Polish schools get a taste of the Retroactively Amended Purchase Experience; subscription capitalism
Summary
TLDRIn this episode, host Lewis Rossman addresses health-related absences from his channel and delves into the issue of subscription capitalism, exemplified by a school district in Poland. He criticizes the shift from ownership to subscription models, particularly in educational software like edu Vulcan, which now charges parents a subscription fee despite being previously covered by school licenses funded by taxes. Rossman connects this to larger issues in the education industry, such as the exploitative practices of textbook companies like Pearson, and encourages viewers to push back against these changes to prevent further exploitation.
Takeaways
- π· The host, Lewis Rossman, has been taking time off due to health issues and will be appearing less frequently on the channel.
- π Lewis enjoys being a fish owner and uses it as a metaphor for not wanting to become 'fish food', implying the need to take care of his health.
- π The episode discusses a school district in Poland that has started charging parents a subscription fee for an electronic journal application called Edu Vulcan, which was previously free.
- πΈ Lewis criticizes the shift towards 'subscription capitalism', where services that were once purchased outright now require ongoing payments.
- π He argues that this model is exploitative, especially when the terms of sale are changed after the initial purchase, as it seems to be happening in Poland with the Edu Vulcan app.
- π« The app in question is used for communication between parents and teachers regarding a child's school attendance and performance.
- π Lewis reminisces about the old days of faking sick notes and compares it to the modern convenience of apps, which he sees as a loss of a certain childhood experience.
- π€¬ He expresses frustration with companies like Pearson View, which he views as taking advantage of their integral role in education to force students to buy new, expensive textbooks.
- π΅π± Lewis suggests that Polish people should be aware of the business practices of companies like Pearson View and push back against exploitative 'subscription capitalism'.
- π Lewis ends the episode by expressing his love for his fish and hints at an uncertain return date for his next video, due to his health and the need to focus on himself.
Q & A
Why did Lewis Rossman take a break from his channel?
-Lewis Rossman took a break from his channel due to some health issues.
What is the main topic of discussion in this episode of 'How Are You Getting Effed'?
-The main topic of discussion is subscription capitalism, particularly focusing on a school district in Poland that appears to be affected by it.
What is the issue with the electronic journal application 'edu Vulcan' in Poland?
-The issue is that the application, which was previously free to parents as part of the school's licensing fee, now requires parents to pay a subscription fee per child per year for its use.
What does Lewis Rossman think about capitalism in general?
-Lewis Rossman likes capitalism and believes it is a great thing, but he is critical of subscription capitalism, which he sees as exploitative.
Why does Lewis Rossman criticize subscription capitalism?
-Lewis Rossman criticizes subscription capitalism because it involves changing the terms of sale after a product has been purchased, effectively asking for more money for something that was already paid for.
What is Lewis Rossman's opinion on the company Pearson View?
-Lewis Rossman has a negative opinion of Pearson View, calling it one of the most garbage companies in the world due to its practices in the textbook industry.
What is the problem with the way Pearson View handles textbook revisions, according to Lewis Rossman?
-Lewis Rossman argues that Pearson View releases new textbook revisions with different questions and answers, making it necessary for students to buy the new, expensive textbooks to do their homework, which he sees as a money-making scheme.
What advice does Lewis Rossman give to people in Poland regarding the situation with edu Vulcan?
-Lewis Rossman suggests that people in Poland should start understanding the concept of subscription capitalism and push back against it to prevent companies from changing the terms of sale and extracting more money.
What does Lewis Rossman suggest as a metaphorical response to companies changing terms of sale?
-Lewis Rossman suggests using a piece of Italian sign language as a metaphorical response to companies that change terms of sale, implying a strong, negative reaction.
What is Lewis Rossman's personal situation with his health?
-Lewis Rossman mentions that he has been dealing with health issues, which is why he has been taking time off and might be seen less on his channel.
What is the humorous anecdote Lewis Rossman shares about his childhood?
-Lewis Rossman shares a story about faking a sick note as a child to skip school, where he had to mimic his parents' handwriting by turning it upside down and drawing it.
Outlines
π Health and Subscription Capitalism in Poland
Host Lewis Rossman opens the episode discussing his health issues and his reduced presence on the channel. He transitions into a critique of subscription capitalism, using a school district in Poland as an example. The district has introduced a fee for an electronic journal application called Edu Vulcan, which was previously free to parents as part of their taxes funding the school system. Lewis argues against the changing terms of sale in subscription capitalism, where companies alter contracts to extract more money from consumers after they've already paid for a service. He also touches on his personal dislike for companies like Pearson, which he views as exploitative in the education sector.
