" is not a viable alternative, and suggesting it is dismissive of the realities other people are living.

Why do people want to see who comes to the door?

My brother installed one of these at his house and it makes me uncomfortable, but I know he probably feels safer and more in control by having it, and would value that over my comfort.

Then I start to gaslight myself, "why am I uncomfortable with the surveillance apparatus getting regular identifiable videos of me at a known location"?

Yeah we're definitely playing on hardcore mode. There are some reasons for optimism though. A lot of people who wouldn't think about these things a few years ago are talking about class. I'm talking regular peope I know. These issues were just not on our horizon until recently. They see things very differently than they used to. That's the hopium I'm huffing.