π The Exploitative Practices of Textbook Companies
In the second paragraph, Lewis continues his discussion on capitalism, focusing on the exploitative practices of textbook companies like Pearson. He describes how these companies release new textbook editions that require students to purchase the latest version to complete homework assignments, even if the content is not significantly different. This forces students to buy expensive new textbooks rather than using cheaper, older editions. Lewis criticizes this business model as predatory and suggests that people in Poland should be aware of such practices and push back against them. He humorously suggests learning Italian sign language as a metaphor for resistance and ends the video on a light note, expressing his love for his fish.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Subscription Capitalism
π‘Edu Vulcan
π‘Handwriting Forgery
π‘Need for Speed
π‘Pearson View
π‘South Park Cable Company CEO
π‘Italian Sign Language
π‘Scam
π‘Textbook Revisions
π‘Telemarketer
π‘Simple Green Cleaner
Highlights
Host Lewis Rossman discusses his recent health issues and his decision to take a break from the channel.
Lewis shares his enjoyment of being a fish owner and his humorous take on not wanting to become fish food.
The host announces a reduction in his channel's content due to focusing on personal health.
Lewis introduces the topic of a school district in Poland facing issues with an electronic journal application called Edu Vulcan.
He criticizes the shift towards subscription capitalism and its negative impact on consumers.
Lewis explains the concept of subscription capitalism and why he dislikes it, especially when it involves changing terms after purchase.
The host describes how the Edu Vulcan app is used for tracking student attendance and performance.
Lewis discusses the app's transition from a free service to a subscription-based model, requiring parents to pay for their children's use.
He points out that parents in Poland had already paid for the app through school taxes, yet are now being asked to pay again.
Lewis recounts his childhood experiences with forging sick notes and the evolution of technology in education.
The host humorously reflects on the challenges of erasing answering machine messages to hide poor test scores.
Lewis expresses his frustration with companies like Pearson View, which he believes exploit the education system for profit.
He describes the practice of textbook companies releasing new editions to force students to buy updated, expensive books.
Lewis suggests that Polish people should learn from American culture, particularly referencing the South Park Cable Company CEO episode.
The host recommends that Polish people learn Italian sign language as a metaphor for pushing back against exploitative practices.
Lewis concludes the episode by encouraging viewers to learn from the discussed issues and to stand against subscription capitalism.
He ends with a light-hearted comment about his love for his fish, showcasing his personal touch and humor.
Transcripts
hey everybody how's it going hope you're
having a lovely day welcome to today's
episode of how are you getting effed I'm
your host Lewis Rossman I've been taking
some time off recently due to some
health issues I enjoy being a fish owner
but I do not want to be fish food and if
I want to continue to have a lovely day
there are certain things that I have to
take care of so you're probably going to
be seeing less of me on the channel as
time goes on I'm going to be taking a
break in order to focus on myself which
is something I should have done 15 years
ago best time to do it is 15 years ago
second best time to do it is today today
we're going to be discussing a school a
district in Poland that appears to be
getting effed and we're going to be
discussing say how the concept of
subscription capitalism is kind of just
gaining traction throughout the world in
a way that I don't really like I like
capitalism I think capitalism is a great
thing I like ownership capitalism I like
the type of capitalism where when I buy
my car I own its suspension I don't want
to subscribe to my suspension after I
bought the car capitalism subscription
capitalism it's really starting to go in
the toilet here particularly changing
the terms of the sale capitalism that's
my least favorite form of capitalism
where you could just kind of take a
contract and just willy-nilly just rip
up and say loljk you're going to pay me
more now for the same that you had
before that you already paid for which
appears to be what's happening in Poland
so are my apologies to anybody in Poland
if I'm mispronouncing some of this stuff
I do think it's worth getting some
Awareness on but I'm not going to learn
polish anytime soon this is an
electronic journal application it's
called edu Vulcan for those of you who
don't know what this is the tldr is that
back in the day we actually used to rely
on things like handwriting to make sure
that a kid was not cutting class so if I
wanted to play Need for Speed Hot
Pursuit version 3 because I thought it
was so much cooler than version two cuz
you could actually have the cops chasing
you and all this kind of stuff I would
do is I would say that I was sick and
then what we would have to do is we
would have to forge a sick note from our
parents so that it would seem like to
the teachers that we were actually sick
so that we would not get in trouble for
cutting class this is something that's
very difficult to do by the way no I
don't think kids are ever going to
understand how the that you had to
do to make it look like in second grade
you had the handwriting of your parents
what I would do is rather than write the
note the way that I would usually write
it I would look my parents handwriting I
would turn it upside down and then I
would draw it so this would allow my
handwriting as an 8-year-old to match
the handwriting of my parents kids these
days are never going to know what it's
like to have to fake an absence note in
that way that's how you know that you're
old anyway this is an application that
allows you to tell the teacher hey my
kid is actually sick today he has
chickenpox he's not playing I don't know
Need for Speed subscription version
change the terms of this whatever the
I don't even want to look into what
they do for Need for Speed now I
probably cry but anyway
hey my kid was in play a Need for Speed
today he actually was sick he didn't go
to school for the teacher to be able to
tell the parent hey you your kid cut
class today your kid got a a 40 on his
exam I used to have to figure out the
exact time that the teacher was going to
do that so that I could go home so that
I could erase my mom's answering machine
and pretend it was somebody else calling
like a telemarketer so she didn't figure
out that I got a 40 on my test now they
have an app for push notifications for
that that's what this application is for
and one of the things that they decided
to do is they decided to start charging
the parents for utilization of this
application per child per year so you're
going to be paying a subscription fee
for your kids to be able to utilize this
application that used to be free now
when I say free I mean free to you this
application wasn't free you as a parent
were paying for it because they were
charging the school for it they were
charging the school a licensing fee
based on the size of that school based
on what they were using it for and that
license fee that the school paid then
covered your ability to utilize this
application and you paid for that
because your taxes in Poland fund the
school system after taxes fund the
school system the school then pays the
license for this app so you already paid
for it in spite of the fact that you
already paid for it what they're doing
is they're deciding that they want more
money so they are going to change the
terms of the sale reach their hand
inside your pocket and try to extract
more money from you because let's be
real they can one of the things that
caused me to decide that I was just sick
and tired of the scam that is modern-day
College not the topics you learn and
everything like that the way it is put
together bureaucratically where the
textbooks we have a company in America
called Pearson view it is one of the
most garbage companies in the world and
I I apologize on behalf of all Americans
if the cancer of Pearson view has spread
to your country Pearson view does
garbage like this where they do this
type of where apparently you can't
do calculus if you use Linux you have to
use windows with chrome or
Firefox because they never apparently
they they didn't start doing calculus
until Windows 3.1 was released anytime
I've had an issue with this where I
actually do use Windows and I do use
stock chrome or Firefox or anything else
and it still doesn't work and I'm
telling you i' I have spent
I have spent 7 to 15 hours on the phone
with members of New York state and city
government because I had a Le in plac on
my business against any knowledge logic
reason whatever and I was able to be
calmer with them than I was 20 minutes
in a live chat with people from Pearson
view I am am infinitely empathetic and
sympathetic to customer service
Representatives even if you're
completely incompetent what I will not
deal with is when you pretend to be
incompetent to try and get me off the
phone I lose all patience with
that I may publish a transcript at
some point I've genuinely aggravated
that I allowed my emotional state to
be compromised by by by people that work
at Pearson view but it is it has
happened we have this type of cancer
here where in 2006 you will have a
textbook on calculus or history or earth
science and then in 2008 they will
release a new revision that is $400 and
if you want to be able to do your
homework you cannot buy the used
textbook for $28 to the bookstore from
2006 CU apparently earth science has
changed radically two years you need to
purchase the 2008 textbook of $400
because the homework questions are going
to be different and the answers to those
questions are going to be different
maybe they ask you about a different
arotic table element code or some
in one of them and they do this because
you will fail if you don't buy the new
textbook most community colleges don't
have budgets for teachers to ask
homework questions that have fill in
answers which means that they are going
to use scantrons multiple choice which
means that if you don't do your work
according to the multiple choice then
you are going to fail and they know this
and they exploit this to make as much
money as humanly possible it's
disgusting many textbook companies do
this I get it if you have a
community college you know they're
getting paid 50 $75,000 a year they
probably have to juggle three or six
classes at a time to make this work
with what the students are paying they
don't have the budget to be able to have
a teacher do fillings it sucks there's
no subject on planet Earth no matter how
interesting useful incredibly engaging
it is that is not ground into dust when
you try to cram that subject into
multiple choice for the purposes uh of
cheap water down education but it is
what it is you have many companies
nowadays like Pearson view or whether
this company that are so ingrained into
the fabric of the school that they would
have to start doing everything from
scratch to rip it out and once these
companies understand that their software
and materials are so far ingrained into
the fabric of that school that the
professors would have to be re-educated
entirely on how to use a different
system they know they have you by the
balls and that's when they start nickel
and diming you that's when they start
changing the terms of the sale which is
what they're doing here and one of the
things that I think that people in
Poland need to do there's two things the
first is you got to start understanding
a little bit of American culture you got
to start understanding stuff like the
South Park Cable Company CEO you got to
understand the South Park BP oil spill
apology episode so that you understand
what is being done to you you have to
understand what they're doing to you I'm
sorry doesn't the second thing you guys
need to do and to be clear I this is
hypocritical of me because I'm not
learning a lot of Polish but I'm
suggesting that you guys learn a little
bit of Italian you got to learn a little
bit of Italian sign language and I
guarantee it's going to be a lot easier
for you to speak Italian sign language
than it is for me to be able to read
this article over here are you ready
this is the one thing you guys need to
start telling them you you
it's the best piece of Italian sign
language you ever going to learn and if
you don't start pushing back against
this now again that term I don't
like that term subscription capitalism
but that's what we're going to be
dealing with I love capitalism I think
capitalism is great I want to buy my
Simple Green Cleaner I don't want to
subscribe for the ability to be able to
push this like I get I get three sprays
for $5 a month I get 20 sprays for $10 a
month kind of I don't want to
subscribe for the I already paid
for I bought my simple green I paid for
it already want to be used the liquid in
the damn bottle I don't want to deal
with subscription capitalism this is
what you're going to be dealing with if
you don't push back give them a little
bit of Italian sign language it won't
hurt that's it for today and as always I
hope you learned something I'll see you
all on the next video don't know when
that's going to
be bye
now fishies aren't they cute I love my
fishies
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